Their testimony provided new insight into the inner workings of the fundamentalist Christian community in the foothills of the Southern Alps.
Several cases of abuse at Gloriavale have emerged in the past three decades, including the jailing of founder Hopeful Christian on sexual abuse charges in 1995.
But in his written submission, Temple claimed the community was not fully aware of the extent of sexual and physical abuse within Gloriavale until 2020, when police carried out Operation Minneapolis. The operation found that 60 members of the sect had been involved in harmful sexual behaviour.
"We were shocked … when many issues of harmful sexual behaviour … came to our attention," he said.
This was partially because Hopeful Christian - who died in 2018 - had dealt with all complaints and confessions and his records "died with him", Temple said. Complaints only started being properly documented in 2021.
Gloriavale's leaders said the community's unique living situation and beliefs may have played a role in the nature and extent of abuse within the population of around 500 people.
It had historically responded to allegations of abuse internally, through a faith-based process and its own investigations.
"We did not understand that sexual abuse offenders often find it difficult, if not impossible, to fully repent of their behaviour, and we found that victims often took years to overcome their resultant trauma, if they were able to, even if they were dealing with it in faith."
When allegations were made, police were never called because Gloriavale did not believe in outside help. This approach was underpinned by the Bible passage that "a brother should not be taken before the ungodly for judgment".
Gloriavale's guiding document, What We Believe, may also have played a role in perpetuating abuse because one of its core teachings was submitting to one another, Temple said.
"As adults, we always understood that we only submitted to things of a godly nature. We have discovered that in the mind of a child, this concept could easily be manipulated to create a power imbalance that leads to abuse."
Temple said Hopeful Christian had told women at Gloriavale they could avoid abuse by dressing modestly, not flirting, and not "leading on" men. This had led to a culture in which sexual abuse victims were afraid to speak up because they felt they were to blame.
Christian's doctrine was removed in 2019 after it was found to have created "an atmosphere of fear" and a "haven for offenders".
Since the 2020 police operation, Gloriavale said "it was obvious that our own tactics had failed" and it committed to working with police, Oranga Tamariki and other agencies to properly protect vulnerable people and support victims. It developed a detailed child protection policy last year.
It had also altered long working hours and had outsourced some of its manufacturing work to give families more time together - in a bid to increase parental oversight of their children.
Gloriavale was formed by Neville Cooper (later Hopeful Christian) in 1969 at Springbank in Canterbury before moving to Gloriavale on the West Coast.
While it was a reclusive community, its leaders said they were not blind to a social revolution in combating sexual abuse in recent years.
"The rise of the #MeToo movement made us more aware of the extent and effects of abuse and we determined to seek counselling for victims and offenders."
