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Lake Alice patient raped by 'sadistic' psychiatrist seeks justice

Friday, 18 June 2021

Sharyn Collis, pictured in 2006, wants to see justice for what she and other Lake Alice patients went through.
Sharyn Collis, pictured in 2006, wants to see justice for what she and other Lake Alice patients went through.

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING:

Already living with the trauma of being raped and having no-one believe her, a teenage girl was taken to a psychiatric facility and subjected to more sexual abuse.

Decades later she remains frustrated the man responsible for that abuse at Lake Alice hasn’t faced justice, despite her efforts to hold him accountable.

Sharyn Collis spent time at the lower North Island psychiatric hospital in 1973 and 1974, when she was about 14.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry is looking into the child and adolescent unit at Lake Alice in the 1970s.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry is looking into the child and adolescent unit at Lake Alice in the 1970s.

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In 1973 she was sent to live with friends of her parents in Napier, and she and two others girls were gang raped by Mongrel Mob members.

Despite reporting what happened to police, no charges were laid and Collis was told she was a willing participant. Her mother thought she was lying or deserved what happened.

Collis started acting up at school and home, and after seeing Dr Selwyn Leeks for counselling sessions ended up at Lake Alice.

There Leeks, a psychiatrist who led electro-convulsive therapy treatment, raped her, the 62-year-old said while giving evidence at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care in Auckland on Friday .

The inquiry is investigating the Lake Alice child and adolescent unit, which operated from 1972 until 1978, near Marton.

Collis said she believed Leeks, who she described as sadistic, raped her many times.

“He would take me into one of the small side rooms, get the nurses to tie me down with leather straps and give me a needle of drugs to put me to sleep.”

Collis doesn’t remember much because of the drugs, but recalls waking the first time it happened with her clothes pulled away and Leeks standing at the end of the bed. He gave her more drugs.

“I felt drunk and ready to pass out. I knew that he had raped me.”

What Leeks called “sessions” continued during Collis’ time at Lake Alice. She told other staff, but no-one believed her.

Collis was given other drugs for punishment and was many times given electric shocks, sometimes with an anaesthetic to put her to sleep and sometimes not.

“The pain was like my head was exploding. Sometimes I would wet myself. Sometimes I would vomit, and I would get the shakes afterwards.”

She also recalls being locked in a drying room for punishment. The heat was unbearable.

Collis said she didn’t believe she was mentally ill when sent to Lake Alice, where she was “imprisoned and treated like a worthless, bad person”.

Life after Lake Alice was hard. She dreamed of being an accountant, but her education was disrupted.

She was in an abusive relationship and struggled to bring up her children, although she is now a devoted grandmother. She has suffered from memory loss, addiction to prescription drugs and suicidal thoughts.

“I get nervous around people. I don't go out much, hate being in the public and don’t have many friends.

“I don’t like having people near me and feel safer by myself. I guess that’s why I isolate myself.”

She has sought justice over what happened to her and others, saying Leeks and other staff members need to be held accountable.

In 2002 she went to the Palmerston North police to file a complaint about the abuse. But when a lawyer representing her followed up with police two years later there was no record of this.

Leeks had by then moved to Australia and Collis contacted the Victorian Medical Board. She was going to give evidence about him at a hearing, but before she had the chance Leeks surrendered his licence to practice.

“I want to see Dr Leeks pay for what he did to all of us. The police said they wouldn’t extradite him because of the cost to make that happen, but how can that be right?

“He needs to be held accountable and for everyone to see what a monster he is.”

As well as seeing Leeks face justice, Collis wants Lake Alice survivors to be paid compensation for what they went through and saw, receive ACC, and for the Government to set up a support group for survivors and families, with appropriate mental health support.

After Collis spoke, her daughter Amy Bethune told the inquiry about the effects of her mother’s trauma on her. She described her “miserable and unhappy” childhood, where she would often be responsible for looking after her siblings.

Collis has apologised to Bethune for not being a proper mother and recently moved in with Bethune, where she helps look after her children.

Earlier in the week Leeks’ lawyer Hayden Rattray said the former doctor was now 92. He had cancer, heart disease, kidney dysfunction, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Leeks was unable to understand proceedings and was incapable of responding to accusations.

Police said this week their present investigation into Leeks began in 2018 and continues.

The inquiry continues.

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