Defence Force won't pursue costs against Air Force servicewoman Mariya Taylor

Friday, 23 November 2018

The Complaint: Mariya Taylor says she complained repeatedly of the sexual assaults by Sergeant Robert Roper – but the Defence Force swept them under the carpet (video first published November 2018).

The New Zealand Defence Force won't seek legal costs against Air Force servicewoman Mariya Taylor, a spokesman says.

The NZDF confirmed its position in an email to Stuff on Friday afternoon, but made no further comment.

It came shortly after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Taylor, who was harassed and attacked by Air Force Sergeant Robert Roper in the 1980s, had suffered enough.

Mariya Taylor as a young airwoman, serving at Whenuapai Air Force base. Working as a driver, she was assaulted by Sergeant Robert Roper, also convicted of raping his daughters and other girls.

Pursuing legal costs would not be right, Ardern said during a stand-up in Kaikoura in Friday.

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Taylor, 51, suffered three years of sexual harassment when she was based at the Whenuapai base in the 1980s.

The attacks, in which she was locked in a cage, eventually drove her from the armed services and from New Zealand.

She went to police after seeing the news in 2014 that Roper had been convicted for raping his two daughters, Karina Andrews and Tracey Thompson, and Cherie Ham.

All three women asked for their name suppression to be lifted so they could speak out for change.

After initially making a police complaint, Taylor decided to sue the Defence Force and Roper for compensation, stating the Air Force failed to provide her with a safe place to work.

A High Court judge agreed she was ogled, groped and repeatedly locked in a cage by Roper, but found she had left it too late to file a claim.

The Defence Force and Roper then asked her to pay $138,000 in costs.

On the weekend, Ardern told Stuff her 'personal expectation' was the NZDF would not pursue costs.