Nia Glassie
September
20, 2004 - August 3, 2007
In video taped statements,
a child told of the abuse she had been witness to in the case of Nia Glassie.
The child said that she had seen the three year old girl spun around in
the dryer, forced into a hole in the couch and then sat on, spun around
on the clothes line until she fell off and that moves from professional
wrestling were also done to
this little Angel.
Pedigrees, tombstones and penalties were practiced on Nia. This involved
picking her up by her legs, dropping her on her head and body slamming
her. All of this abuse, of course, made the little girl scream and cry
out in pain. Her abusers didn't care.
The child told the
abusers they should stop:
"she
might end up being sore and not wake up"
"They were
putting her in the couch 'cos there's a rip in the couch and they sat on
her and in
the dryer
they spinned her round. And they put her on the line and they made
her cry and
they made
her fall off. And they put her in the sandpit and she had no pants on"
Two child witnesses
gave video taped statements as to the abuse they had witnessed. The defense
in this case had tried to get the judge to stop what was said in the video
taped statements from being used in newspapers. The attempt to block this
was denied by Justice Pamela Andrews in the High Court at Rotorua.
Jonathan Temm, the
defense lawyer stated that he thought if the statements were put into the
paper, it would unfairly cause people to be prejudice against his clients,
Lisa Kuka, Nia's mother, her boyfriend Wiremu Curtis, his brother Michael
Curtis, Michael's girlfriend Oriwa Kemp and Nia's cousin, Michael Pearson.
Wiremu and Michael Curtis are charged with with murder while the others
are charged with manslaughter. ALL of the defendants have denied
that they hurt Nia at all.
The first child witness
testified that it was Michael Pearson who had suggested that they put Nia
into the dryer and that Wiremu and his brother Michael had pushed her into
the dryer like a ball and turned it on:
"They turned
it up to high and then they let her spin around"
CYF interviewer:
"How long was she in the dryer?
Child: "Twenty
minutes"
Interviewer:
"And what about the door on the dryer, Was that ... "
Child: "It
was closed and she kicked the door open. She kicked the door open and they
just put her
legs back in again."
The child testified
that when the dryer door was opened and Nia was allowed to come out, she
was conscious and her abusers then took her outside and put her on
the clothesline:
"They put her
on the line and spinned her fast as so she can fall off . They done it
three times
and she
hurt her head"
After Nia fell off
of the clothesline, her abusers removed her clothes and threw her into
the sandpit:
"She was crying
loud and they turned on the music, they turned up the radio so that the
next-door
neighbors don't hear"
According to the
child, this abuse took place only three days before Nia was taken to the
Rotorua Hospital. On Wednesday, Oriwa had kicked Nia in the nose and she
ended up bleeding. On Thursday, Nia was used to practice wrestling moves
called penalties and was also beaten. On Friday, more wrestling moves were
practiced on her and that night, the witness says that Nia was "floppy"
in bed and was not able to wake up when her mother returned home and bathed
her.
The child witness
says that when she told them to stop hurting Nia because she might end
up sore and not wake up, she was told to "shut up". The abuse of Nia had
taken place over several days between July 18 and 20 of 2008.
A second child testified
that Nia was floppy and frothing at her mouth after the abuse. The child
said that Nia's last meal had been on Friday, July 20th and that she had
eaten hot chips and an orange, for lunch. The child also stated that Nia
was asleep for three days before Michael Curtis had told her mother to
take her to the hospital and she did not do it.
On Saturday, there
was going to be a birthday party for Michael Curtis, who was turning 21.
Nia's aunt Louise took her and two other children home with her:
"Lisa told
me Nia had flu. I said I will take her and look after her. She said: "promise
me you
won't take
her to the hospital"
At about 4am, Nia's
older sister, Esther, woke up Louise saying that nia was going to vomit,
the child said:
"Aunty, Nia's
going to be sick"
Louise turned Nia
onto her side and noticed she was frothing at her mouth. Louise made the
decision to take Nia to the hospital. Michael Curtis had tried to stop
her and she told him:
"I'm taking
her, she's my niece"
Louise took Nia to
Rotorua Hospital and she was later transferred to Auckland's Starship,
Nia was found to be in a coma.
Lisa Kuka told doctors
that the injuries she had were a result of Nia falling off of the
shoulders of Wiremu. However, more details of the abuse Nia suffered were
starting surface. Nia was put into the fireplace where she suffered burns
on her head and her feet. Her step-grandfather was said to have put a scarf
around her neck and
lifted her off of
the ground and then slammed her down, then he began to abuse her verbally.
