Last week, former Police Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing child pornography and bestiality material. The guilty pleas which have rocked the Police and drawn angry condemnation from Parliament, have since been followed by a damning 135 page report into Police handling of Mr McSkimming’s case.
The (in)actions are damning. Senior Police officers stopped Ministers of the Crown seeing complaints from a woman who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Mr Skimming. Multiple senior officers directed that the e-mails be sent to, and only to, the Chief of Staff for former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.
Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura was informed of the allegations, but the only investigation that she ordered to be opened was into the complainant herself. This lead to the Police charging her with offences under the Harmful Digital Communications Act. Those were dropped by the Police on Tuesday when the report came out. The charges were laid over a year ago, which the woman’s lawyer says had a devastating impact on her.
However D.C. Kura is not the only one who has been found significantly wanting. Superintendent Chris Page (Officer B in the report); Assistant Commissioner Paul Basham (Asst. Comm. A); Deputy Commissioner for People, Leadership and Culture Chris de Wattignar have also been implicated.
The scale of the broader blow to the reputation of the New Zealand Police may take some time to become obvious. However, given the united condemnation coming from M.P.’s of governing parties and opposition parties alike, it is quite clear that those in positions of authority are genuinely disgusted with what has happened. And that should grow as the fact that Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kura, former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster and other very senior Police staff are implicated by the hugely damning report, sinks in.
But there are a few officers involved who do deserve commendation and recognition for their roles in this. These officers, Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves – who led the investigation into the murder of Yanfei Bao, and the successful police case against her murderer Tingjin Cao; Detective Superintendent Kylie Schaare and Territorial Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney all followed protocol and pushed back against attempts to shut down their concerns.
Lastly, it is easy to imagine the disgust that must have overtaken the upstanding members of the Police force when they found out about the guilty pleas by Mr McSkimming. Section 143 of the Crimes Act, 1961 says that:
- Every one is liable to a prison term not exceeding 7 years who commits beastiality
- The offence is complete upon penetration
Like so many parts of the Crimes Act, 1961, I think it is time this section was reviewed to ensure that in the 21st Century it is still fit for purpose. Clearly there are individuals in society who believe sex with animals is still some kind of acceptable act.
The 2018 amendment to the Crimes Act, 1961, regarding child exploitation material includes a sentence of not more than 3 years. Given that this offence concerns the most vulnerable part of our society, I am surprised it is only 3 years – I would have expected that to be more of a starting point than a sentencing ceiling.
Given that this offending was the work of a police officer, who rose to the highest echelons of the force and had nation wide name recognition as a supposedly respectable person of the force, I cannot see how anything less than the top of the sentencing range can be handed down. I cannot see how Deputy Commissioner Kura and Commissioner Coster can be excused for their conduct, which should finish the Police career of the former and the public servant career of the latter. If the other three survive, at the minimum all should be on a red letter warning that further allegations will finish their careers.
One day the Police will have their integrity back. But right now it is shot in the eyes of a lot of New Zealanders. Will people be able to trust the senior leadership to do the right thing in future crises? Can the officers who do do good work under their leadership have confidence that they will not be misled when the going gets tough? And perhaps the most serious of them all: is that all of them or are there other skeletons in the closet?
Leftist Kiwi Writes 