Top lawyer to head Air Force inquiry

1:20 pm on 17 September 2015

An inquiry into the way the Air Force handled complaints of sexual abuse, harassment and bullying by a former sergeant will be led by a prominent lawyer.

The Defence Force said Karen Clark QC would conduct the investigation, which was launched after victims of Robert Richard Roper spoke out about a lack of action at the Air Force.

Earlier this year, Roper was jailed for 13 years for his offending in the 1970 and '80s. His crimes include raping his daughter.

Ms Clark is a former deputy solicitor-general. She was involved in the coronial inquest for those who died in the CTV building in the February 2011 Christchurch quake, and the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River coal mine disaster in 2010.