Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Public Service Minister Judith Collins and Police Commissioner Richard Chambers are fronting media from Parliament after the release of damning details on how Police botched whistleblower complaints against disgraced former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

Media can now report the highest-ranking police officers in New Zealand ignored anonymous allegations that McSkimming was a sexual predator.

Instead of investigating whether the sex claims could be corroborated, or not, the emails alleging misconduct were used as evidence to prosecute the complainant, a young woman, for an alleged harassment campaign against McSkimming.

She was arrested and charged under the Harmful Digital Communications Act, placed under restrictive bail conditions, and silenced by wide-ranging suppression orders.

The gagging orders were put in place ostensibly to protect the reputation of McSkimming, who was one of the top candidates to replace the outgoing Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.

The New Zealand Herald successfully opposed the non-publication orders in the Wellington District Court, which allows new details of the case to be reported for the first time. It also paves the way for the release of a report from the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), the Police watchdog.

The case will reverberate through the Beehive and is likely to put pressure on the position of Coster, who has become the chief executive of the Social Investment Agency since leaving the Police.

Asked whether he, as a taxpayer, would have confidence in Coster heading a public agency, Chambers said “that’s not a decision for me, that’s a decision for his employer”.

Speaking at the standup, Collins said Coster has agreed to go on leave from his current role as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency.

He agreed the leave with the Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche, who is Coster’s employer as a public service chief executive.

What we know about McSkimming’s offending

McSkimming’s offending spanned from 2020 to the end of 2024, a period that includes both the current Government and the former Labour government.

There will be questions about whether any of the complaints were flagged with ministers about the complaints under the “no surprises” convention.

The Herald can reveal that McSkimming had previously disclosed to Coster that he had been in a sexual relationship with the woman who made the complaints.

She had been in her early 20s at the time and McSkimming later helped her get a job in the police as a non-sworn employee.

McSkimming, who was in his early 40s at the time, had described the relationship as an extramarital affair which ended in 2018.

But as he rose through the ranks towards the top job last year, the woman sent dozens of vitriolic emails accusing McSkimming of being a predator who groomed women for sex.

Anonymous allegations were sent to politicians, senior police officers, government officials and journalists.

She also repeated the allegations in an anonymous phone call to the police 105 reporting line for non-emergencies.

In his defence, McSkimming maintained the sexual relationship was consensual and the email allegations were motivated by revenge to destroy his career.

But the police never properly investigated the allegations. The young woman was never contacted, or asked whether she wanted to make a formal complaint.

Instead, McSkimming lodged a complaint under the Harmful Digital Communications Act against the woman and she was arrested in July 2024.

Despite no investigation into the veracity of the sex claims made by the woman, police described the emails she sent as containing “false” allegations according to documents which underpinned the prosecution against her.