Nia had also been forced to take an ice cold bath before the incident where
she was spun around in the dryer and she was left on the roof of the house
screaming as well as being forced to run around the house naked and being
left outside for up to
an hour at a time
in freezing cold weather.
It is believed that
Nia was abused throughout the months between March and July with the abuse
becoming more severe in the last three days of her life. Also charged would
be Wiremu's father, William Curtis who faced charges of assault on a child
and injuring with intent to cause bodily harm.
Louise said that
her nieces told her they were witnesses to the abuse that Nia had been
put through:
Louise said her nieces
had told her they had seen what was done to Nia:
"Jessie approached
me and she said "we saw everything. They told me they saw them put Nia
in the dryer.
They put her in and turned the dial. They watched her go round and they
laughed."
When asked by Police
why she had not taken her daughter to the hospital, Lisa said she had did
not have a vehicle and there was no phone to call for help. When asked
why she had not asked someone who was coming for the party to take her
she said:
"Cause at the
time it was Michael's 21st, okay. It wasn't that I wanted to stay there
and get drunk.
I didn't want
to know what happened"
List went on to say
that she listened to Michael Curtis and Oriwa Kemp when they told her that
Nia would be fine. She said, however:
"Deep down
inside I knew she wasn't fine"
When asked Nia had
been in bad shape on Saturday Lisa said:
"No, um, might've.
I don't know, I hardly checked on her - not that I didn't care but Wiremu,
was always
in the room with her. Michael was going in there. They were saying that
she's alright
at the time"
She also said:
"I know it
sounds stupid - I wanted to take her but I listened to them. I couldn't
stand going in
there looking
at her because I knew myself that she wasn't right. But I didn't do nothing
about it.
It was too
late on Sunday and if I had done something on Friday she may still be there
with me, but
she's not"
Before she was arrested,
Lisa told the Detective Sergeant that she had been asking herself over
and over:
"Why her, why
did I not do nothing, why didn't I seek medical advice ASAP, why?"
Lisa Kuka was allowed
to visit Nia while she was in the hospital, though her visits were supervised.
Kuka's other two children were taken away from her, her son, who was ten
and her other daughter who was eight, were taken into custody by the Child
Youth And Family Services and placed with another family member.
Lisa went out clubbing
to get her mind off of things. She went with her sister Louise and some
other people. Louise had this to say:
"I'm
so angry with her. She knew. She knew"
Nia's paternal Grandfather,
Glassie Glassie Sr., said what happened to her was disgusting. He said
that Nia's father, Glassie Glassie Jr, was planning to return from New
South Wales to be with Nia and that he little contact with Nia since she
had moved from Tokoroa to Rotorua last year:
"In my heart
right now I just want my grandchild to pull through, she is a young child.
Baby is cute,
I look at
her and think what a little nice granddaughter I have. She has a big smile.
I told my son
about what
happened and he was angry. I have been watching this on the news and reading
in the paper.
I don't know why this has happened"
On August 3, 2008
at 4:12pm, Nia died at Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland. Nia had
spent most of the week on a ventilator and in a coma after the abuse she
suffered. She never regained consciousness before she died. Police stated
that there would be a post mortem examination of Nia's body, the next day.
"Police investigations
into the injuries sustained by Nia are continuing. Police will await the
results of
the post mortem examination before considering the next steps in this inquiry"
Detective
Senior Sergeant Mark Loper
Nia's maternal grandmother,
Polly Kuka said that she was surprised that Nia had died:
"I thought
she might pull through to be honest. Nia was a lovely girl. She asked for
nothing"
Polly added that
Nia was now at peace and that she has offered her daughter love, however,
since she holds her daughter responsible for what happened to Nia, she
will not comfort her at all:
"Surely there
were some signs of something she could have seen and told us about,
but she never
said anything"
Outside of the court
house, people protested prior to the hearing beginning.
In court, Wiremu's
lawyer had the NERVE to say to the jurors that they should ignore
feelings of disgust about what happened to Nia saying this about the case:
"This case
might scream out to you to give justice to Nia, but to decide guilt on
those feelings
would be wrong"
Craig Horsley told
the High Court that Wiremu admitted to the things he did that contributed
to Nia's death, however, hd did not have and intent to murder her. He said
that Wiremu was guilty of manslaughter instead of murder. While he admitted
that Wiremu's treatment of Nia in the last days of her life was unacceptable
he stated that it was:
"Done without
malice, without any appreciation of the potential harm. He is not
a murderer
and he is
not guilty of Nia's murder"
Craig told the jury
that in order to convict Wiremu of murder they would need to be sure of
the following:
* Wiremu kicked Nia
in the head on the Friday evening the Crown
alleged.
