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Predatory priest Peter Hercock finally brought to justice
By Shane Cowlishaw And Talia Shadwell
[with video] GRAPHIC WARNING: Some content in this story may upset some people In the dimly-lit room of a Wainuiomata presbytery bedroom, priestly robes lay strewn across the floor. Background music plays softly on a record player, while on the bed a drunk teenager is about to be raped by her priest. The girl can't feel her legs and has no idea what's happening. "I'll always remember that bloody horrible Leonard Cohen album." The year is 1974 and the 18-year-old is Ann-Marie Shelley. Now 60, the grandmother surrounds herself with life. Her house is a cacophony of colour. Rainbows permeate every nook and cranny, from the lovingly decoupaged table tops, to the fence outside, and the papier mache vines decorating her home's walls and ceilings. There is a cross by the front door, and a giant, scarlet love-heart on the adjacent wall. Even her book collection is colour co-ordinated in rainbow order. Louise Nicholas' book My Story peeks from amid the collection. "I had a childhood that literally had no colour in it. I grew up in a colourless, soulless household and this is the exact opposite. So, yes that's where my thing where rainbowy colours come from." Shelley's teenage years were rough. An alcoholic at the age of 14, she was sent by a teacher at Lower Hutt's Sacred Heart College to see the school chaplain and counsellor. A man called Peter Hercock. Ordained as a Catholic Diocesan priest in 1969, a year later he was working at the school and had regular meetings with Shelley. Touching escalated to thigh rubbing and watching the young girl while she went to the bathroom. Strange as it sounds, none of this was of any great concern to a young Shelley, who had bigger problems. By 17 she had fallen pregnant, forced to adopt her baby out by her Catholic parents. A year later, having left Sacred Heart, she enrolled at nursing school but struggled to deal with the trauma of losing her child. A concerned tutor suggested she see a counsellor, did she know one? Shelley did. Peter Hercock. It was this encounter that led to the rape in the presbytery bedroom. Plied with alcohol by the priest despite him knowing of her alcohol addiction, Shelley says when she was taken upstairs she "couldn't feel her legs". Contact was broken off shortly after and 10 years later Shelley found herself in a violent marriage with three young children. With no choice but to flee the fists of her husband, she ended up in a Red Cross shelter for the homeless. Cramped in a tiny room with her children, Hercock again made contact. He had left the priesthood, he told her, but was still happy to help. One stormy night in 1984, Hercock snuck into Shelley's window, climbed on top of her and raped her while her children slept nearby. "I couldn't make a racket because who wants that, I couldn't risk the kids waking up." Despite the disgusting attack, Shelley was homeless and penniless so the second rape went to "the back of the queue". It was two decades before Shelley approached the church with her story. After discovering Hercock had abused other victims she went to the Catholic Abuse Protocol Committee. Set up to deal with complaints about priestly abuse, in 2003 the committee included John Dew - now cardinal John Dew, Archbishop of Wellington. Following an investigation into Hercock's behaviour an admission of guilt was obtained from Hercock during an interview, where he also revealed he had voluntarily attended a year-long sex offender treatment programme. Shelley received an apology letter from Hercock and another letter from then Archbishop cardinal Thomas Williams, stating little could be done as Hercock was no longer a priest. "Your complaint was received and found to be wholly credible from the outset," Williams wrote. "The interview with Peter Hercock gave him the opportunity to deny the truth of the complaint or accept it. In the event Peter Hercock admitted his guilt." A "reimbursement" of $25,000 was paid to Shelley, then known as Sam Shelley, by the church. Other victims of Hercock were also paid similar sums. But Shelley remained disappointed with the result, believing the church was focused more on their own reputation than the victims, and went to the police in 2004. DNA evidence was taken from Hercock, but soon after Shelley was told that nothing could be done because of restrictions of the Crimes Act. At this point it had been 34 years since she had first met Hercock. Shelley remained committed to seeing the matter through. "I had a bucket list before the term bucket list was ever invented and at the top of that was 'I must not die before I get justice for what Hercock's done'. "I just bided my time, really, and didn't ever give up hope of getting justice." Her chance came in 2014, when she spoke publicly in front of a Select Committee into sexual violence funding. Following her moment before the politicians, rape victims advocate Louise Nicholas approached Shelley. After hearing how police had failed to take the matter further she introduced her to the police's sexual assault co-ordinator. The case was reopened, leading to Hercock being charged and eventually pleading guilty. As has become a pattern with sexual offending within the priesthood, Shelley was not a sole victim. It's unknown how many woman Hercock abused, but three others have come forward to police. They include a 13-year-old fed whisky in the presbytery bedroom before an attempted rape, a 15-year-old who was indecently assaulted and a girl who engaged in regular sexual intercourse with Hercock at a bach run by nuns in Waikanae. Shelley met the three for the first time as they watched Hercock enter his guilty plea. SUPPORT FROM UP HIGH There are few people more qualified to talk to a sexual abuse victim than Nicholas. Her story is well-known, with little need to gloss over details. She