Gloriavale’s “Overseeing Shepherd” Howard Temple was in the Greymouth District Court this morning to defend historic sexual abuse allegations spanning more than two decades.

The 85-year-old spiritual leader of the remote Christian community at Lake Haupiri is accused of assaulting nine girls and women aged between 9 and 20 years by way of unwanted touching, hugging and kissing, inside communal areas of Gloriavale.

Temple denies any sexual innuendo, his lawyer Michael Vesty saying his actions were not indecent.

“He did not grope, he did not grab, he did not linger.”

A media scrum was waiting outside the Greymouth courthouse this morning as the elderly leader headed into court for the first day of a judge-alone trial, set down for at least one week, before Judge Raoul Neave.

Several alleged victims and police are expected to give evidence over the coming days. Applications to film in court were denied by Judge Neave, who said he did not want proceedings “turning into a circus”.

The high-profile case and Temple’s charges follow a three-year police investigation into the 600-strong Gloriavale community.

A total of 24 various charges of indecent assault and doing an indecent act against girls under 12 years, girls aged 12 to 16 years, and others over 16 years have been laid by the Crown. The alleged offending dates back to 1998, with the most recent in 2022.

Temple was named over the alleged offending in August 2023. Prior to that, the nature of the charges had been suppressed.

This morning, standing in the dock, aided by a communications assistant due to his hearing difficulties, Temple pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Charges include hugging young females from behind, placing an arm around their waist, rubbing and touching their legs, backs, inner thighs, and on some occasions touching their breasts and bottoms, as well as kissing the neck of one young girl.

The alleged indecent acts are claimed to have occurred in Gloriavale’s communal dining area at meal times, in the kitchen, and in one instance, in the men’s bathroom.

Crown prosecutor Kerry White said it was alleged that while the complainants would stand close to Temple to serve drinks and meals in the dining area, he would take the opportunity to touch their bodies.

As the girls got older, they would work in the communal kitchen.

The Crown alleges the conduct spanned 25 years.

Temple’s lawyer Michael Vesty said leaders were involved in the personal, spiritual and emotional lives of those living in the community.

Expressions of hugs, an arm around the waist or comments of care were common and often encouraged as “part of the pastoral dynamic”.

Temple denied any of the alleged conduct was indecent.

“He had no sexual motivation. He regrets and is saddened that this is how they now consider his actions,” Vesty said.

He said Temple accepted he had shown affection such as hugs, which were often reciprocated.

“They were gestures of gratitude and support which were acceptable in the conduct of day-to-day life in the community.”

American-born Temple, the successor to the late Hopeful Christian, who founded the Gloriavale Christian Community in North Canterbury before shifting it to the West Coast in the late 1990s, has lived in the reclusive community for over 40 years.

In January, Temple made a public apology on behalf of the Gloriavale church to the community’s many victims for any historic abuse suffered.

It came after the 2024 Royal Commission of Inquiry into historic Abuse in Care requested Gloriavale apologise to its members.

He said the organisation acknowledged that abuse happened within its community between 1950 and 1999.

“To the people of Gloriavale and those who were part of the community that experienced this abuse while among us, we write to you with profound sorrow, acknowledging the pain and suffering that has been experienced by victims and families while within our church group.”

- Greymouth Star