Family First Media Release 2 September 2010
[Note Family First is a registered charity with the Charities Commission. See www.familyfirst.org.nz and www.charities.govt.nz ]
Family First NZ says that a doctor convicted of possessing and distributing child sex abuse images should be named.
“Patients and parents should be informed so that they can make an informed choice as to whether they continue having him as their family doctor, even after his nine month suspension,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of
Family First NZ.
“The doctor in question admitted 25 charges of possessing objectionable material and one charge of distributing an objectionable publication. He not only had 290,000 images of young girls in explicit sexual poses but as well as that, the doctor was found to be distributing objectionable material further. This is not a one-off slip.”
“The rights of the doctor to name suppression and privacy should not be greater than the right of patients and especially parents to know the character of their doctor. That is the price the doctor must pay to match the gravity of
the abuse of children. Many parents would rightly be concerned at a doctor with those convictions examining their young son or daughter.”
“Parents should be given the right to make an informed decision,” says Mr McCoskrie.
