The woman at the centre of the Jevon McSkimming scandal says her ordeal became an “ongoing nightmare”, as she speaks out for the first time.
Known only as Ms Z, the woman broke her silence to further detail her allegations against McSkimming, stating a relationship began when she was a 21-year-old student, and he was a 42-year-old superintendent who met her through a sports club in 2016.
According to the interview, published in the New Zealand Herald, she alleges McSkimming would spend hours alone with her.
“I wasn’t interested in him, or hoping for a relationship or anything like that. Looking back, he was grooming me,” the woman told investigative journalist Jared Savage.
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Ms Z claims their relationship became sexual after McSkimming was persistent in his advances, with alcohol being a factor in their first physical encounter, the Herald reports.
The interview comes after a scathing IPCA report last month found police bosses failed to investigate Ms Z’s repeated allegations against McSkimming, instead prosecuting her for sending anonymous emails under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.
“I’ve been bullied into silence,” Ms Z told the Herald.
“No matter what I said, no one was really interested to know whether there was any truth to the allegations.
“My life has been so damaged by this … it’s an ongoing nightmare.”
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Ms Z was arrested in May 2024 and charged after McSkimming made a formal complaint against her, despite police never investigating the sexual misconduct allegations contained in her emails.
She was placed under restrictive bail conditions and silenced by suppression orders for nearly 18 months, costing her job and racking up significant legal bills, the Herald reports.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has since apologised to Ms Z, saying she was “ignored and badly let down”.
While a police probe around that time found Ms Z’s emails likely met the threshold for criminal harassment, it also flagged 16 examples of her allegations against McSkimming that warranted investigation, and recommended referral to the National Integrity Unit and IPCA.
At the time, police acted only on the harassment finding, ignoring the recommendations to investigate McSkimming’s alleged conduct.
The National Integrity Unit eventually investigated in late 2024 but told Ms Z there was insufficient evidence to prove sexual offences beyond a reasonable doubt.
McSkimming responds
Throughout his time at police, the ex-top cop maintained that the allegations being made against him were untrue and that the relationship was mutual and consensual.
McSkimming reaffirmed that position in response to Ms Z’s newest comments.
“She has engaged in a campaign of harassment against me for some years, since our relationship ended. These allegations are a continuation of that harassment,” he said in a statement to the New Zealand Herald.
“I intend to respond to Ms Z’s allegations and speak more fully about this matter in the future, but am unable to do so at this time.”
McSkimming resigned in May after detectives discovered objectionable images on his police devices, including child exploitation and bestiality material. He pleaded guilty to possession of objectionable material and will be sentenced later this month.
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