Latest news with #Greymouth
RNZ News
14 hours ago
- RNZ News
Former Gloriavale women say they were groped, kissed by leader Howard Temple
Gloriavale's Overseeing Shepherd, Howard Temple is facing 24 charges of sexual assault and doing an indecent act. Photo: The Press/Kai Schwoerer Former Gloriavale members have told a court they were touched, grabbed and groped by the Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple, on the second day of his trial in Greymouth. Temple has pleaded not guilty to 24 charges of sexual assault and doing an indecent act. Four complainants gave evidence and were cross examined by Temple's legal team, recounting similar stories of being touched on their breasts, bottoms and legs or grabbed around the waist. Temple became spiritual leader in 2018, after the death of Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian, but was a senior shepherd at the time of much of the alleged abuse, which is said to have taken place between 1997 and 2022, when the complainants were aged between nine and 20 years old. At Gloriavale, young girls take on domestic duties from around the age of five, graduating from setting and clearing tables to serving to heavier kitchen chores and cleaning. The complainants all said Temple took advantage of them waiting tables and serving food or drinks to touch them, caressing them from their calves to their lower back, or holding them around the waist. Many of the women who gave evidence described trying to get to their chores early so they could be allocated to any table except Temple's. One woman said he would grope her while she was holding large, heavy jugs of non-alcoholic cider, leaving her without "any hands free to protect myself". "He would run his hand up and down my legs, and touch my bum, or put his arm around me. He would ask me if anyone had told me they loved me today." She would usually "just shrug" because she was scared, "but if he persisted, I would often lie and said yes, someone has told me they loved me, because I didn't want him to say he loved me". "If I tried to pull away he would ask me if I was scared of him and why I was scared of him." The woman said this would happen while Temple was flanked by his wife and daughter and in front of the entire community of more than 500 people, "but no one ever spoke up or said anything, so I didn't know that I would be allowed to. "I didn't know it was wrong, I just know it didn't feel right to me." Temple was also alleged to have frequented the kitchen to "hug" the young women from behind while they were cooking or washing dishes. Some claimed he kissed them on their necks, touched their breasts or made lewd remarks. All of the women have emphasised the "complete" power Gloriavale's leadership wielded, as well a certainty they would not have been believed, or would have been blamed, if they had told anyone. Asked why she feared Temple, one woman said it was because the leaders hold all the authority in Gloriavale, and "had the power to ruin your life". "Right from a baby you're taught not to speak against the leaders. As a woman you're supposed to be meek and quiet with downcast eyes. "When you do speak up about abuse that has happened, it was inevitably your fault because you seduced them somehow. "I knew nothing good would come of saying anything. I didn't have anyone to protect me because my parents hold the leaders in ultimate authority and they would listen to the leaders over their own daughter." One woman said when she did finally tell her mother about the abuse as she was leaving the community, her mother told her "she wasn't allowed to speak evil of the leaders and that they would never do something like that". Another woman said she feared saying anything because on a previous occasion when she raised an unrelated issue, she was called into a "servants and shepherds meeting", taken into a room and "accused", with seven to 10 men telling her she was not living up to the standards of the bible, and that she was a sinner. She said that would also result in a level of social shunning and wariness from other community members. The complainants also described an environment of strict patriarchy, which meant women would be blamed for tempting men by showing hair under their headscarf, pushing up their sleeves or tying their belts incorrectly. Temple's lawyers have accused the women of fabricating or embellishing their accusations. Micheal Vesty said Temple accepted he hugged and kissed young women, but rejected any indecency and said it was always short, appropriate touching to express gratitude. Judge Neave interrupted the cross examination several times, castigating Temple's legal team for some of the questions they asked the women. Further complainants, family members and police officers who worked on the case will give evidence over coming days. When the defence calls its witnesses, a number of Gloriavale members are expected to give evidence in support of Howard Temple. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- RNZ News
Gloriavale leader assault trial enters third day
Three former Gloriavale members have told a court they were touched, grabbed and groped by the Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple, on the second day of his trial in Greymouth. Mr Temple has pleaded not guilty to 24 charges of sexual assault and doing an indecent act. Keiller MacDuff was in court in Greymouth and spoke to Lisa Owen. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
21 hours ago
- RNZ News
Bike belonging to missing West Coast man Roy Arbon found
Roy Arbon pictured riding from Runanga to the Mt Davy area on 23 July 2025. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police Police have found a bicycle belonging to missing West Coast beekeeper Roy Arbon. Arbon, 75, has been missing since he set out on a walk up Mt Davy to Mt Sewell near Greymouth last Wednesday. He was captured on camera riding from Runanga to the Mt Davy area. A police spokesperson said Arbon's bike was found on a nearby trail and search teams were out again despite poor weather in the area. "Our teams remain committed to the ongoing search," they said. "Roy's red bike was located on Rewanui Road and we continue to ask anyone for sightings of Roy the morning of 23 July. He was heading from Runanga to the Mt Davy area on his bike." Roy Arbon. Photo: Supplied Arbon has a storied past including helping to recover bodies [. following the Erebus air disaster in Antarctica in 1979] and the bodies of people killed at Cave Creek in 1995. He was later acquitted of cocaine smuggling charges in Western Australia after falling prey to [ an international drug scam. Anyone with information that could help police is asked to contact them via the 105 service, referencing file 250725/2139.
