By Stephen Cook
New Zealand Herald
August 17, 2008
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10527440
Convicted murderer Antonie Dixon has turned whistleblower on a member of the Jehovah's Witness church now serving three years in prison for historic sexual offences against him and two others.
John Olav Beaver, 56, was jailed after admitting to a raft of sexual abuse charges against Dixon and two other complainants, whose cases came to light only when Dixon detailed the offending in a letter shortly after his rampage in 2003.
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| Antonie Dixon. Photo by Glenn Jeffrey |
Dixon, 40, is awaiting sentencing on eight charges, including the murder of James Te Aute, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and causing grievous bodily harm, following a samurai sword attack on two women on the Coromandel.
It has now emerged that shortly after Dixon was arrested in 2003 he wrote to the mother of one of the sexual abuse complainants, telling her he had been abused by Beaver when he was growing up in Grey Lynn.
The woman handed Dixon's letter to police and lodged a complaint of her own, alleging Beaver, who worked for New Zealand Post for 20 years, had abused her own child decades ago.
As a result of police investigations, another complainant emerged and last year Beaver was arrested and charged. When police raided his Auckland home they found hundreds of pornographic photographs and magazines. He was convicted and jailed in June and is eligible for parole next year.
During last month's, trial Dixon made reference to the sexual abuse he suffered as a child, telling how his mother padlocked him to a fence before he was raped and molested.
"The sexual abuse wasn't too bad. There were about 20 people doing it on regular occasions but there was violence," he recalled.
Dixon's sister Carla Dixon-Foxley also gave evidence, recounting how her brother was chained "like a dog to the clothes line" before being beaten and abused by church members. No specific mention was made of Beaver.
One of Beaver's other victims told the Herald on Sunday she had lived with the abuse all her life. Beaver had sexually abused her to the age of 11 and as a result she had suffered ongoing bouts of depression. Beaver, she claimed, sexually abused her on another occasion when she was 17.
She had never raised the abuse with police because she felt she had "moved on" and did not want to upset Beaver's parents.
She had been stunned to discover Dixon had been another of Beaver's victims and said if it was not for his letter to the mother of one of the other complainants the case might never have come to light.
But she refused to make excuses for Dixon, saying no amount of abuse could explain his actions in 2003.
"I don't excuse what Antonie did. He had a terrible childhood, but ours wasn't carefree and great either."
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