CYF staff unlikely to face blame for death

Otis Auelua

Child Youth and Family is unlikely to punish any staff over the death of a boy at a camp in Northland last year.

Otis Auelua, 13, of Auckland, was found in the sea off Matauri Bay on December 15 after he vanished from a CYF-authorised camp there on December 9.

The Government-financed social agency running the camp, Pacific World, did not report Otis missing to police until four days after he vanished.

Green MP Sue Bradford questioned officials about the death before the social services committee at Parliament on Thursday.

Otis' aunt, Phyllis Wynyard, previously said the boy's mother was not happy about him going to the camp because he had a court appearance, but Pacific World had picked him up and left a note on the door.

Act MP Muriel Newman asked if anyone would be held accountable.

CYF senior legal adviser Stu Bartlett said a coroner's hearing was unlikely to be held before November and he could not go into detail before then.

However, at this stage it appeared unlikely there were accountability issues for CYF.

"It doesn't seem necessary that we should be looking at any accountability issues in respect of the department, but we need to see what the coroner says," Mr Bartlett said.

CYF stopped making referrals to Pacific World, an Auckland community provider, after the death of the boy.

- NZPA