Gloriavale. Photo: Jean Edwards
The government has been urged to immediately do everything it can to ensure the safety of Gloriavale members and their children as a result of Royal Commission findings that leaders allowed physical and sexual abuse at the West Coast Christian community.
The Overseeing Shepherd has also been called on to publicly apologise for members' neglect and abuse since the community's inception in 1969, while the commissioners want Gloriavale regulated and overseen by a new, independent agency tasked with protecting people in faith-based care.
The Abuse in Care inquiry found the Overseeing Shepherd and senior leaders at fault for:
- allowing physical and sexual abuse to happen within the community, failing to prevent abuse and protect survivors, and failing to recognise the harm inflicted on survivors;
- responding to abuse allegations by seeking repentance from offenders and forgiveness from victims;
- inappropriately handling perpetrators, allowing them to remain in the community and continue abusing;
- handling abuse complaints internally without involving external authorities like NZ Police or Oranga Tamariki;
- creating a culture through the community's doctrines that allowed abuse to occur.
A briefing to six new coalition ministers last December noted there were several legal proceedings underway relating to labour exploitation and physical and sexual abuse at Gloriavale, including charges of indecent assault against Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple.
Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
"Oranga Tamariki and police continue to respond to allegations or disclosures of harm towards children in the community, including those relating to harmful or concerning sexualised behaviour in children," the document said.
On the same day, a briefing to the social development minister noted that "a number of risks and challenges remain. These include risks to child well-being, education provision, and risks to the stability of Gloriavale's commercial enterprises".
An all-of-government response to Gloriavale set up in August 2022 came to an end just over a week later.
The Royal Commission recommended the government "take all practicable steps to ensure the ongoing safety of children, young people and adults in care at Gloriavale".
"The inquiry is concerned to ensure that the government does everything it can to prevent the factors that led to historical abuse and neglect in care at Gloriavale."
The commission's report said physical and sexual abuse was normalised, and much of it - including spiritual abuse - stemmed from the leadership's authoritarian control over the community.
"Survivors spoke about the psychological and spiritual abuse community leaders perpetrated, including through the use of shame, manipulation, humiliation, and isolation; the economic and educational neglect suffered; discrimination suffered by rainbow, Māori, and disabled survivors; and, the normalised and pervasive physical and sexual abuse," the report said.
"Survivors who reported abuse in Gloriavale were often disbelieved, blamed for their abuse and subjected to intimidation and shaming by leaders. The treatment of sexual abuse as a sin, rather than a crime, and a focus on forgiveness resulted in the perpetrators' interests being prioritised over the wellbeing of survivors. It also may have enabled perpetrators to reoffend.
"The Gloriavale Christian community's leadership routinely failed to respond to reports of abuse or failed to respond adequately. From its founding until the mid-1990s, all reports of sexual or physical abuse were dealt with by founder and then-Overseeing Shepherd, Neville Cooper (Hopeful Christian), who was subsequently convicted of sexual offences, including against young people."
Purity Valor shows chief Employment Court Judge Christina Inglis around Gloriavale on 24 February 2023. Photo: RNZ / Jean Edwards
Howard Temple acknowledged that as recently as 2017, Gloriavale's leaders still wanted to keep sexual offending reports in-house unless the person reoffended, the report said.
The Royal Commission recommended the Overseeing Shepherd make a "public apology and acknowledgement for the abuse and neglect in the care of the Gloriavale Christian community".
The report also called for a new national care regulatory system for preventing and responding to abuse in care, governed by legislation and overseen by a single care safety agency.
The inquiry intended for Gloriavale to be included among the faith-based institutions that must comply with the system's rules, standards and guidelines, including sanctions for non-compliance.
Gloriavale survivors could also be entitled to a fund for projects connected to community harm arising from the cumulative impact of abuse and neglect in care, the report said.
The commission's final report detailed evidence of exploitation at Gloriavale, including children being made to work long hours with no compensation from as young as the age of four, rationed food, victim-blaming and shaming, gendered discrimination, dehumanisation of disabled people and limited, Eurocentric education - including leaders teaching that te reo Māori was "Satan's language".
The inquiry heard Gloriavale's founder Hopeful Christian taught parents to cover their children's mouths and noses to stop them crying, "until the child was struggling to breathe whenever they cried", because he hated the sound. Several survivors said they had seen children turn blue.
The report featured a selection of survivor profiles including former Gloriavale members Zion Pilgrim, who rose to become a servant, and father-of-eight Faithful Disciple.
Pilgrim said Gloriavale's leaders were not really concerned about sexual abuse.
"If someone made an allegation of sexual abuse against a male member of the community, the leaders did not let the rest of the community know, even if children are involved," he said.
At the age of 15, Disciple worked on the community's dairy farm six days per week from 4.30am until everything was done, often 2am. During calving, he often worked 120 hours per week without pay.
Disciple suffered third-degree burns in an accident in 2018 and could not walk, but was pressured to start work again within a month.
He told the commission every aspect of members' lives were controlled by leaders who exercised complete power and demanded submission and subjugation.
"I am also aware of things that happened there, although I did not personally see or witness them, for example, bestiality and child sexual abuse," he said.
Another survivor, Rosanna Overcomer, called for lasting change to provide a safe home for family members who still lived there.
"We can hope and heal and work for a better life. But we want lasting change for our families still inside. We want a safe place for our nieces and nephews to grow up in. We want them to have the same liberties, opportunities, education and care any New Zealander deserves. We need to know there will be significant changes to the systems and leadership that brought us here today."
Gloriavale has been contacted for comment.
