Abuse in care: ‘Sexual abuse in the name of Jesus. Gross’

By RNZ’s Andrew McRae

A man who was abused in both state care and the church says pent-up frustration over what happened to him led him to stab a convicted pedophile in prison.

Roy Takiaho testified before the Royal Commission on Child Care Abuse on Friday about being abused in homes with two children and in foster homes.

Takiaho, 48, was taken in for the first time at age 2, first with foster families and then at the Owairaka Social Welfare Children’s Home.

There was physical violence in Owairaka, between children and staff.

“Sometimes the perpetrators were the older children, but sometimes the masters of the house as well.”

He said he spent a lot of time in individual secure cells, sometimes up to a week.

” Those were the cells that were the most visited by certain staff members and I myself was subjected to that and a staff member came in and told me that I am bad and good for nothing. That was my first experience with the abuser. That was sexual abuse. ”

At the age of 13 he ended up at the Salvation Army’s Hodderville Children’s Home in South Waikato.

He described it as one of the ugliest places on Earth and where he experienced sexual, mental and physical abuse.

Takiaho recalled what the main abuser, a Salvation Army officer, told him about the love of Jesus.

” At the time I thought it was someone who truly loved me and this from what I heard about Jesus and God. But her love of God was about sexually abusing in the name of Jesus. Gross.

” They forced us to accept this Christian belief. They told us that the only way we were going to save our soul was to repent. It was a strict regime that we had to adhere to. ”

He said that as a result of the abuse he suffered, he eventually became a physical abuser himself, wanting to hurt people and manage pain.

Takiaho ended up in jail.

Years later, a Salvation Army field worker came to see him in prison to begin the process of repairing the army for abuse at the hands of the Church.

Takiaho said he wanted his abusers to be held accountable, but instead they offered him money and he felt the abuse was being swept under the rug.

” This triggered a lot of things in my head, especially to be aware of a pedophile in my environment and walk around me, I took it upon myself to deal with this pedophile.

“I ended up stabbing him six times.”

Said it reminded him of pedophilia. “It was very fresh in my mind and getting this information encouraged me to deal with a pedophile. I didn’t care what he had done to her.”

Takiaho was given another six years in prison.

Gloria White, who is 60, was in the care of the Salvation Army as a child and believes that officers at the Grange Home in Auckland where she was staying chose to ignore that her parents were abusing her.

Her father sexually abused her and her mother prostituted her to men.

She told some of the staff what was going on, but they didn’t help.

“I think there were a lot of signs that she was being abused and the midwives chose to ignore the situation or maybe they thought the power of prayer would make it all right.”

White said she once told a social worker from the Department of Social Welfare, but nothing happened.

His message to other survivors of abuse while in the care of the Salvation Army is to come forward and share your experiences.

“I came forward without knowing that there was a claim or that I was possibly a claimant or that there was a remedy. I didn’t even feel like I was complaining. I just needed the Salvation Army to know and feel the pain and to let it out and speak the words. That’s what I got the most out of this process. ”

White said that the survivors should come forward and share their secrets so they don’t burn out inside.

A 76-year-old witness, who is only referred to as “Mrs. B,” said she was opposed to the word beware, because she was in no way cared for by the Salvation Army.

She was sent to Grange Home at the age of 7 and was there until she was 13.

He said it was six and a half years of abject fear and outright terror.

In her statement to the commission, she said that she spoke not only for herself but also for the hundreds, possibly thousands of little girls who were also abused in what she called the gulag of houses run by the Salvation Army in New Zealand.

He suffered physical, psychological and verbal abuse.

One described the abuse of a particular officer in the home as brutal and systematic, occurring several times a week.

” She used anything at hand to assault me. He broke several broomsticks on my back. ”

The witness said that even now, almost 70 years later, she still woke up at night screaming and drenched in sweat.

Ms B said there was also sexual abuse and a lack of both medical care and basic home care.

” I was abused, betrayed, silenced but not destroyed. I am the exception rather than the rule. I have not continued the abuse until the next generation and I have not destroyed myself.

“The Salvation Army stole everything I had as a child, except my mind, which has kept me alive.”

Ms B wanted, among other things, an in-depth audit of the Salvation Army’s assets and the disclosure of the sums paid to high-ranking members of the military in New Zealand.

She said the Salvation Army had never been held accountable.

Leaders of the Salvation Army and the Anglican and Catholic Churches will appear before the Royal Commission in March with their evidence in response to what has been heard over the past two weeks from survivors of abuse.

Where to get help:

• 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP) (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

• https://www.lifeline.org.nz/services/suicide-crisis-helpline

• YOUTH LINE: 0800 376 633

• I NEED TO TALK? Toll Free or Text 1737 (Available 24/7)

• KIDSLINE: 0800 543 754 (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

• WHATSUP: 0800 942 8787 (from 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.)

• DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111757 or TEXT 4202

• NATIONAL ANXIETY 24 HOUR HELP LINE: 0800 269 4389

If it is an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

– RNZ