John Mata Clarke once wanted to be Rotorua’s mayor.
Now he’s in jail for sexual offending after claiming he was cleansing an 18-year-old woman’s chakras through traditional cultural massage.
The 66-year-old has been jailed for three years and three and a half months after a jury found him guilty earlier this year of three charges, including sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, indecent assault and strangulation. He pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing cannabis before his trial started.
Clarke, also known as John Rakei-Clark, stood unsuccessfully for mayor in Rotorua in 2016 and for Rotorua Lakes Council in 2019.
Clarke denied charges against two women and stood trial in the Rotorua District Court in February. He was sentenced on June 21.
In sentencing him, Judge Tony Snell noted a pre-sentence report writer described Clarke as having a “highly entitled attitude” and his offending showed he had sexual deviance and a propensity for violence.
Court documents revealing details about Clarke’s case have been released to the Rotorua Daily Post.
The offending happened in 2021 when parts of New Zealand were in lockdown due to Covid-19.
An 18-year-old woman had a disagreement with a family member and needed somewhere else to stay because she didn’t know anyone.
She contacted her mother who lived in another city, who arranged for her to make contact with Clarke. The 18-year-old believed her mother knew Clarke well, when in fact they had only recently met online a few months prior, the summary of facts said.
Clarke agreed to pick up the 18-year-old and take her to his home.
After the 18-year-old had stayed a couple of nights, Clarke offered to massage her.
The summary said he rubbed his hands under her jersey and asked her to remove it. He then helped her to remove her bra, which the summary said she didn’t want to do.
He indecently assaulted her, leaving scratches on her upper body parts. The summary said Clarke made moaning noises and told her what he was doing would heal her sexually.
He then removed her pants and sexually violated her, despite her telling him to stop.
He pulled her pants back up and began massaging her feet. While rubbing himself against her feet, he made an offensive comment, at which point she kicked out at him and the massage stopped.
About two days later, a female family member of the 18-year-old’s, who had heard what Clarke had done, went to Clarke’s house and yelled at him to come to the door.
Clarke walked outside, photographed the woman’s car and tried to go back inside but the woman blocked his path. She continued to yell loud abuse about what he had done to her family member.
Clarke then pushed her, causing her to stumble, and grabbed her by the throat and squeezed with enough pressure to cause her to gasp for air. Two neighbouring men intervened and separated the pair.
Police went to Clarke’s house in relation to the incidents with a search warrant and found cannabis plants growing outside and cannabis material inside.
Judge Snell said Clarke had previous convictions in 1975 for assault, 1993 for careless driving and two convictions in 2015 for failing to provide identification and trespass.
In a victim impact statement referred to in sentencing by Judge Snell, the 18-year-old said she suffered scars on her body as a result of the scratches. However, the biggest effect was emotional and psychological. She felt disgusted after the offending and wanted to shower.
It had impacted her sleeping patterns and she acted out through bad behaviour towards her family to punish them for what he did to her.
The family member who was attacked by Clarke said he claimed to be a spiritual healer but there was nothing spiritual about what he did.
Judge Snell noted a pre-sentence report writer said Clarke continued to deny his offending, which echoed letters Clarke had sent to the judge and what Clarke told the judge on his sentencing day when he represented himself.
“You blame the victim for the sexual assaults, stating that she was too young to understand what the chakra cleansing massage was all about, and you say that you are disgusted with her for failing to inform you that she was uncomfortable with what you were doing.”
His risk of harm was described in the report as high and he was considered to have a medium risk of reoffending, especially towards vulnerable people.
Judge Snell said Clarke told the report writer prison was not a place for him because it was full of bad people.
“Your offending-related factors are your sense of entitlement, a propensity for violence, poor problem-solving skills, a lack of consequential thinking and sexual deviance.”
Clarke would not be treated in prison for sexual offending because he continued to deny what he had done.
A cultural report prepared for sentencing echoed Clarke’s claims he had bipolar disorder but noted he disregarded any medication and instead self-medicated with cannabis.
He repeatedly told the report writer he had surgery for a brain tumour earlier in his life which had left him with some level of poor memory and he potentially demonstrated fewer emotional responses as a result.
Clarke emphasised to the report writer he had helped mentor and support others, especially young women. The judge received several letters of support that said Clarke was a helpful person and the offending was out of character.
However, Judge Snell said Clarke significantly breached his position of trust as the 18-year-old trusted she would be safe at his home.
“You used the pretext of the massage and the clearing of her chakras in order to sexually violate her and intently assault her for your own sexual gratification,” Judge Snell said at sentencing.
On the charge of sexual violation, he was sentenced to three years and three and a half months’ jail. He was given six months’ jail concurrently on the indecent assault charge, six months concurrently on the strangulation charge and was convicted and discharged for possession of cannabis.
In both local body election campaigns, Clarke stood under the name John Rakei-Clark, with no “e” in Clarke.
His comments at a 2019 Chamber of Commerce meet-the-candidates event that homeless people should be put in a barn created headlines at the time and were slammed by fellow candidates, who said in their view his comments were “offensive” and “inhumane”.
He came sixth out of seven candidates in the 2016 mayoralty race, receiving 256 votes. He placed behind winner Steve Chadwick, Reynold Macpherson, Rob Kent, Mark Gould and RangiMarie Kingi but was ahead of Frances Louis.
In 2019, he came 33rd out of 34 candidates seeking to be elected to Rotorua Lakes Council. He received 1415 votes.
When he stood for mayor in 2016, he said he was a former New Zealand representative wrestler. He said he did not want to stand for the council as he wanted the top job.
“I’m a businessman. I don’t want to be a councillor. I’m used to sitting in the big seat giving directions,” he told the Rotorua Daily Post at the time.
Clarke also featured in the Rotorua Daily Post in 2014 when he took on Rotorua District Council in a bid to keep his Friesian bull Boots as a pet at his residential home.
The council twice seized the bull because it was not being kept secure. The council also noted at the time a large farm animal at a residential property breached a bylaw.
Crown Solicitor Amanda Gordon told the Rotorua Daily Post this week Clarke had worn black clothing and a white clerical collar to his trial on the first day.
However, she said Judge Snell told him he was unable to wear the clothing as it was inappropriate considering he wasn’t an ordained minister.
On November 9, 2021, Clarke posted on social media a photograph of a certificate with his name on it from the Universal Life Church Ministries that said the church had ordained him.
He posted the comment: “Well what can I say, here we go on our own journey in life”.
The Universal Life Church’s website said it was unlike traditional religious organisations as it didn’t require years of training or expensive courses to become a clergy member. It said becoming ordained was free and could be done online within minutes.
Under a heading that said “How to become a Minister”, the website said: “The Universal Life Church believes that all people are naturally endowed with the right to control their own spiritual life, and thus that all those who feel so-called [sic] should have access to ordination.”
The website includes a “Minister Store” where you can buy a black long-sleeved minister’s shirt and white clerical collar for US$39.99.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
He faces two charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.