Sex abuse lapse may affect other victims, says Labour

Justice Minister Simon Power said he was horrified by the incident. Photo / Getty Images

A case in which two sexual abuse victims were identified on a Ministry of Justice website might deter other victims from coming forward, the Labour Party says.

The two brothers were named on the ministry's website when their abuser's sentencing notes were posted online on Thursday.

The document was removed from the website the next day when the error was discovered, the Herald on Sunday reported.

Justice Minister Simon Power said he was horrified by the incident, which he understood was the result of a clerical error, and had called for an urgent investigation.

Ministry officials were expected to report to him this morning.

In a statement, the ministry said it was working with the judiciary to review how the error had occurred.

"The ministry takes very seriously its responsibility in publishing judicial decisions on behalf of the courts. It very much regrets that this error has occurred. The ministry will be contacting the victims to apologise."

However, Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni said the apology was too little too late.

"Family members have stated that the victims would not have come forward had they known they were going to be publicly identified," Ms Sepuloni said.

"This incident could deter other victims of sexual abuse victims from stepping forward out of fear that their details might be 'accidentally' released to the public."

Ms Sepuloni said the Government's proposed changes to suppression laws, following several high-profile breaches last year, appeared somewhat ironic given that a government department was now responsible for such a breach.

"In the case of government agencies, it is reasonable to expect that information that breaches a name suppression order is not posted on government internet sites at all. Its processes must be better than this," she said.

- NZPA