Blind eye to child abuse to be an offence

The new law should prevent tragedies like the deaths of the Kahui twins. Photo / Rotorua Daily Post

Making it a crime for adults to turn a blind eye to child abuse or neglect by others in their homes will help to prevent cases such as that of the Kahui twins, a child welfare advocate says.

Justice Minister Simon Power announced yesterday that the Government will make a raft of changes to child abuse laws, including a new offence of "failing to protect".

It will make adults criminally liable if they do not intervene or tell the authorities that someone else in the house is abusing or neglecting a child or other "vulnerable" person, such as the elderly.

Mr Power said it was unacceptable that, under the present law, other adults in a home could not be prosecuted unless they were involved in the abuse themselves.

"Legislation will ensure it will no longer be an excuse to say you were not involved in abusing a child. The fact that you lived in the household and knew of abuse makes you involved."

He will introduce a bill early next year to make the change as well as other recommendations included in a new Law Commission report on homicide and assault laws.

The move was welcomed by Barnardos chief executive Murray Eldridge, who said deaths such as those of the Kahui twins and Rotorua 3-year-old Nia Glassie highlighted the tragedy where other family members did not intervene to stop abuse.

"I think the whole of the country felt the helplessness and frustration, where there was clearly knowledge within those families that the abuse was happening but they felt unable to disclose it to the police."

Mr Eldridge said there had been numerous such incidents of children being badly hurt and killed after adults had not responded.

"In most situations where a child is being hurt over a long period of time, there will be people who notice and make decisions on how to respond."

He said the new offence would be useful in ensuring they were held to account for not stepping in.

After Nia's death in 2007 at the hands of her mother's former partner Wiremu Curtis and his brother, Michael, Hone Kaa, head of the child advocacy group Te Kahui Mana Ririki, also called for measures to ensure others "narked" on child abusers.

Nia's mother, Lisa Kuka, was found guilty of two counts of manslaughter - including one of failing to protect her.

The Kahui twins' father, Chris Kahui, was found not guilty of their murders and nobody else was charged in a case where police were stymied by a family reluctant to provide information on who was responsible for the abuse.

The Law Commission report was requested in 2007 by the Labour Government and Mr Power asked for it to be fast-tracked after he became Justice Minister.

Law Commissioner Sir Geoffrey Palmer, SC, said the commission shared the Government's view that the present law and penalties did not sufficiently protect children.

LAW CHANGES

* New "failing to protect" offence for adults who do not take steps to stop abuse or neglect by others in their homes.
* Make it parents' duty to protect a child from injury.
* Double the maximum jail term for child cruelty to 10 years.
* Revamp all assault and injury offences on severity and intent, rather than specific offences.