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But Peter didn't own a car and couldn't drive.

And although police had pointed to areas inside the creche where he could have abused children out of sight, the actual layout of those locations made such abuse highly unlikely.

The toilets where he was alleged to have abused kids were tiny, child-sized spaces.

Although the adult creche workers would go in there to assist small children in using the toilet, there was no room for them to hide and they could be easily seen by other employees inside the creche.

A kitchen where he was thought to have committed crimes was equally difficult to access without witnesses.

Plus, the seven complainants whose accusations resulted in his conviction had named 21 other children as either observers or participants.

Yet, none of those 21 children ever confirmed any of the allegations.

Peter Ellis and his supporters were hoping that these facts and others would help him find a way out of prison.

In late July 1994, Peter appealed his conviction on the basis that none of the 21 children cited by complainants as witnesses ever verified the allegations.

Representing Peter was barrister Graham Pankhurst, QC, who argued that the guilty verdicts were unreasonable because the complainant's evidence wasn't credible.

He pointed out all of the inconsistencies in the children's testimony and allegations.

Pankhurst also argued that there had been a general miscarriage of justice.

The trial judge had limited the videotaped evidence and allowed the jury to keep transcripts of the children's interviews that had been edited by the Crown.

But shortly after the appeal began, it was abruptly paused due to a bombshell revelation.

Zelda Cypress, the eldest of the complainants and widely seen as the most credible, had retracted her allegations.

After learning that Peter was appealing his conviction, Zelda's mother had told her daughter that Peter was saying that the children had lied.

To Miss Cypress's mind, it was further evidence that Peter Ellis was a bad person.

But she noticed that when she told Zelda this, her daughter was silent.

Zelda, who was now a preteen, said that she'd wanted to tell her mother the truth for a while.

She was just waiting for the right opportunity.