Trial starts for 85-year-old Gloriavale leader accused of sexual offending
Gloriavale leader Howard Temple will go on trial in Greymouth today on charges of sexual offending against girls for more than 20 years.
The 85-year-old faces 14 charges of indecent assault and 13 charges of doing an indecent act.
The complainants were aged between nine and 20 at the time of the alleged offending, between 1998 and 2022.
According to court documents, 21 of the charges are representative, meaning multiple offences of the same type are alleged to have been committed in similar circumstances.
Temple first appeared in court in July 2023.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges in August of that year and elected a judge-alone trial.
Temple, a former US naval engineer, took up the mantle of Overseeing Shepherd at the West Coast Christan community after the death of founder Hopeful Christian in 2018.
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