Cornelius stuck in legal limbo

Raetihi man William Cornelius,79, came under national scrutiny last month when he was deemed unfit to stand trial on 22 charges, including multiple rapes, alleged by four women, because of his health. Wanganui Chronicle reporter Kathryn King recently got to view the court files on Cornelius' case, which provided more insight into the allegations and his mental state

WILLIAM Cornelius couldn't remember the date, the season or his correct age, was offended by the allegations made against him and scared of being put into an old people's home, according to notes made by clinical psychologists who assessed him.

Following a joint application by the Crown Solicitor and defence counsel to have Cornelius's case dealt with under section 14 of the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act earlier this year, Whanganui District Court Judge David Cameron found that on the balance of probabilities, there was sufficient evidence to find he committed the offences for which he was charged.

It was a position, as Judge Cameron described, that "lies somewhere between an acquittal and a conviction", and was a necessary finding to make in order to be able to deem him unfit to stand trial.

A stay, which prevents any further criminal proceedings being bought against Cornelius, was also granted, "for so long as the condition giving rise to the disability lasts".

To say this allowed him to "walk free", as has been reported, is something of a misnomer - the medical assessments supporting the order found Cornelius is in the early stages of dementia and has prostate cancer, probable life sentences in their own right.

Neither can he come and go as he pleases - as part of his disposal orders, a guardian was appointed to him and restrictions placed on his movements, which mean he cannot go out without an approved companion, for a legitimate reason and cannot spend more than 72 hours away from his residence.

While his culpability may lie in a legal grey area, Cornelius vehemently maintained his innocence to his mental health assessors, calling the allegations "disgusting rotten filthy talk" and appeared fearful of what would happen to him if he went to prison.

He told one assessor he could tell the court his version of what happened, but thought he would find being tried on the stand the most difficult.

Clinical psychologist Kimberley O'Hagan, one of the four experts who assessed Cornelius, found he had "extremely low intellectual functioning" and could name only three correct words beginning with "A" in a minute.

He had a relatively intact long-term memory, and was able to recall many details of his version of the alleged offending, but they did not flow logically and were disjointed.

He told her going to prison would kill him and he would be "picked on" and "beaten up". Another assessor noted when questioned about the alleged events he would angrily repeat word for word his version and quickly became confused and more upset if questioned. He was offended by the allegations and scared of going into an old people's home.

Another clinical psychologist described Cornelius as a "wily old fox", who had obvious deficits in his memory, camouflaged somewhat by his evasiveness when he didn't know an answer.

Information gathered from those who cared for him showed there had been a sharp decline in his abilities in recent years.

He reportedly spent most of his time dozing in front of the TV or gazing out the window, and was forever misplacing and forgetting things.

He got "lost" in the lounge, and struggled to carry out simple tasks like winding down the car window, putting on a seatbelt, or taking off his clothes in a logical sequence - he'd take off his pants with his boots still on.

Being unable to carry out a simple task made him agitated and angry.

Also affecting him was a head injury from a car accident some years ago, and he had been blind in one eye since aged 10.

The consensus among the experts was that while he didn't have a mental illness, he had early stage dementia and a decreased capacity to care for himself, requiring guardianship and property management orders.

He was deemed not to pose a sexual danger to the community.

The charges against Cornelius were first laid in December 2009 for alleged offending against four women between 1966 and 1991.

The women alleged multiple rapes and assaults. Summaries of facts show two of the women claimed single incidents of rape by Cornelius, one of whom ended up with bruises and a broken finger after he was said to have also belted her with a nylon rope and stomped on her hand, a beating partially witnessed.

The other said she woke up in the night to find him having sex with her.

A third victim alleged multiple rapes over a period of months and a beating that left her with two black eyes, one of which was swollen shut the next day.

He was said to have explained her injuries at the time by saying he had belted her for being a "slut" and drinking with boys.

She believed it was out of jealously.

The first victim to come forward was Heather Walsh, whose allegations made up 14 of the charges laid against him.

Ms Walsh's allegations included that she was repeatedly raped, terrorised with threats of torture and death and starved after she accepted a position working for Cornelius as a tutor for his son at his remote, isolated property in Raetihi.

During the five months she lived with him, she said was effectively held captive, falling pregnant to him, but later miscarrying. Court documents say she told her mother about the pregnancy, and that she wanted to leave, but not about the abuse.

She alleged she went back to the farm with him following a visit to the doctor after he begged her, but was then assaulted on the way home and from then on kept under even stricter confines. Unable to walk from the property, she said she bided her time and escaped by stealing a ute while he was out hunting with a friend.

Court documents show following the alleged offences of 1985, in the period up to 2010, Ms Walsh claimed to have visited 16 counsellors, but only half that number were able to provide records.

Counselling notes showed she had recovered memories of abuse, and she said she finally came forward with her allegations in 2008 because what had happened was affecting her so much and she had become stronger with counselling and had support to do something about it.

The doctors she visited when she allegedly fell pregnant to Cornelius could not be identified with precision and no records were obtainable.

Neither were any records of a complaint to police, who she said she spoke to after her escape, and she could not identify the officer she spoke to from staff photos.

Court documents also revealed that during her time with Cornelius, she gave evidence in the Family Court on his behalf during a custody dispute.

In her evidence, she said she was "prepared to stay and teach the Cornelius children as long as he was happy to employ her", and that he had been a "good influence" on his kids, and told them never to lie, steal or be disrespectful.

Despite the missing records, a judge was satisfied that her credibility could be tested with what was available, and her evidence allowed to proceed to trial, had one taken place.

Following Cornelius' disposal hearing Ms Walsh applied to have her name suppression, which is automatically given to all victims in sex cases, lifted.

She told media she did so in order to expose Cornelius, so everyone would know who he was and what he had done.

She maintains that he remains a risk to the community.