Victims of a suspected paedophile ring are urged to contact the police

• Warning – this story concerns allegations of child sexual abuse

Prime Minister and MP for Botany Christopher Luxon is urging victims of an alleged central government paedophile ring from the 1980s to contact police.

His comments this week follow the release of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s nearly 3,000-word report into care home abuse.

Part of the document describes an investigation into allegations of organized sexual abuse of children in state care facilities.

“In its early stages, the investigation received allegations of organised child sexual abuse or a ‘paedophile ring’ by former central government politicians in social services in the Horowhenua region in the 1980s,” the report said.

“The Commission of Inquiry opened a separate and confidential investigation into the allegations because of concerns that survivors and witnesses might not come forward for fear of retaliation or that there would be a ‘cover-up’ if the alleged abusers became aware of the investigation.

“The scope of the investigation was later expanded to include all allegations of organized abuse of children and young people in state care by persons in positions of power and influence in the public service.”

The investigation dealt with seven broad allegations, including the transfer of children and young people from social homes and state care facilities to private locations.

It is alleged that the victims were sexually abused in these private places by former central government politicians and prominent civil servants.

Other allegations include allegations that missing children and young people from social homes and institutions were buried under trees or thrown into a lake, groups of men were taken to a psychiatric hospital to sexually abuse non-speaking girls in care there, the abuse of children and young people in care homes by former central government politicians in Auckland, and the abuse of children and young people in care homes in an Auckland brothel.

The investigation report states that investigating the allegations was challenging.

“The investigation team conducted witness interviews across New Zealand, both with people who had registered with the investigation and others who had not.

“Great care was taken to approach potential witnesses directly to obtain confidential information and considerable time was spent building the trust of those potential witnesses.

“Often, several meetings or interviews had to be held with the witnesses before they felt comfortable sharing aspects of their experiences relevant to these matters.

“Other investigative techniques were also used, including research into historical records and notices issued under section 20 of the Inquiries Act to the New Zealand Police, Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social Development seeking relevant information.

“The investigation found that a witness had direct, first-hand evidence of such organised abuse of children and young people in social care settings.

“Most witnesses told the committee of inquiry that they had heard about organised abuse from others, sometimes with second- or third-hand information.

“Attempts to confirm the statements of the persons named in the investigative committee that they were survivors of such abuse were unsuccessful.

“Many of the leads that were followed up did not lead to evidence of organised abuse.

“Several people named by others as survivors or as people with relevant information had died or were too ill to speak to the commission of inquiry, and some could not be located.

“In other cases, the information provided suggested that organized abuse may have occurred, but no survivors could be identified.”

Another key difficulty was that some people who might have had relevant information were unwilling to provide witness statements or survivor accounts because they feared reprisals due to the position of power that their alleged abuser once held or still held.

“This included the assumption that the New Zealand police knew about the paedophile rings at the time and had not investigated them.

“It was clear that some people did not trust the investigation’s procedures, including its ability to protect the confidentiality and security of those sharing information.

“Ultimately, none of the allegations of organized group abuse in state care facilities described above could be substantiated by direct evidence.”

Luxon was asked about this aspect of the investigation report during a press conference in Auckland this week.

He said that while the report raised serious concerns, it could not find any evidence to support the allegations relating to the alleged paedophile ring.

“In this particular matter … there was great concern about these allegations, but the Royal Commission of Inquiry itself was not in a position to make a determination on this because there was no substantiated evidence,” he said.

“I encourage anyone who has seen or experienced abuse… for many it is traumatic to have to go through the process again.

“We are working on the experiences of survivors… to ensure that they have access to their own documents that they have submitted to the inquiry.

“We encourage people to contact the police so that they can go through a fair investigation process.”