Fresh details in the Jevon McSkimming case have exposed a scandal that goes beyond one former Deputy Commissioner's misconduct - it's about institutional failure at the highest levels of New Zealand Police.
The latest revelations, reported by the New Zealand Herald, detail emails sent to McSkimming between February 9-18, 2024, demanding "$600 for every sexual act" that allegedly occurred "through deception" while he was married. One message stated: "pay up and this will end."
The woman, referred to in documents as Ms Z, had a sexual relationship with McSkimming between 2016-2017. She was 21 and a student. He was 42 and a police superintendent. They met at a sports club. McSkimming disclosed the affair to his wife and employer in May 2018 after Ms Z made initial complaints.
A criminal investigation into Ms Z's sexual misconduct allegations concluded in late 2024 without charges due to insufficient evidence. But the investigation revealed systemic problems in how New Zealand Police handles complaints against senior officers.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority found "significant failings" by senior police leadership, including an uncritical acceptance of McSkimming's narrative and failure to properly investigate Ms Z's allegations. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers went further, stating Ms Z had been "ignored" and accusing high-ranking officers of orchestrating a "cover-up."
Mate, when the Police Commissioner is using the word "cover-up" about his own organization, you know the institution has serious problems.
McSkimming was separately convicted and sentenced to nine months' home detention for viewing child sexual abuse material and bestiality content on work devices. That conviction is separate from the sexual misconduct allegations, but it destroyed any remaining credibility he had.
The payment demand emails complicate the picture. Police sources indicated the volume and nature of Ms Z's messages - particularly those demanding $600 per sexual act - affected how investigators assessed her credibility. The demands weren't included in the IPCA's official report, though they're now public knowledge.
Ms Z has stated: "I accept that not every step I took in raising my concerns was the right one." That's a remarkable admission given the circumstances - a young woman dealing with a powerful police officer who allegedly deceived her, an institution that failed to take her seriously, and years of being dismissed by the very people supposed to investigate misconduct.
The timing matters. This scandal is unfolding just as the New Zealand government is granting police expanded powers to move on homeless people. Public trust in police institutions requires accountability, transparency, and consequences when senior officers abuse their positions. The McSkimming case suggests New Zealand Police has struggled with all three.
The "cover-up" allegations are particularly damning. If senior officers uncritically accepted McSkimming's version of events, failed to properly investigate a young woman's complaints, and allowed a Deputy Commissioner to remain in position despite credible allegations - that's not a failure of individual judgment. It's institutional rot.
McSkimming reached the second-highest position in New Zealand Police. He had authority over thousands of officers, access to sensitive investigations, and responsibility for organizational integrity. The fact that he was viewing illegal content on work devices while in that role - and that complaints about his personal conduct were apparently dismissed - raises fundamental questions about internal accountability.
Police investigate themselves in most jurisdictions, and it rarely works well. The IPCA provides external oversight, but it can only review cases after internal investigations conclude. If those internal investigations are compromised from the start - by institutional loyalty, by deference to rank, by unwillingness to credit a young civilian over a senior officer - then the oversight comes too late.
New Zealand isn't alone in this. Australia has seen repeated scandals involving police misconduct and inadequate accountability - from strip-searching teenagers in New South Wales to the Lawyer X scandal in Victoria. The pattern is familiar: misconduct occurs, complaints are dismissed or minimized, external scrutiny eventually forces action, reforms are promised, the cycle repeats.
What makes the McSkimming case particularly ugly is the combination of factors - sexual misconduct allegations dismissed, illegal content on work devices, and now evidence that senior leadership failed to properly investigate. Commissioner Chambers deserves credit for calling it a cover-up publicly. The question is what happens next.
Real accountability would mean more than home detention for McSkimming. It would mean consequences for the senior officers who failed to properly investigate, structural reforms to how police handle internal misconduct complaints, and genuine external oversight with teeth. Whether New Zealand has the political will to implement those changes remains to be seen.
