Abuser fails to make bias complaint stick

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has dismissed a complaint made by a man who kept his daughter as a sex slave for 23 years over a television programme about him.

Ronald van der Plaat, 70, was jailed for 14 years in 2000 for rape, sexual violation and assault.

He kept his daughter, Tanjas Darke, a virtual sex slave for 23 years in Vanuatu and New Zealand.

Van der Plaat complained to the authority that an item on Television New Zealand's Sunday programme on June 27 this year was unbalanced, unfair and inaccurate.

The programme covered van der Plaat's private prosecution of his daughter for fraud, concerning the ownership of a Gottfried Lindauer painting. Invercargill District Court dismissed the prosecution in January and the High Court dismissed his appeal.

Justice John Fogarty said that van der Plaat wanted revenge "because of his conviction for prolonged sexual offending" against his daughter.

Van der Plaat complained to the authority on eight grounds, all alleging that the coverage was unbalanced, unfair or inaccurate. The authority dismissed all eight complaints.

"The authority concludes that a number of the ... issues are a direct attempt on the part of Mr van der Plaat to relitigate issues arising from his trial on the sexual offences against his daughter and do not give rise to issues of broadcasting standards," it said in a decision released yesterday.

The authority also disagreed that the programme was unfair and unbalanced because it did not use information "portraying Mr van der Plaat as something other than the 'monster' the item made him out to be".

"Mr van der Plaat was convicted of horrendous crimes of sexual abuse against his own daughter ... the media is not obliged to include material that Mr van der Plaat considers portrays him in a favourable light."

The authority noted that although Ms Darke, now a South Island gem cutter, had withdrawn from legal proceedings over the Lindauer painting, van der Plaat could not claim the programme portrayed the ownership dispute unfairly.

"The unambiguous overall theme of the item in relation to this issue was that Ms Darke withdrew from the proceedings as a result of the emotional upset that she was experiencing as a result of her ongoing forced legal dealings with her long-time abuser," it said.

Mrs Darke had contracted sexually transmitted diseases before she was 12 and fell pregnant to van der Plaat in 1992. She miscarried the baby. She also has to wear a pacemaker because of heart problems caused by drugs her father forced her to take.

The authority also declined to rule on van der Plaat's complaint over TVNZ's coverage of that forced drug taking.

- NZPA