A former member of the controversial Two by Twos church has shared her story - alleging children were routinely beaten by parents. Photo / 123rf
A former member of the controversial Two by Twos church has shared her story - alleging children were routinely beaten by parents. Photo / 123rf
A former member of the Two by Twos church alleges children were physically abused.
The woman spent almost 60 years in the church but left due to what she saw as inaction over abuse.
New Zealand police are investigating historic abuse allegations following a global inquiry initiated by the FBI.
A former member of the Two by Twos church has made allegations of “extreme” physical abuse of children and is warning that while “there are good people in the grassroots” of the secretive organisation, it is “rotten at the top”.
Ann* recentlyleft the church she was born into and spent almost 60 years in, saying she was unable to tolerate what she felt was inaction and silence over “awful” abuse perpetrated by members.
She told the Herald she would have stayed and fought for change, but had no hope that it would ever happen.
“The thing that I want to speak about, that I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere, is the physical abuse. It was extreme,” she said.
“It isn’t easy to talk about the physical abuse seared in my mind. I would say there are a lot of stories like mine … no one is talking about it, and I believe that in certain circles it still goes on. It’s a scourge.
“And there are people who spend their whole lives believing that this is the one and only way, and if they don’t follow along they will never get to heaven. I’m glad there are people brave enough to actually tell it to the world, because once it’s on the internet and put out there, it will never be unseen again and it might save somebody.”
Church members arrive for a weekly gospel service in Christchurch in April. Photo / George Heard
It came to attention recently after the FBI launched a global investigation into the church, described by some as a cult, after several former members made allegations of sexual abuse.
In February, New Zealand police became involved, and a number of investigations are currently under way as a result of people reporting historic abuse.
Since then, many former members have spoken about their experiences in the church – which has no official name or buildings – with some calling it a cult and describing it as a “high-control” organisation.
The Herald tried to contact church overseer Wayne Dean about Ann’s allegations of physical abuse. He did not respond to messages.
“It’s not just a whack on the leg or a whack on the bum – they’re beatings to the point that it’s physical and mental torture,” Ann said.
“I was beaten, severely, on my legs. I’m 58 years old and I still have the marks from the beatings … and that was common.
“I remember a beating I got in a motel. The toilet had louvred windows, and my mother slammed these louvres closed and broke them before she beat me. I got the blame for it.”
The FBI has been investigating the 'church' and its members since at least 2014. Photo / FBI
While her mother hurt her, she says most of the damage was done by her father.
“I know when I got my last hiding, and I would have been about 14 years old. It was a Saturday … things used to boil over on a Saturday,” she recalled.
“I remember deciding at the time that this was the last time my father was ever going to beat me. Something flashed in my brain that said, ‘You’re never doing this to me again’. I thought, ‘I am going to fight like a she-cat’. I had never, ever fought back; I just accepted being beaten.
“But this time, I fought back like you wouldn’t believe. Dad had scratches on his face, and he went to the meeting the next morning … and I looked a mess too. He never hit me again. I think he must have realised the force of my will – that this was actually going to end really badly if he did that again to me."
Ann and her father never discussed the violence in their home. But, she said, several years ago he apologised to her, saying, “I was a bit hard on you growing up.”
“He was nearing the end of his life … it must have haunted him too. He obviously didn’t want to die with that on his conscience,” Ann said.
“I said, ‘Well, you know, what is done is done. I accept the apology, but you can’t undo what you did’.”
Ann said she was beaten frequently by her parents - mainly her father. She says she witnessed other children being physically abused also. Photo /123RF
Ann claimed she also saw violence in other families, saying she “vividly” recalled other children being beaten by their parents.
“I remember my cousin saying no to doing a job and my aunty said, ‘You know you’re gonna get a hiding, you can have it now or you can wait till your father comes home’.
“He said, ‘Oh, I’ll wait for dad’ because he thought his dad wasn’t coming home for hours. His father actually turned up at that precise moment and he got a beating in the toilet that I can’t unhear to this day.”
Ann said she had often thought of a girl who attended the same Sunday meeting as her family, who was routinely “severely” beaten by her parents.
“I remember every detail, so vividly … I’ve never been able to unsee it,” she said.
“Right from a really young age, we had to sit there holding a hymnbook and Bible … you had to sit there unmoving.
“Her parents were very, very strict and really wanted the workers to think well of them – that was always the aim of the game. And if she moved, she got taken out of that meeting by her arm without her feet touching the floor, and she was beaten so badly outside on our back porch that when she came back in she could, she couldn’t walk.
“She was dragged back into the room in the same manner. All my parents said was they didn’t like it because they were worried about what the neighbours would think.”
Another time, Ann said, she remembers the girl being beaten for pretending to bite another child.
“Her father grabbed her and he took her to the bedroom, and the beating … I can still hear it to this day,” she said.
“He was a great big man and she was a tiny child, she probably would have only been 4 years old.
“No one stepped in, no one intervened – ever. It’s a wonder she’s actually alive.”
Ann left the church recently - appalled by its response to allegations of historic sexual abuse. Photo / 123rf
Ann’s decision to leave the church came after news of the FBI investigation broke.
In New Zealand, all members were handed a letter at the Sunday meeting addressing the situation.
“It seemed to be more in other countries at that point, but the rumblings were here, and it appeared they [the New Zealand church leaders] were going to do something about it,” Ann said.
“The first letter gives you some sort of hope that they might actually do the right thing. I thought when I left that Sunday morning meeting – ok, well, people make mistakes and we’ll just see what they do, they’re working on it and they’re going to do something about it.
“When the second letter came, it basically whitewashed it all, washed it under the table. It was a ‘nothing to see here’ and the church just closed ranks.
“I walked out of that Sunday morning meeting, and I knew that I was never going back. That was the end of me.”
Ann is a highly qualified professional who prides herself on being known for speaking up and pushing for change when things are not fair or right.
But she did not feel she could influence any change in the church.
“I don’t actually think there’s any hope. You can’t do good in a bad place. When it’s really bad, one voice is very difficult to turn that tide. They just close ranks like a gang.
“I believe that once you see something, you’re responsible for it. I hadn’t seen sexual abuse, I hadn’t directly experienced it – I knew there was a murmuring but didn’t really know. After the letters … I felt responsible at that point, you know, I couldn’t comfortably live by my morals in that organisation, so that was the end of that.
“I’m prepared to stand by what I believe in, and my morals can’t align with that. You don’t treat victims like that. I said, ‘That’s it for me, not on my watch’. End of story.”
Ann felt the church was no longer aligning with the teachings of the bible and refused to continue attending meetings. Photo / File
Ann chose not to be named to protect her elderly father. If not for him, she would have been happy to have her name published.
“I feel ashamed because I’m not a person who actually normally remains anonymous. I stand by what I say. I don’t hold my voice,” she said.
“The thing I really hate is I feel like I have a dirty secret now … that I ever belonged to that church.
“I feel ashamed, and I’ve done nothing.”
Ann said it was important that former members of the church continued to share their stories and experiences.
“The stories need telling. If anyone’s thinking of joining that organisation, I think they need to go in with their eyes open. It’s a free world, and you can belong to what you like. I don’t have any problem with that. But people need to know what they are going into before they find themselves sucked in.”
*Ann’s name has been changed to protect the privacy of family members.
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 19 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