* That if he had
kicked her, he intended to injure her.
* That he appreciated
death was a likely consequence of his actions.
* And not withstanding
that, he took the risk anyway.
This IDIOT,
Craig Horsley, said that there was no medical evidence to support that
kicking a three year old child in the head, would kill her. He also said
that a pediatrician had stated that had Nia been taken to the hospital
immediately, she most likely would have been able to survive the abuse.
I wonder if ANY of them considered that if these people had NOT
abused Nia, her chances at survival would have been 100% for sure!
Craig argued that
the other assaults on Nia in the days that lead up to her final day could
have caused the subdural hematomas and that the Crown had not excluded
that as a possibility.
He said other assaults
on the toddler in the days leading up to the Friday could have caused the
subdural hematomas, or bleeding in her head, that killed her, and the Crown
had failed to exclude this possibility.
Witnesses had spoken
of symptoms that were displayed by Nia which were consistent with having
a head injury:
"We know that
by 7pm on Friday, this young girl had suffered numerous, not insignificant,
bangs to the
head"
Craig stated that
the clothesline incident had started out as a game and that Wiremu
had only been watching.
"The ringleader
in that scenario was Michael Curtis"
Craig claimed that
Wiremu intimidated by his brother and as a slow learner, he was easily
led.
"He may have
been 17 years old at the time but he was operating at the level of a
12- or 13-year-old"
Craig then went on
to attack the credibility of the child witnesses who had given testimony
of seeing Nia kicked in the head. He said that the child had given false
evidence saying that Nia was hot and had a bloody nose when she was
taken out of the dryer. Craig claimed that tests on the dryer had shown
that the dryer would only spin twice with a child of that weight
inside of it.
Jonathan Temm, the
lawyer for Michael Curtis said that the evidence given by the child was
unreliable and that the fatal kicks had never taken place. He argued that
there was no bruising on Nia's head and that the things the child witnessed
were not supported by anyone else.
Jonathan also said
that a series of events led to the decline of Nia over those few days and
that the wrestling moves performed on Nia, though they were stupid, were
lacking in criminal intent.
How could ANYONE
defend the kind of scum who is capable of doing the things that were done
to Nia and to ALL of the children in this world who are abused by
people they love and trust? I just don't understand it.
William Curtis, the
father of Wiremu and Michael said that his family is upset about the verdicts
his sons were given, he also said that life must go on. Outside of the
court house he said:
"Nia ...I feel
sorry for Nia, what happened shouldn't have happened. But it's all gone"
How can this man
say that he feels sorry for Nia, when he abused her himself?
Panama Le'au' Anae,
Lisa's lawyer said that the verdicts which had been reached were not unexpected:
"I'd imagine
she, Lisa Kuka, would be devastated about the result. At the end of the
day she's
got to carry
the burden of having lost her child and I don't think that's anything she'll
be able
to live down"
Mr. Anae said that
he had not yet discussed an appeal with Lisa, who was sentence to nine
years for her part in the death of Nia:
"Like I said
in my summing up, Lisa made a big mistake in hooking up with this young
man,
he made some
mistakes, no one's perfect ...some are bigger than others"
Mr. Anae also said
that Kuku had talked about her daughter during the trial and that she was
clearly upset over losing her daughter.
Justice Judith Trotter
broke down after the verdicts were read. She also thanked the jury for
their work and acknowledged that the four week trial had taken a toll on
all of them. She then offered them all counseling and excused them. Radio
New Zealand reported that her voice began to break as she spoke and she
started to cry.
"This was extremely
cruel conduct on a child. These two young men were old enough to appreciate
what they were doing was wrong"
Judith spoke about
Lisa Kuka:
"This was very
serious neglect. She was aware Nia was being abused and chose to
ignore her defenseless three-year-old child. She turned a blind eye to
what was happening to Nia because
she
was in love with Wiremu.
Nia was a
defenseless child"
On November 18, 2008,
after four weeks at trial, Wiremu, who was 19 years old by then and
Michael Curtis, who was 22, were found guilty of the murder of Nia Glassie.