claimed to have been raped and sexually violated over a period of years by several police officers, and suffered in silence for decades. With the help of investigative journalist Phil Kitchin, her story was sensationally publicised in 2004, proving a catalyst for a commission of inquiry into the behaviour of police and subsequent reforms. Nicholas is always a passionate and vigorous speaker, but becomes animated when talking about the strength needed by Shelley to continually fight for justice during such a long period. "I can absolutely see where Ann-Marie is coming from because she knows there's more (victims) out there and by others seeing what her and the others have done it may give them the courage and strength to get rid of the demons that have been sitting with them for so long. "To be able to put herself out there and say 'hey, this is me and this is what happened to me' is actually one of the most powerful processes you can go through as a survivor of sexual violence." Nicholas is modest about her own role in helping Shelley seek justice, pointing out she simply steered her in the right direction. Today the police are far better at handling sexual abuse cases than before, but she's unsurprised at their response to Shelley's initial complaint 12 years ago. "In 2004 it doesn't surprise me that they kind of swept this one under the carpet and it's a sad reflection on the culture back there. "What angers me more is for a survivor to be told that because of the issues around time and all that, it was a complete and utter lie, and they knew that." Also present at Shelley's Select Committee appearance was former police officer Mike McCarthy, then a Detective Senior Sergeant and national co-ordinator of the Adult Sexual Assault team. A driver of change within the police about how it handled sexual complaints, McCarthy remembers clearly the moment he heard Shelley speak. "It was one of those moments where you could see she was recounting an incredibly painful experience but also you could see the impact on her life." Catching Nicholas' eye, he told her later that if she approached Shelley and offered to put her in touch he would look at having the case reopened. While McCarthy says he is unsure of the details of the 2003 investigation, it was clear things should have been done better. "Her (Shelley's) experience at the time in my view wasn't good enough, her experience then wasn't what the police's current view is around investigating stuff [like this]. "My belief is that compared to 13-odd years ago the approach right from the outset and how it's received would be much more professional than it might have been." When asked for more detail about why no charges were laid in 2003, Hutt Valley investigations manager Detective Senior Sergeant Glenn Barnett said police were not in a position to comment. But the way allegations of this nature were dealt with had improved vastly in the past 13 years, he said. "The sentencing of Mr Hercock brings to a close a comprehensive investigation by police, and we especially acknowledge those victims who were a vital part of the process to bring him to justice. "We are also pleased they will be spared the further scrutiny of a court trial, a result which could not have been achieved without their courage and the dedication of the investigation team to secure a guilty plea." THE CHURCH RESPONDS But what of the Catholic church's role in Hercock's offending? Did they do enough to prevent it? Should they have taken the matter further after receiving complaints about him? Former Archbishop of Wellington Tom Williams, the church's top man in New Zealand at the time of Shelley's complaint, says he simply can't remember. When contacted at his Kapiti home, the 86-year-old was quiet for a moment before saying he could not recall the case. Told a letter signed by him went into great detail, including the payment of cash, Williams denied it was for anything other than fair compensation. "Look you've got me on these things, I simply don't know. Firstly, I've never paid anyone anything to keep quiet, that I'm quite sure of. "I should be able to remember that because it's not that far back but honestly I've got no memory of it at all." His successor and current Archbishop of Wellington, cardinal John Dew, believes the church acted appropriately. While Hercock had in essence confessed to the crimes when interviewed by the Protocol Committee in 2003, it was not the church's place to take the information to police. The idea was to investigate the claims then make a recommendation to church authorities. In Shelley's case, the recommendation was an apology and compensation. When asked about her view that the church was more focused on its own reputation, Dew is certain that was not the case. "I wouldn't agree it was about the church coming out clean... I always felt the people on those committees really wanted to help those who were abused, who wanted justice done. "We never ever looked at it as hush money, we never even talked about compensation. We looked at it as a pastoral gesture in order to help people." Since a rush of complaints in the early 2000s the number of people coming forward had dwindled, but Dew wanted any other victims to feel comfortable in approaching the church. Abuse such as that suffered at the hands of Hercock was terrible. "We obviously regret this ever happened, we just know this should never have happened and we regret that it ever did." At her home amongst the rainbows, the apology is of little comfort to Shelley. "There are people who knew what this ex-priest was doing and have chosen to stay silent - and they are still saying silent. "I can't imagine why they think it's OK, because it's not OK. They will not go to heaven quicker by being quiet and they've done those of us who were hurt by that guy a massive disservice. Because they could have helped us earlier."
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