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Hon Roger McClay
Commissioner for Children 31 August 2001

"The law prevents me from becoming involved in this current sad ‘tug of war’ involving the McLaughlin children being sent back to the United States today," said Roger McClay, Commissioner for Children.

Mr McClay’s office has been inundated with appeals from angry and sad New Zealander’s about the courts decision to send the McLaughlin children back to the United States.

"My heart goes out to these little children whose lives have been so traumatised by their predicament. Like so many children, they are the innocent victims of an adult world."

"It is difficult to accept that the Hague Convention intended that convicted paedophiles could in fact bring about the separation of innocent mothers from their children," said Mr McClay.

"However, New Zealand law prescribes that the Commissioner for Children has absolutely no authority to investigate any decision or recommendation made by, or any act or omission of, any Court," he concluded.

Ends

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