For their crimes against Nia, the court gave them each a RIDICULOUS
sentence of 17 1/2 years in prison.
Lisa Kuka, who was
35 at the time, was found guilty on two counts of manslaughter for failing
to protect and seek medical attention for Nia when she needed it, her sentence
was nine years in prison.
Michael Pearson,
who was 20 at the time his girlfriend Oriwa Kemp, who was 18, were found
not guilty of manslaughter, however, they were found guilty on other charges.
They were sentenced to three years and three years four months, in prison.
Miremu, Michael Curtis,
Michael Pearson and Oriwa were found guilty on ill treatment charges that
related to the clothesline incident and also on general ill treatment charges,
though Michael Pearson was not charged on the general ill treatment charges.
Miremu and Michael Curtis both became upset when the verdicts were
read, prison guards had to restrain them.
Michael Pearson and
Oriwa Kemp's lawyers had managed to distance them from the worst of the
abuse charges claiming they were not directly involved and during the worst
of the abuse, they were not even present.
Lisa's lawyer claimed
that she was a hard working mother who only wanted the best for her children
and that she had made a big mistake getting together with Wiremu, who was
only 17 years old when she met him.
Craig Horsley had
this to say about the sentence:
"Given the
verdicts, I thought the sentence was the only appropriate sentence. We
said 17 years,
the Crown
said 18 and a half starting point – can't be unhappy with 17 and a half"
Nia's aunt had this
to say about the sentences:
"They should've
chucked the keys away. Give them exactly the same treatment they gave to
t
he child.
That's what they should get, exactly what they gave to the poor kid"
Piki Rapana
On February 13, 2009,
William Curtis, who was 50 years old at the time, was found guilty of assault
for the things he did to Nia, he was sentenced to ONLY four years
for the abuse he gave her. The judge took ten minutes to decide what his
sentence would be for the abuse. William showed NO emotion as the
Judge, Phillip Cooper, told him his sentence.
William stood in
the dock, with two corrections officers and smiled as he waved to two relatives
who were in the courtroom. Though Judge Judith Potter had sentenced his
sons last week and that had taken most of the day, Judge Phillip
Cooper sentenced William so quickly that some of his family didn't have
time to get to the court hearing before he had finished. Outside, his partner
Mary said:
"What
did he get"
I, personally, find
it disgusting that ANYONE could want to be with a man who could
torture a child this way. What kind of a woman is this Mary that a man
could do what William did and she could love him any way? It makes my stomach
turn!
William was sentenced
to three years on the charge of assault with a weapon, which was the scarf
he wrapped around Nia's neck and held her off of the ground for several
seconds until her faced turned purple. He was sentenced to a year for the
other charges he faced for back handing Nia and making her lip bleed, pushing
her to the ground and shoving her into a wall while threatening to stomp
on her head. Williams lawyer, Harry Edwards agreed with the sentence of
three years for the main charge which carries a maximum sentence of ONLY
five years. Harry Edwards asked the judge to be lenient with the other
seven charges since his previous convictions were not for violent offenses,
they were based on drunk while driving and dishonesty.
Crown Prosecutor
Amanda Gordon believed that the sentence should reflect the severity of
the crime:
"There was
no reason for the assault. Nia was simply sitting or playing, doing nothing
to inspire
any anger
from the prisoner"
Judge Phillip Cooper
pointed out that William was a step-grandfather to Nia and that she had
deserved to be nurtured by him. He stated that William seemed to think
that violence against children is an acceptable thing:
"For no apparent
reason you would walk over to her and push her to the ground. This would
happen often. This child was in your house. She was defenseless and vulnerable.
She was the target of inexplicable and incomprehensible violence"
William was ordered
to serve the two terms cumulatively.
On March 3, 2009
or about that date, an appeal was filed on behalf of Wiremu Curtis, by
his lawyer, Craig Horsley. As of today, March 6, 2009, no date has been
set for that trial.
Nia's father said
at her funeral that he was going to remain in New Zealand and try to gain
custody of his three other children, a son and two more daughters. He left
New Zealand later, without any of them. The children have since been placed
to live with other family members.
Lisa Kuka attended
Nia's funeral and would not answer any questions that the media had for
her.
Read
about Nia's burial
For information about
preventing child abuse in New Zealand, click the links below. If they can't
help you, ask for someone who can. NEVER give up looking for help
for an abused child!
Call this number
to report child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child
1-800-422-4453
   
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by clicking the link below, to see all
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