The extent of Brad Shipton’s crimes may never be known

An advocate for sexual abuse survivors says the true extent of Brad Shipton’s crimes may never come to light.

Warning: This story involves sexual abuse, which may be disturbing to some readers.

The former police officer and convicted rapist died this week at the age of 65 from complications of early-onset dementia.

Brad Shipton was convicted for his part in the rape of a woman in Mount Maunganui in 1989.

During a parole hearing in 2009, Shipton confessed to the rape for which he had been imprisoned, reportedly saying his life had been full of “disgraceful, disgusting” behavior.

He and two other police officers were later found not guilty of raping the victim advocate, Louisa Nicholas, when she was a teenager.

HELP chief executive Kathryn McPhillips said there could be more unknown victims of Shipton.

“We actually don’t know how many victims there are of this man because we don’t know if everyone has come forward, so news of his death could be more triggering for some people than we know.

“My thoughts are with … known victims and whether there are any unknown victims.”

Shipton caused significant damage, McPhillips said.

“He wasn’t willing to stand up and take responsibility for that damage, so in a sense that’s double damage. It means that someone has to deal with the legal system very difficult.

McPhillips said the story of Shipton’s offending prompted significant change in the police force to better support complainants of sexual assault.

‘We now have funding across the country for a specialist person to support someone through the police reporting process.

“We have a sexual assault unit at national police headquarters, staffed by people who are very concerned about the victims, so things are very different than before.”

McPhillips urged anyone who may be a victim of sexual assault to contact their local support services to help them make a complaint.

rnz.co.nz