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And yet, individually, each one carried information about his behaviour that would send alarm bells screaming in the head of anyone with the slightest clue about child sex abuse."

Some of the remarks divulged by Peter's colleagues included concerns about Peter's drinking and his ability to babysit children outside of work.

He had reportedly mentioned that an uncle had abused him when he was eight years old, but it was okay because he knew what he was doing.

There were reports that Peter had made inappropriate comments about children's bodies and the size of the boys' penises.

I thought he was perverted, one employee said.

He told me explicit details of the men and women he slept with.

He likes to flaunt his sex life.

Smart suggested, Because he behaved and spoke somewhat outrageously and possibly because he was bisexual, he was seen as different.

Therefore, for both staff and parents, the usual boundaries did not seem to apply."

Smart was critical of the staff for what she believed was their total lack of training in sexual abuse prevention and detection.

She also quoted research from a 1987 book by American sociologist David Finkelhor titled Nursery Crimes.

Finkelhor's book deals with the issue of child sexual abuse within daycare centres, with a particular emphasis on ritual abuse and abuse by female workers.

It had become something of a go-to manual on the topic for social workers and sexual abuse experts.

Christchurch Police had received a copy of Smart's report at around the same time that children started naming the female Kreisch employees as perpetrators alongside Peter Ellis.

Investigators had looked into Peter's mother, Leslie Ellis, after some of the children included her in their accusations.

But they ultimately concluded that there wasn't enough evidence to implicate her.

They narrowed their focus to the other Kreisch workers instead, with Smart's work going some way to convincing the child abuse unit detectives that they needed to investigate the women there.

They also needed to take action to prevent the abuse of any more children.

Four women's names had come up during disclosures, and all four still worked at the creche.

On Thursday September 3 1992, the Christchurch Civic Creche was abruptly and permanently closed by the Ministry of Education.