Peter Ellis, the convicted child molester at the centre of the controversial Christchurch Civic Creche case, has suffered a heart attack. The 47-year-old was taken to hospital on Thursday night, and although his condition has since improved, he is likely to be in the cardiac unit for another week. Ellis is currently awaiting the findings of a select committee enquiry into his case, sparked from a 140-signature petition presented in June 2003. The petition was signed by a wide cross-section of New Zealanders from National leader Don Brash to conservative Newstalk ZB host Leighton Smith. The committee head, Tim Barnett, says a report will be released before the election. Ellis' mother Leslie says her son is “hopelessly stressed out” waiting for the report to be released. Mrs Ellis was herself at the centre of bizarre allegations from children of the creche which saw her son serve a seven-year prison sentence. He has maintained his innocence throughout. Ellis was alleged to have engaged in satanic ritual abuse of many of the creche's children, both male and female, while Mrs Ellis was alleged by children to have strung them up in cages. Ref: Herald on Sunday, GayNZ.com