All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Ex-Gloriavale member was victim of 'wrong relationship'

Patrice Dougan
By Patrice Dougan
Assistant Chief of Staff·NZME.·
22 Apr, 2015 07:48 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Photo / screenshot
Photo / screenshot

Photo / screenshot

A young woman who left the secretive Gloriavale Christian Community says she was the victim of a "wrong relationship" with an adult married man when she was just a child.

Such relationships were not unheard of during her 19 years living in the isolated West Coast church community, she said, with church leaders turning a blind eye to the sexual nature of inappropriate adult-child relationships.

Julia, 22, who left Gloriavale three years ago, said adults in the community had relationships with minors.

READ MORE
• Gloriavale leaders close in as members talk of leaving
• Gloriavale: Woman pleads for family to leave

"They don't like to be looked at it as a sexual relationship, but no matter what relationship you have with someone younger than you, or anybody, it can turn wrong over time," she said on Campbell Live tonight.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Me, myself, I had a wrong relationship with a married guy. I was very young, and I did not want to tell anyone about that at the time when it started because I felt I would get looked down upon, I would get all the blame, it would all come back on me. So I just kept quiet about it and carried on."

Host John Campbell said the abuse started when she was just 12 years old.

Julia said she felt "totally alone" during that time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Half the time my parents were taking the leaders' side," she said.

"I was just a little kid going into a leaders meeting with 10 guys sitting around in a circle. I'd be the only girl there.

"I was petrified. You're just shocked, you don't know what to do."During those meetings the church leaders would "yell" at her, she said, calling her "evil" and a "sinner", and telling her she would go to hell.

"The only way to repent of this and show us that you have changed is to fall down, ask for forgiveness, admit where you've been wrong," she said.

Discover more

New Zealand

Gloriavale families to tell their story

17 Apr 02:57 AM
New Zealand

Two couples tell of leaving Gloriavale

19 Apr 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Hopeful Christian's influence on Gloriavale

20 Apr 09:20 PM
New Zealand

Gloriavale wants to shut access road

21 Apr 02:47 AM

While she was a victim of an inappropriate relationship during her time at Gloriavale, she said she did not know if such relationships were still happening in the small closeted religious community as she has had no contact with anyone on the inside since she left three years ago.

Her family had disowned her, she said, and completely cut her from their lives.

"I sent a few emails to my dad a few times, but I just got not very nice replies back, so I just gave up on that," she said.

"One email we sent we asked him for some photos of when I was a little kid, and he just sent back, 'oh we destroyed all them, we don't hold anything of hers anymore'."

Her father drove her to the bus-stop when she left, and even though he was crying, he told her: "This is it, I don't want to have anything else to do with you. You leave the community you're leaving me and your family, and we no longer count you as part of our family."

The remote Christian commune has seen a number of people leave recently, with reports 65 people have left in the past eight years, including 22 in the past two months.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Two other former members, Elijah Overcomer and Mordecai Courage, also spoke to Campbell Live. They were asked a series of questions related to the definition of a cult, to which they responded "yes" to each one in relation to Gloriavale.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
New ZealandUpdated

An epic, wild 218 days: Meet the family of six who walked the length of NZ

23 May 08:28 PM
Premium
New Zealand

The $40m difference - why Napier council has $110m budget for $70m project

23 May 06:00 PM
New Zealand

Big things, small place: Mount Maunganui drone-maker wins top NZ hi-tech award

23 May 06:00 PM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
‘Going nowhere’: Trump reignites EU trade war with 50% tariff threat
World

‘Going nowhere’: Trump reignites EU trade war with 50% tariff threat

23 May 08:22 PM
Assessing the Auckland FC 'miracle' – and why Saturday is the biggest chapter yet
Sport

Assessing the Auckland FC 'miracle' – and why Saturday is the biggest chapter yet

23 May 07:10 PM
'I’m sorry': Billy Joel cancels all concerts over health concerns
World

'I’m sorry': Billy Joel cancels all concerts over health concerns

23 May 07:08 PM
Mamamia's Holly Wainwright on why she wants to celebrate midlife – and talk about more than hormones
Lifestyle

Mamamia's Holly Wainwright on why she wants to celebrate midlife – and talk about more than hormones

23 May 07:00 PM
Big things, small place: Mount Maunganui drone-maker wins top NZ hi-tech award
Bay of Plenty Times

Big things, small place: Mount Maunganui drone-maker wins top NZ hi-tech award

23 May 06:00 PM

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
An epic, wild 218 days: Meet the family of six who walked the length of NZ

An epic, wild 218 days: Meet the family of six who walked the length of NZ

23 May 08:28 PM

An inspiring, astonishing adventure, including being mistaken for missing Marokopa family.

Premium
The $40m difference - why Napier council has $110m budget for $70m project

The $40m difference - why Napier council has $110m budget for $70m project

23 May 06:00 PM
Big things, small place: Mount Maunganui drone-maker wins top NZ hi-tech award

Big things, small place: Mount Maunganui drone-maker wins top NZ hi-tech award

23 May 06:00 PM
How Rotorua's air pollution transformation defied expectations

How Rotorua's air pollution transformation defied expectations

23 May 06:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search