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Gloriavale leader Howard Temple 'did not grope', lawyer says
Gloriavale leader Howard Temple. Photo: The Press/Kai Schwoerer The Greymouth District Court will hear more evidence from women accusing Gloriavale leader Howard Temple of sexual offending today, as the judge alone trial continues. Temple is facing 24 charges of indecent assault and doing an indecent act to nine women who ranged in age from nine to 20 years old when the offending took place, between 1997 and 2022. The crown said the crimes occurred in the kitchen, dining hall and a men's bathroom at the commune, which is located about 60 kilometres from Greymouth, at Lake Haupiri. The crown alleges the defendant would prey on the young women, stroking their legs, grabbing them around the waist or by their dresses as they served food, or while working in the kitchen, grabbing them from behind, kissing them on the neck or groping them. Temple, 85, has pleaded not guilty. He acknowledges kissing and hugging some of the complainants, but denies any of it was indecent. His lawyer, Michael Vesty, said Temple - and other leaders - would merely acknowledge the young women's work with an "affectionate hug". He describe the gestures as demonstrations of "gratitude and support that were acceptable conduct in the day to day life of the community", and said Temple "did not grope, did not grab, did not linger". On Monday, the court heard from one of the nine complainants. The woman, who has name suppression, told the court of working in the kitchen and dining hall from the time she was a primary school aged child. A videotaped police interview from 2015 was played to the court before the woman took the stand and told of being touched, grabbed, groped and harassed by Temple and other men at Gloriavale. She talked of strategies women and girls used to try to avoid the worst of the harassment, or avoid being vulnerable to assault. The complainant, who was born at Gloriavale and left when she was in her late 20s, described a culture of fear and victim blaming. During her time there, "if any issues happened, say between a married man and a single woman, or two single people even, the women were always at fault". "The man's wife was at fault because she obviously wasn't doing the right thing to keep her husbands eyes only on her, and the girl who had been abused was at fault because she had also tempting him." Anything from showing too much hair under their headscarf to wearing ankle socks to tying their belts incorrectly was considered rebellious or "worldly", and an attempt to attract men's attention. Telling anyone could have meant being shamed, isolated, or prevented from marrying, and there was no one to confide in, because "it's everybody's job to dob everybody else in". During cross examination, Vesty indicated he will call a number of witnesses to attest the woman had a friendly and warm relationship with Temple, and would sometimes instigate hugs herself, which she denied. The defence spent some time dissecting letters Temple had sent the then-teenager while he was in India setting up another community , often addressing her as his favourite girlfriend. The woman said the letters were inappropriate in their language and tone, coming from the group's leader to a teenager. But Temple's lawyer's Michael Vesty said the letters show genuine pastoral concern. The crown intends to call some of the other complainants as well as two of the police officers involved in the case. The trial is set down for two weeks. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Scores of letters from Howard Temple a pattern of inappropriate behaviour
Howard Temple, Gloriavale's Overseeing Shepherd. Photo: The Press/Kai Schwoerer A former Gloriavale member says scores of letters sent to her by the community's leader were part of a pattern of inappropriate behaviour. Gloriavale's Overseeing Shepherd, Howard Temple, is on trial in the Greymouth District Court on 24 representative charges of sexual offending against nine girls and young women over more than two decades. The complainant, who has name suppression, was a teenager at the time. She said Temple sent frequent letters while he was in India setting up another community, often addressing her as his favourite girlfriend. But Temple's lawyer's Michael Vesty said the letters showed genuine pastoral concern. Temple denies the offending. The case is set down for two weeks. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
