Summarised by Centrist
Two high-profile figures, one a former National Party Cabinet Minister, the other a Deputy Police Commissioner, are now at the centre of separate but deeply troubling allegations involving the exploitation of children.
The two cases, though distinct, have exposed serious institutional blind spots.
A newly released police review has found that Anthony “Aussie” Malcolm, a former MP and immigration minister under Robert Muldoon, likely engaged in coercive or criminal sexual conduct with “multiple young boys” over several decades.
Allegations spanned from 1992 to 2018, with complainants as young as nine. No charges were ever laid, and Malcolm died in 2024 at age 83.
Police say recordkeeping failures and retracted complaints hindered prosecution. “The cumulative evidence… could have supported prosecution,” the review concluded. A consolidated investigation was underway at the time of his death.
Meanwhile, former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming can now be named after dropping his bid for name suppression. He faces eight charges of possessing child exploitation and bestiality material, with alleged offending spanning 2020 to 2024.
His next court date is in November, and no pleas have yet been entered.
In Malcolm’s case, police admitted that earlier complaints might have been connected sooner under modern systems. In McSkimming’s case, a review has already led to renewed monitoring of police internet use after a five-year lapse in audits.
Read more over at The NZ Herald and NewstalkZB
