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One new complainant was a former student called Eli Laurel, not his real name, who'd left the creche to attend school that year after turning five in 1991.

He started out by talking about Peter Ellis as being sometimes bad and sometimes good.

When asked what Peter did that was bad, Eli said he dipped people in the ponds.

Peter was known for sometimes dipping the children's hair in paddling pools and water troughs on a hot day.

Gradually, Eli disclosed more, saying that Peter did wheeze in people's faces and placed his penis in Eli's mouth.

Another new complainant was Zelda Cypress, not her real name, who was also a former student and the oldest of the complainants at nine years old.

Zelda had attended the Christchurch Civic Crèche for two years and had also been babysat by Peter Ellis around Christmas of 1986, shortly after he'd started working there.

Zelda gradually revealed that Peter had abused her while babysitting her at his home.

He'd exposed himself and Zelda later said he'd touched her inappropriately as well.

More children made additional disclosures about Peter making them consume urine and faeces and touching their genitalia.

One girl said Peter had raped her.

The 13th complainant was a little boy who would become known by the pseudonym of Bart Dogwood, who started attending the creche in 1989 when he was almost three.

Initially, when his mother had asked if Peter had ever touched him inappropriately, Bart had replied, "'Peter wouldn't do that to me.

He's my friend.'"

But over the coming weeks, after he was questioned again, Bart said Peter had touched his penis while cleaning him up after he went to the toilet.

More social workers and experts had been added to the case as it grew.

In May of 1992, a DSW social worker named Jan Galanders was tasked with supporting the families who had been involved in court proceedings.

Jen Crossan, a nurse with social work experience, was appointed to support past and present Kreisch families who were not going to court.

The two women would spend much of the next year visiting families, liaising with investigators and therapists, and attending the meetings of various support groups that had sprung up around the case.

They also provided families with information about child sexual abuse, pulling together a range of helpful books on the subject,