Debbie Gerbich

Patrick Gower at the NZ Herald has managed to convince his employers to pay for a subscription to a bondage and discipline website (not sure which one – I guess alt.com) to reveal that Debbie Gerbich has a profile there which says she would enjoy police and rape role-plays.

Gerbich supplied a video to the Sunday News of her having group sex with Brad Shipton and others in 2001, and claimed she was manipulated into taking part.

The evidence since then suggests otherwise with Gerbich having married one of the men in the video, and as we see today is advertising for similar activities.

Now there is nothing wrong with people who enjoy bondage – millions do. Likewise consensual police and even play rape role-plays are something many couples enjoy consensually. I would add a note of caution that personally I think you’re very stupid if you do such activities with anyone but a very trusted partner. To take part in such activities with relative strangers is damn risky both at the time and in terms of accusations afterwards,

Now in terms of Brad Shipton. He is a convicted rapist. He is also clearly a cheating sleazy bastard. But this doesn’t mean that in every encounter he has had, he has broken the law.

Gerbich herself never said the sex was unconsensual. She argued she was manipulated into it, but her marriage afterwards to one of the men somewhat undermines that. The sad truth in this case seems to be she thought she could make some money out of the video, and dramatising it up a bit, and she thought she could remain anonymous.

Really Sunday News should have checked out the background to Gerbich more before running with her story. Would have saved her a world of pain if they had.