McVicar: Women pleased alleged rapist named

Victims of an alleged rapist who escaped trial are pleased his identity has been revealed, the Sensible Sentencing Trust says. William "Bill" Paul Cornelius, 78, was accused of raping at least four teenagers in a 30-year period from the 1960s. Name suppression was lifted last week in Whanganui District Court after Judge David Cameron imposed a permanent stay on multiple rape charges. After 27 court hearings, Cornelius was deemed unfit to stand trial because of mild dementia. On Friday, Judge Cameron ruled that on the balance of probabilities, Cornelius was a serial rapist. One of his victims approached the Sensible Sentencing Trust when she realised Cornelius was about to walk free with his name suppression intact, spokesman Garth McVicar said. The trust assisted Heather Walsh, who said Cornelius kept her as a sex slave in a remote hut, to lift her name suppression and the order keeping Cornelius's identity secret. "In this case, while Cornelius managed to walk from the court never to face trial, Heather and his other victims have at least the satisfaction of having removed his cloak of anonymity," Mr McVicar said. "He is hopefully too old to create further victims – although septuagenarian sex offenders are not unknown – and we are proud to have been of some small assistance to his past victims." Mr McVicar said he was personally approached by up to seven victims of crime every day. "All of those people have felt let down in some way or another – often in many ways – by our present justice system. "The Cornelius case is an excellent example of how the system is set up for, and can be manipulated by, criminals and those acting for them."