In a decision released today, Independent Police Conduct Authority chairperson Judge Kenneth Johnston, KC, concluded the officer's use of a webbed belt to discipline his children constituted three offences of assault on a child.
Inquiries began on July 28 in 2023 after Officer A came to the attention of police and Oranga Tamariki when it was reported that he had physically disciplined his children.
Police advised the IPCA and also notified Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children.
Police and Oranga Tamariki spoke to the children in preliminary interviews, which cannot be used as evidence. They said their father had hit them with the belt on three occasions.
The ministry ended its involvement after completing a risk assessment and concluded that the children were not likely to face further harm.
Officer A and his wife refused to give permission for their children to be interviewed so that evidence could be gathered.
After Oranga Tamariki withdrew, police chose not to pursue other avenues to interview the children.
Later, Officer A elected not to make a statement to police, as was his right. This brought the criminal investigation to an end as there was insufficient admissible evidence to proceed any further.
Officer censured
Police completed an employment process which resulted in the officer being censured for serious misconduct.
Inexplicably, the IPCA says, one of the mitigating factors police took into account when considering the appropriate sanction was that they had not initiated criminal proceedings.
During an interview with the IPCA, Officer A admitted he had used a belt on them on two occasions, striking their buttocks and upper legs.
One occasion was on his two daughters (one was a young teenager and the other under 10 years old) because they had been fighting, including in church, and about a year earlier on his son (also under 10) as he had been "naughty".
He said both he and his wife tried to be "good parents" but on occasion physical discipline was needed to "reset" the children. He also agreed he was aware physically disciplining children was no longer protected by the law.
The IPCA said the officer couldn't rely on the defence in section 59 of the Crimes Act, which provides that reasonable force on a child may be justified in certain circumstances.
In its view the officer's use of a belt to discipline his children constituted three offences of assault on a child.
However, it didn't make any recommendations to police because they had already concluded criminal and employment processes.
"In our assessment, the sanction (which we accept was ultimately a matter for the decision maker) was grossly inadequate given the nature of the officer's actions and the officer's seniority, position and level of responsibility," Johnston said in the decision.
