"Community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another"
- Henry Nouwen
“From that day on, I was terrified,” an alleged victim of sexual abuse by Marist Brother and schoolteacher Charles Afeaki told an interviewing police detective. “I stopped learning at that class, I stopped learning at that school. I stopped learning forever.” Three…
A female teacher at Auckland’s Dilworth School has been struck off the teacher’s register, after her sexual relationships with two students three decades ago came to light. The discovery was made in 2020 after police began investigating historical sexual abuse…
A Victorian jury has delivered a stinging rebuke to the Catholic Church, awarding $3.3 million to the victim of a notorious paedophile after the church argued compensation should be only $250,000. The Supreme Court case is the first time a…
Best known for their door-to-door evangelising, Jehovah’s Witnesses are on a quest to save the ‘wicked’ from damnation. For victims of sexual abuse within the organisation, however, that quest has seen perpetrators shielded from justice. Amy Parsons-King has met several…
Prominent leaders within New Zealand’s Catholic Church are being investigated by police over historical allegations of abuse. The Herald understands that allegations have been made against three officials who are involved or were previously involved in the church. The individuals are fighting…
A King’s College teacher jailed for child abuse offences in the UK was being supervised by a man now known to be a serial paedophile, a mother of a former student has told Stuff. Paul Dodd, now 64-years-old, worked as a history…
Crown lawyers endure strong questioning from a panel of judges as Newsroom goes to court to overturn a ban on a video investigation into Oranga Tamariki. Tim Murphy reports. Newsroom has gone to the Court of Appeal to try to reverse…
A man who raped and sexually assaulted fellow high school students at parties is asking the Supreme Court to keep his name secret – despite three survivors of his offending taking the brave step of having their name suppression removed. The young…
A damning independent inquiry into sexual and physical abuse at Auckland’s Dilworth School has uncovered a “catalogue of damage and injustice” spanning more than half a century, from 1950 to 2005. Led by Dame Sylvia Cartwright and Frances Joychild KC, the inquiry found…
“Confronting”. That’s how Tim Whaitiri Henderson, of Dove Hawke’s Bay, describes the “Hopeful Horizons” exhibition that will be showcased as part of the 2023 Fotofest in Hawke’s Bay. He recalls people breaking down in tears when they first saw the faces that…
The Jehovah’s Witness church has been fighting scrutiny from a national inquiry into the historical abuse of children for three years, court documents show. The church has accused the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care of wilfully “miscasting”…
After surviving 10 years of hell, Anna* held on to hope her perpetrators would finally atone for the sins of the past. Tim Scott investigates how the Presbyterian Church’s redress retraumatised Anna, convincing her it is washing its hands of accountability. Anna*…
