NZ Herald editorial: Enormous risk in just letting concerns sit

Larry Nassar during a sentencing hearing. Photo / AP

Editorial

The jailing of a doctor, a paedophile who abused more than 100 gymnasts under the guise of medical examinations, may give rise to a temptation to say, "only in America", "only in some foreign land". It is a temptation that must be resisted. The same pattern of failure has happened and does happen here.

Dr Larry Nassar, who worked with elite gymnasts, was last week sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail. He was accused of molesting girls for years under the guise of giving them examinations or medical treatment. Some were as young as 6. He pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. At his sentencing this month, 156 women testified, including Olympians. Nassar was the team doctor.

Nassar had already been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography convictions. Sentencing him to serve another 40 to 175 years, and after noting that a letter Nassar wrote to the court showed he had not owned his behaviour, the judge said justice required more than what she could do. She called for a wider inquiry into how the abuse was allowed to go on for so long.

Many factors will be familiar. There was a huge power imbalance. There was grooming. There was a failure by officials and organisations to act on concerns.

The prosecution of Nassar was prompted by investigative reporting by the Indianapolis Star. It shouldn't take investigative journalists to expose predators, the prosecutor said, going on to give thanks that they did and that one of those who was abused by Nassar made contact with reporters and allowed her name to be published.

In New Zealand, the activities during the 1980s of a police sex gang would not have come to light without investigative reporting, and broader justice in the case of paedophile Peter Liddell, a social worker, would not have been achieved without the media, including the Herald, overturning an order suppressing his name.

In her impact statement, one of Nassar's victims asked how he was able to assault so many women and girls for more than two decades and then answered her own question. They were let down by three institutions: Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee.

In the case of Liddell, who has amassed 20 convictions and is serving a sentence of preventative detention, the organisations who employed him failed to act, or act correctly, for far too long. Auckland Health Board colleagues were threatened with the sack and accused of spreading gossip when they reported concerns. King's College wrote formal letters of support vouching for Liddell's good character the first time he was prosecuted.

More recently, Ministry of Transport workers were forced out of their jobs after raising the alarm about fraud committed by a senior manager.

Whistleblowers need to be listened to and even rumours reported where children may be at risk. As an Auckland pastor, the Rev Glynn Cardy, once put it, "Secrets generally protect adults, not children".