SkyCity admits the 'huge toll' the NZICC has taken on them, the hospitals continue to be full or delayed as Trump holds up thousands of global aid projects.
Video / NZ Herald
The FBI is sharing information with police about alleged sexual abuse in a sect, commonly known as the Two by Twos.
The FBI is sharing information about alleged sexual abuse within an underground religious group with New Zealand police as part of its global investigation.
Just over a year ago, the US agency took theunusual step of publicly asking victims to come forward, as it probed the religious group that has no official name but is commonly known as the Two by Twos.
“If you have information about this ongoing investigation or believe your child or other children may have been victimised by individuals affiliated with 2x2, the FBI requests you complete a short online questionnaire,” the FBI said.
A photo of New Zealand members of the religious organisation known as The Truth or the Two by Twos, taken in Masterton in 1962.
Until then, little had been publicised about the group in New Zealand.
The Christian sect has no official name or buildings, is not registered as a charity, and its members meet in homes.
A hallmark of the sect is that its ministers are volunteers who travel in pairs and stay in members' homes, relying on gifts or donations to meet their expenses.
This week, people who responded to the FBI’s request for information received an email from the New Zealand police.
“I am sending this email as you have taken part in the FBI’s inquiry into the religious group that is known by various names, including 2x2, The Way, The Truth and The Church with No Name,” the police said.
“The submissions made via the tip line have been shared with police forces worldwide to assess potential follow-up actions regarding the reported offences.”
The email, from the police’s adult sexual assault team, then asked if the person would like to be contacted by police about their case and if they would like to be put in contact with a support agency.
The police confirmed they have recently contacted several people about alleged sexual offending connected to a sect.
“The purpose of making contact is to ensure anyone who may want to make a complaint has an appropriate avenue through which to do so, or so that any required support can be provided,” a police spokesperson said.
Last year, the sect’s New Zealand leader confirmed police here were investigating at least one former minister for historical abuse, and the group was aware of 14 cases of allegations against members.
Police have since charged two men, separately, with multiple counts of historical sexual offending against young boys.
Kerikeri man William Stephen Easton pleaded guilty to abusing six boys in repeated, premeditated offending while he was part of the sect.
He was sentenced to 13 years in prison at Kaikohe District Court in December last year.
Kerikeri man William Stephen Easton pleaded guilty to abusing six boys in repeated, premeditated offending while he was part of the sect. Photo / Shannon Pitman
The 80-year-old was a minister of the Two by Twos when the offending took place.
Another 80-year-old man who was also part of the sect faces a raft of sex crime charges spanning almost two decades.
He has pleaded not guilty and is next due to appear in Whangārei District Court on February 13.
The group has about 2500 members and 60 ministers in New Zealand and cult-awareness experts said it has many markers of a cult.
Jillian Hishon grew up in the sect in Australia but left the religious group when she married someone who was not part of it.
She now runs a hotline set up for Australasian victims of the sect, under The Brave Truth Australia and NZ group, after evidence of child abuse emerged out of the US last year.
Jillian Hishon grew up in the sect in Australia but left the religious group when she married someone who was not part of it.
Hishon said it has taken a high-profile FBI investigation overseas and multiple reports of child abuse in other countries for New Zealand victims to come forward to the hotline.
She said it is heartening to know the police are following up with those who responded to the FBI’s request for victims to come forward.
“It’s really important for them to have had this follow-up from the New Zealand police, from the FBI. First of all, it lets them know their inquiry has been heard, that it’s gone through to them and that they are taking it further.”
Hishon said it would be important for survivors to be supported, which is something the police have offered.
“When people have never been through the court system or made reports or anything like that before it’s a really daunting process.
“For someone to reach out and say we’re here to support you if you need that, we can just discuss it, I think that’s a really good thing,” she said.
