Editorial: Role for all in keeping kids safe

Moko Rangitoheriri.

It was heartening to see people out in force in the Justice for Moko rallies in Hawke's Bay and throughout the country yesterday.

Like Nia Glassie all those years ago, the brutal killing of 3-year-old Moko Rangitoheriri, who died as the result of "multiple blunt force traumas", shocked the nation.

His killers, David William Haerawa, 43, and Tania Shailer, 26, were sentenced in the Rotorua High Court yesterday to 17 years in jail.

The rallies came about as outrage grew when the Crown withdrew a charge of murder against the pair and replaced it with a charge of manslaughter. Many felt there had been a plea bargain and that the murder charge should have remained.

While the law of the land needs to be respected, there is nothing wrong with people voicing an opinion if they think justice has been compromised in any way.

It is also important that we as communities never lose that outrage we feel when we hear stories of child abuse.

Dr Russell Wills, who was this paper's Person of the Year a couple of years ago and is coming to the end of his term as Children's Commissioner, describes the death of little Moko as the low point of his tenure.

To most people, cases like this are shocking and sickening.

The similarities between the deaths of Nia Glassie in 2007 and Moko Rangitoheriri last year are terrible, and one has to wonder why such brutality has happened again.

While it is important for us to show our outrage in public rallies, it is also important that we do everything in our power to ensure our children are kept safe.

We do this by being vigilant and not keeping quiet when we suspect something is going on.