Howard Temple has been standing trial in Greymouth. Photo: The Press/Kai Schwoerer
This story has been amended to correct the charges.
Gloriavale leader Howard Temple has pleaded guilty to a dozen charges including five of indecent assault on day three of his trial in Greymouth.
The West Coast Christian community's Overseeing Shepherd had earlier denied 24 charges of sexual offending against girls and women over a period of more than 20 years.
On Wednesday Temple pleaded guilty to an amended set of charges, some of which were representative, including five of indecent assault, five of doing an indecent act and two of common assault, bringing the three-week trial before judge Raoul Neave to an end.
The original offending dated from 1998 to 2022, involving nine complainants ranging in age from nine to 20 years old.
The 85-year-old was remanded on bail until 11 August when a date will be set for sentencing.
Judge Neave urged participation in a restorative justice process.
Outside court the mother of one of the complainants, who cannot be named, said she cried in the public gallery when Temple initially denied the charges.
"I was thinking you are the shepherd, you are responsible for these people. You didn't show the care of a shepherd," she said.
"It's a milestone that our voice has been heard. A leader of Gloriavale has acknowledged that he has done wrong to our children. We do not want future generations of children suffering this and going through the same scenario."
Five of the nine complainants gave evidence over the first two days of the trial, describing a culture of fierce patriarchy, where women and girls were at risk of being deemed rebellious or worldly for anything from tying the belt on their uniform incorrectly, to allowing too much hair to be visible under their headscarves.
The women said there was no way to refuse Temple, nor to report his actions to anyone, in the context of the complete control Gloriavale's leaders wielded over members.
The women told the court they were too scared to say anything because they knew women were always blamed in similar circumstances, and risked being branded as flirts or whores, being hauled into a "servants and shepherds" meeting and berated for not following the bible, ostracised by the community, or prevented from marrying.
"He had the power to change the trajectory of your life," one woman said.
The women described Temple taking advantage of the domestic duties they performed to touch, caress and grope them, such as during meal times, when they would be serving large, heavy jugs of non-alcoholic cider or hot drinks to tables of 50 or more. One woman said she was left without "any hands free to protect myself".
The women said it was common practice to attempt to arrive early so they could be allocated to any table except Temple's.
The only space to pour would be at his side at the head of the table, which allowed him to grab the young women around the waist, caressing them from their calves to their lower backs or grabbing them around their waists.
"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," one woman told the court.
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".
Another 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, kissing them on their necks, touching their breasts or making lewd remarks.
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," she said.
"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."
In January, Howard Temple made a public apology to victims of historic sexual abuse at the community, at the request of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into historic Abuse in Care, however former members rejected it as insincere.
About 600 people are believed to live at Gloriavale's compound at Lake Haupuri, about 60 kilometres from Greymouth.
The group, which began in 1969 as the Springbank Christian Community near Rangiora, was founded by Australian evangelist Neville Cooper, who would later be known as Hopeful Christian.
Christian was sentenced to five years in prison in December 1995 on three charges of indecent assault for inserting a wooden dildo inside a 19-year-old woman over three successive days.
He was initially sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of 10 counts of indecent assault against five young complainants in the 1980s but won an appeal against his conviction and sentence.
The Crown proceeded with three indecent assault charges, on which Christian was convicted in a second jury trial.
He lost another appeal against his five-year sentence in 1996.
Christian spent 11 months in jail before being released on parole.
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