Rape victim wants apology to help put her life on track

A Gisborne woman who has endured an 18-year nightmare of health problems and emotional trauma wants Police Commissioner Rob Robinson to admit that her rape complaint was handled badly. She talks to ELEANOR BLACK.


Susan trusted the man who savagely raped her twice, breaking her tail bone, tearing her vagina and impregnating her at the age of 16.

She worked in his Murupara shop after school and was friends with his de facto wife and her daughters.

He went hunting with her father and was friendly with the local police.

When the man asked Susan to help him sort stock in the shed next to his house, she did not suspect his motives.

When he dragged her into his bedroom and handcuffed her to the bed, she was too scared to cry.

Eighteen years later, Susan often cries about the rapes.

She says her life is stalled and she will not be able to move on until the police to whom she reported the attacks admit they mishandled her case.

A 1996 report written by Rotorua Detective Inspector Graham Bell recommended that "at the very least" Susan receive an official police apology from the commissioner.

Instead, she got a letter from then Assistant Police Commissioner Bruce Scott expressing regret for her situation.

Commissioner Rob Robinson told the Herald yesterday in a statement that he was considering apologising.

Susan, now aged 35, says she is worn out. She has spent her adult life trying to get over the vicious attacks and until last year, when the mysterious seizures that descend about once a week got worse and forced her to stop driving taxis, she almost succeeded.

A slight woman with a huge grin and solemn eyes, she suffers a variety of gynaecological complications she believes are directly linked to her attacks.

After having a miscarriage and leaving school, Susan got a labouring job before joining the New Zealand Army.

There, she was taught mechanics and how to drive heavy vehicles.

She then moved to Wellington, where she drove buses before settling in Gisborne and driving taxis.

She played hockey and women's rugby league and set up home with her partner of 10 years.

Susan had long dreamed of becoming a police officer but decided against it after those at Murupara failed to take her rape complaint seriously.

Trevor Clayton, then a constable, listened to her story, took notes and phoned the man responsible.

That man was later convicted of raping his three stepdaughters.

Detective Inspector Bell wrote in his report that Susan had been a troubled teen and was well known to the police.

He believed her reputation was partly responsible for her case not being taken seriously.

"She was obviously a tough little youngster who was not particularly liked by the police officers of the town.

"When she went to the police station and reported this rape, it would appear she was treated as a second-class citizen and her rights were trampled by an uncaring, uncommitted and lackadaisical police officer with little interest in his job.

"There is no question that the police response to her reporting the incident was woefully inadequate to the point of being a gross neglect of duty on the part of former Constable Trevor Clayton."

When her rapist went to trial in 1997 for attacking her, Susan was sure he would be convicted and was devastated when he was not.

She believes the 15 years that passed between the attack and the trial hurt her case.

But she says she had to grow up before she was strong enough to cope with re-living the terror of the rapes.

"At the time I didn't know what I was going through," she says.

"If it hadn't been for my sister I might have committed suicide. There were times it came to that."

Bad luck may have also contributed, she says.

The doctor who examined her directly after the rapes did not record his findings and was unavailable to testify, having killed himself and his wife in 1992.

Detective Inspector Bell's report outlines the dramatic psychological effects suffered by Susan, who often behaves like the teenager she was when raped.

She giggles and shifts in her seat uncomfortably when talking to people she doesn't know. She says she finds it hard to trust anyone after dealing with a succession of lawyers, doctors, police officers and, now, journalists.

Susan rarely returns to Murupara. It gives her the creeps.

In the months following her attack, she often visited her grandfather in Tokoroa just to get away.

He had 108 rose bushes which she would help him tend and today she bears a rose tattoo on her arm to remind her of his kindness.

Sitting in her back garden, Gisborne sun streaming down on her careworn face, Susan says she wants to be able to plan her future rather than spend her energy burying her past.

She knows a police apology won't do that, but it will help her to move on.

"Next time you see me, if I get that apology I won't be able to stop smiling.

"I know it's just a piece of paper, it won't heal all the wounds.

"All I want is for people in the police to act up to their responsibilities to the public, so that we'll be able to work with them and trust them.

" I trusted them 100 per cent."