Probe police officer sparked by sexual abuse case left untouched for several years

An investigation into a senior police officer's handling of over 50 cases began after supervisors noticed a historical sexual abuse case had sat for a couple of years with no investigations being done.

The cases, of which all but two are child protection complaints and adult sexual assaults, have been re-opened after concerns were raised in May 2026 about the management of one historical case.

RNZ understands the officer is Detective Inspector Kevan Verry. Verry, who currently works in the National Gang Unit based in Wellington, has been a police officer for nearly 30 years.

RNZ approached Verry for comment on Tuesday morning. He replied: "I will not be making any comment about the case."

RNZ understands the allegations relate to investigations that were closed and did not proceed to court.

It's understood that Verry's role at the time was as a second level supervisor. He would not be involved in investigating the file, but would receive the file with recommendations once the information had been gathered.

Verry previously worked in Northland.

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Speaking to Checkpoint on Tuesday, Assistant Commissioner District Support Tusha Penny said the investigation began after supervisors saw that a senior officer had one file that had sat for a couple of years with no investigations being done.

She confirmed the file was a historical allegation of sexual abuse.

"For the nature of the file, that's unacceptable. So, what we did is we took a very broad, comprehensive look to ensure that there were no shadows, and we knew exactly what we were dealing with," she said.

"What we did is we got specialists from around the country, and they looked at … close to 1000 files. We've got 54 that we are saying needs to be reinvestigated, and they will be looked at."

None of the files had gone to prosecution, Penny confirmed.

Of the 54 cases, 40 related to child protection, 12 were adult sexual assault and two were other types of crime, Penny said.

Penny was unable to rule out that the alleged offenders had not offended again while the cases had been filed.

"So that is exactly why we're taking this approach, because I'm not going to rule out anything.

"What we're going to do is have a comprehensive investigation of each one… the New Zealand police aren't going to stand back and hide anything, it will be full and transparent, but our priority is around these victims and around making sure we do the job we need to do."

She said police had a quality assurance process that occurred for "targeted files" nationally.

"What we will do with this is we are looking at our process of quality assurance to make sure they are where they need to be."

Penny refused to say if Verry was still working. It is understood he is on special leave.

"There is a full employment process underway, and I am by no means going to jeopardise that by speaking either about the officer or anything to do with that. What I will say, though… is we have looked far and wide in relation to this to look at files, and I really encourage if there's a victim sitting out there, and I urge them to get in touch with us, or any advocates that can bring them to us. "

In an earlier statement sent to RNZ, Penny said concerns were raised in May 2026 about the management of one historical case.

"That initial case sparked a further review where another 13 cases were identified as requiring re-investigation.

"All these cases have been reassigned, and all victims have been contacted."

Police also carried out a rapid review of about 1000 files which were "under the oversight" of the senior officer, with a further 40 cases identified for re-investigation.

Penny said the operation had pulled together a team of specialist child protection and adult sexual assault investigators to work on the re-opened cases.

"An internal assurance audit of all districts and service centres confirmed for police that there were not wider systemic issues.

"We have engaged external support agencies to offer support to the complainants in these cases."

Penny said police took its commitment to victims seriously and as part of this process, would be working to further strengthen their processes.

"We are working with Oranga Tamariki (OT), IPCA and other agencies, as we progress this matter.

"While this issue is extremely concerning for police, it does not reflect the dedication and work of officers across the country who work every day to prevent, respond and resolve crime with victims at the centre of everything they do."

In a statement, OT said it had been made aware by police of an investigation into concerns with investigations overseen by a senior officer.

"We are currently working with police to determine what role we may have had in the identified cases, and what support may be needed in the reopened investigations, with a particular focus on any child safety or wellbeing matters," spokesperson Thomas Ronan said.

"Given there are currently active police investigations underway we are unable to comment further."

Police had self-referred the matter to the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

An IPCA spokesperson told RNZ they were notified by police of the matter on 2 June.

"We are overseeing the police investigation into this matter. Police have been keeping us updated on matter."

'Horrendous and tragically sad case'

Chief Victims Advisor Ruth Money told RNZ she had received a briefing on the matter.

"This is obviously a horrendous and tragically sad case of a senior person not doing their job and letting these families down, letting these victims down and letting New Zealand down, letting their teammates at police down."

She encouraged anyone with concerns to speak to either police, local sexual violence help, or herself at her office.

"It's really important that people understand that this is an isolated incident, I'm incredibly confident in our police force. This is a horrific incident and as soon as police headquarters got a hint that there was a problem they swung into action and reviewed hundreds of hundreds of files, so we can all be sure that this is a safe environment for our victims."

Money said she appreciated the "urgency and professionalism" that police showed by carrying out the rapid review.

Money said she was not briefed on who the officer is.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said he had asked for a briefing from police, and for reassurance victims were receiving support.

"I had not received a briefing on this matter at the time of response, but on becoming aware of the situation, I have requested a full briefing from police.

"My expectation is that victims whose files have been re-opened are receiving information and support and I have asked police for reassurance this is happening.

"I am pleased to see that police have been proactive and undertaken a full audit of all files when the issue surrounding a file was bought forward.

"Our police officers do outstanding work every day in the very difficult, sensitive and challenging area of child sex offending and will be feeling badly let down by this situation. These officers invest a lot of themselves in supporting and working hard for the best outcome for victims.

"The victims must be at the heart of any additional police work on the files identified."

'Deeply distressing' for survivors

HELP Auckland's executive director Kathryn McPhillips said the news would be "deeply distressing" for many sexual violence survivors.

"Our thoughts are with every survivor whose case has now been reopened.

"Reporting sexual violence is one of the hardest things a person can do. Many survivors have already endured the trauma of disclosing what happened, only to be told that no further action would be taken. Being contacted years later and told their case is being reopened is likely to reopen those traumas."

McPhillips said police must ensure clear communication and provide ongoing specialist support to everyone impacted.

"If this process is handled well, it has the potential to rebuild some trust for survivors who might have lost confidence in the system. That will require transparency, accountability and genuine survivor-centred practice at every stage."

She said serious questions remained about how so many cases required reinvestigation before concerns were identified.

"It is deeply concerning that police's existing quality assurance processes, including the requirement for senior oversight of closing any sexual violence investigation, did not detect these issues sooner. We welcome the broader review of systems because survivors deserve confidence that robust safeguards are working."