For years, this narrative was accepted by McSkimming’s supervisors.

So instead of investigating the woman’s serious accusations, the police used the anonymous emails as evidence to prosecute the woman for an alleged campaign to destroy his career.

She was arrested and charged under the Harmful Digital Communications Act, placed under restrictive bail conditions and silenced by wide-ranging suppression orders for nearly 18 months.

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

But the failure of the highest-ranking police officers in New Zealand to investigate her repeated allegations against McSkimming was condemned in a scathing report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority in November.

Her identity is protected by suppression orders but the young woman is referred to as Ms Z in the IPCA report.

“I’ve been bullied into silence,” Ms Z told the Herald in an exclusive interview.

“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.”

The fallout from the IPCA report, which made findings of serious misconduct against senior police officers, has been seismic.

Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster is currently on leave from his new government job, while his successor Richard Chambers has apologised to the young woman on behalf of the organisation.

“She was ignored and badly let down,” Chambers said. “That was unacceptable.”

Senior officers have since left the force under a cloud, others are under employment investigation for bringing the police into disrepute.

In a bid to restore the public’s battered trust and confidence in the police, the Government has agreed to implement all the IPCA recommendations to increase scrutiny of poor behaviour.

This will include the establishment of an Inspector-General position.

While the entire episode has been distressing, Ms Z is grateful for the efforts of the IPCA to expose how McSkimming had manipulated the system to continue his rise up the ranks.

Sir Brian Roche, the head of the Public Services Commission, went so far as to call him a “devious liar”. Ms Z was also heartened by the public support for her and the response from the government to improve scrutiny of the police.

But in the wake of the IPCA report – and a subsequent audit which uncovered 20 cases of potential misuse of police devices – Ms Z believed that the government should open a more powerful inquiry into police culture.

“I saw at the recent Police College graduation, Richard Chambers effectively said ‘I just want to move on’, repeatedly,” Ms Z said.

“But there is some concerning behaviour in the wider police which needs more scrutiny. The police need to change their attitudes.”

However, the Government has been reluctant to open a wider inquiry.

Both the Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Attorney-General Judith Collins, who is also the minister in charge of the Public Services Commission, have said they believe the IPCA report was thorough enough.

But the McSkimming case has been the biggest scandal to hit the New Zealand Police for 20 years and has undoubtedly damaged public trust and confidence.

McSkimming missed out on the top job to Chambers in November 2024, and was quietly sent home on special leave as the police belatedly opened a new investigation into Ms Z’s allegations.

This time she was interviewed by detectives on three occasions.

The investigation centred on her complaints of multiple sexual offence allegations, including sexual violation by rape, sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and indecent assault.

The 52-year-old McSkimming was formally suspended on full pay just before Christmas.

But he maintained his innocence and, in a statement issued by his lawyers the following month, said he expected to “resume his duties” after being cleared by the criminal investigation.

Then in September, nearly a year after the investigation started, senior detectives met with Ms Z and told her there was insufficient evidence to prove the offences to the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt.

For the first time since resigning in May, McSkimming has broken his silence to respond to Ms Z’s allegations, which he described as untrue.

McSkimming said the relationship was a mutual and consensual one.

“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,” McSkimming said in a written statement.

“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.”

While he was not charged in respect of Ms Z’s allegations, McSkimming had already resigned from the police in disgrace.

Detectives investigating Ms Z’s allegations discovered that McSkimming had used his police-issued work devices, primarily an iPhone, to search the internet for thousands of pornographic images.

When confronted by the existence of the bestiality and child sex exploitation in early May, McSkimming chose to resign as deputy commissioner.

If McSkimming had not fallen on his sword, Police Minister Mark Mitchell said he would have sacked him anyway.

He was eventually charged in July with possession of objectionable material, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Ms Z said she was “incredibly disturbed” by the discovery of such extreme content on his phone.

McSkimming pleaded guilty and will stand in the dock at the Wellington District Court to be sentenced later this month.

Meanwhile, the Harmful Digital Communication Act prosecution against Ms Z was only recently withdrawn by the Crown.

Following opposition from the Herald, the wide-ranging suppression orders lapsed in November which meant the full circumstances which led to McSkimming’s downfall could be reported for the first time.

The failure by the highest-ranking police officers in New Zealand to investigate Ms Z’s allegations was described as “serious misconduct” by the IPCA in a 135-page report.

This was because police leadership largely accepted McSkimming’s version of events, the IPCA said.

“Concerningly, some within the police failed to recognise that a possible victim of sexual assault, who had allegedly been told for years by a very senior police officer that she would not be listened to (and that explicit images of her might be distributed) if she tried to complain, might present as a desperate person sending sometimes extreme and abusive emails in an attempt to be heard,” the IPCA wrote.

Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.