Abuse in Care: Dilworth Alumnus Discusses ‘Lord of the Flies’ Culture, Violence, Harassment and Cover-ups

A former Dilworth student who fought abuse by a teacher who was later convicted as a pedophile has described a culture of violence, intimidation and “Lord of the Flies” cover-ups in the Anglican school.

Neil Harding, 55, attended the Auckland Anglican School during 1977 and 1978, and on Monday shared his experience as part of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Abuse in Care.

Harding was accepted into the school at age 11, from a single-parent family where his father had abandoned him and his mother at a young age.

The school offers scholarships to students based on family needs and therefore many were particularly vulnerable, many looking for “father figures,” Harding said.

When it arrived it was “a little shocking”. He experienced great nostalgia along with the struggle with the “tough military-style establishment”.

Besides “Harding”, it would also be known as “409”.

“They depersonalized us,” he told the commission.

There was a lot of violence and intimidation among the children and a lack of supervision from staff.

He was desperate to get home on the weekends and was afraid to return.

“Every Sunday morning the feeling of dread would start in the pit of my stomach as I prepared for the 6 PM church service and return, which marked the next week of hell in Dilworth.”

In his second year he described a culture of “Lord of the Flies”.

“There seemed to be an absence of supervisory personnel and it was a violent physical assault without limits with the rules invented by the older boys – a true ‘Lord of the Flies’.”

During his first year it was noticed by the Most Reverend Peter Taylor, who was married with young children. Taylor is now dead.

Taylor was also known as “Pumper Pete,” a “kind of pedophile reference,” Harding said.

“I had the alarm bells on, I guess.

“It was nice to get positive attention from him because he was rare at Dilworth and he made me feel special.

“I was beginning to learn and believe in God and I thought that one day I might even consider becoming an Anglican minister.”

He began spending a lot of time with Taylor, even traveling with him on a private plane.

One day he was invited to his house, alone.

In one room he sat him in a corner, trapped, and said that he “wanted to tell me about God.”

Taylor then touched Harding inappropriately, prompting Harding to fight him and leave the house.

Talking about Taylor, known at school as “pimping,” was never an option, Harding said, due to the strong “code of silence.”

“Dilworth’s motto may well have been ‘grab it and shut up.’

“I remember running back to my house feeling terrified that what I thought was safe wasn’t, and feeling a bit of an idiot too, that he was ‘Pumper Pete.’

He knew of another older student who was allegedly sexually abused by Taylor, but who died 10 years ago.

Harding said he likely would have come forward to the commission, which was another motivation for sharing his own experience.

Harding also spoke of a sports coach, who one day told him, “‘I want to hit you.’

“The clubs were lined up like pool cues on a shelf. He took them one at a time and folded them in half.

“He picked up the slim one and proceeded to hit me.

“Someone who is supposed to protect me, has a duty to take care of me, is playing a sadistic game.”

Soon after, Harding pleaded with his mother to drop out of school, and in 1979 she agreed and he started on Takapuna Grammar co-ed.

The abuse and experience at Dilworth had a lifelong impact on Harding, “one of lost opportunity, blues and sadness.”

She lost her faith and, in recent years, is just coming to terms with the abuse, attending regular therapy.

“From the age of 12 and for the past 43 years, even as I’m here now, I look at every Anglican representative and wonder, are you a wolf in sheep’s clothing? Are you a complicit pioneer? Are you a pedophile?”

He approached police about Taylor in 1997, concerned that he might continue to abuse the children, but found that the officers’ lack of interest and the process “invalidated” it.

However, the officer verified the database and confirmed that Taylor was a convicted pedophile.

In 2018, he made presentations to the school board, prompting a process of fellow students who came forward.

At a gathering of older boys he learned some “surprising revelations.”

“This new information provided missing pieces to the puzzle that suggested collusion by staff and, along with other confidential information, the possible existence of a pedophile ring.”

He had never sought any legal or financial redress, just to make sure the abuse was recognized and support was provided to Dilworth fellow students who had been abused.

He asked why, even after Taylor was convicted as a pedophile, fired from school, no one approached him about whether something had happened to him.

He called on the commission to look carefully at the relationship between the Anglican Church and the school, and the previous approach of “sweeping under the rug” the allegations and pushing the perpetrators forward.

“Dilworth was complicit in his knowledge of the abuse, as well as his inaction,” Harding said.

“I hope 11-year-olds today don’t have to wait until 55 to be heard.”

“I saw the priest as if he were from God”

Earlier today, Marlborough parishioner Jacinda Thompson shared her experience of fighting with the Anglican Church for 15 years to obtain redress and an apology for the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of a priest.

During 2004 and 2005, Thompson, trying to cope with the traumatic loss of a young child, began attending the Anglican Church of the Nativity in Blenheim.

She sought the support of Reverend Michael Van Wijk, but was instead sexually harassed and abused, and psychologically intimidated under the guise of bereavement care and spiritual guidance.

Van Wijk was a trusted man of God, about 10 years older than Thompson, and “had a lot of power over me.”

“He told me that I could actually have a vision of Jesus cradling my deceased son in his arms.

“Priests have a lot of power, their role as representative of God, is an almost supernatural power

She told her partner about the abuse, and thus began a long and traumatic process of seeking recognition of the abuse, redress, and an apology.

When he approached vicar Richard Ellena, he discovered that he was not surprised.

“The vicar assumed it was [Van Wijk] even before he said his name. “

He had a meeting with Ellena and Bishop Derek Eaton, and they told him that his abuse was “quite low compared to what was happening abroad.”

In another meeting with Ellena he was warned to keep the abuse a secret, he said “if this goes public, 10 years of my ministry to increase the numbers in this place will be lost.”

During this time, the Church refused to take responsibility for the clergy, saying they were not its employees, but were essentially God’s employees.

He filed a police report in 2014, but in 2016 they concluded that no charges would be brought against Van Wijk.

Thompson said the investigation was inadequate, and that church leaders he complained to in 2005 were not even contacted.

He then took his case to the Human Rights Review Tribunal, where the Church admitted it was responsible, receiving a landmark agreement and an apology, including an acknowledgment that the Church can be held accountable for the behavior of its ministers.

The Church paid Thompson $ 100,000 in recognition of the severity of the humiliation and pain he suffered, and in recognition of his faulty handling of the complaint.

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