The Gloriavale Christian Community. Photo / George Heard
The Gloriavale Christian Community. Photo / George Heard
WARNING: This article discusses sexual harm and may be distressing.
A Gloriavale member who made young girls strip naked and touch themselves while he took photos of them said he was trying to “boost their confidence” and teach them how to “please their man”.
Peter Trust also subjected one girlto a “severe” beating with a fencing pipe, leaving her numb all over before lecturing her until she apologised.
Trust, 51, appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday where he was sentenced for his offending, which occurred almost 20 years ago at the West Coast Christian community.
Trust was charged with three counts of assault with a weapon and eight counts of doing an indecent act on a young person. Some charges represented more than one offence.
Members of Gloriavale sat in the public gallery supporting Trust.
The two victims, who have since left Gloriavale, were both under the age of 16 when the offending started.
The girls, who have automatic name suppression, were taken to various locations, made to strip naked and sometimes touch themselves while Trust took photos of them.
Trust told the girls he was trying to “boost their confidence” and teach them about marriage and sex.
One girl was instructed to put on boys’ overalls and then slowly strip them off until she was naked before being told to pose in sexual ways while Trust took photos of her.
When one of the victims refused to touch her private parts, Trust began indecently assaulting her.
While he did this, he told the young girl he was trying to show her how to “please her man” when she was married.
He then made the girl touch him in a sexual way so she could see what it felt like, reiterating that this was a learning experience, and he was teaching her.
The Gloriavale Christian Community. Photo / George Heard
Trust also took one of the girls to a secluded space at a lake and made her dress in adult lingerie and pose in a sexual way while he took photos. He told her how beautiful she was and how beautiful she would be for her husband.
Both girls were regularly beaten by Trust. During a “good” week, one of the girls said she would be hit one to two times. During a bad week, it was almost every day.
Trust would order the girls to lift their dresses up and bend over so he could smack them across the bottom several times with a large wooden spoon.
One of the girls described the smacking as being full-force, while the other would be left with welts that would take days to heal.
The beatings would often be followed by a lecture from Trust until they were made to apologise.
On one occasion, Trust took one of the girls into a room with a fencing pipe. He then beat her all over her body, avoiding her face, until she was numb. She suffered bruising and soreness for several days.
When Trust was questioned by the police, he acknowledged he had done something wrong, but there was nothing sexual in it from his point of view.
During his sentencing, Trust began to cry in the dock, appearing distressed.
Trust’s lawyer Michael Vesty asked the judge to impose a “stern sentence” of home detention, outlining the efforts his client had made to address his behaviour, such as participating in various rehabilitation programmes.
Because his client was in a wheelchair, he would find prison life extremely difficult, Vesty said.
Vesty said Trust had been confronted with his offending and removed from the Christian community while on bail, following his guilty pleas.
He said Trust wanted to apologise to his victims in a Restorative Justice hearing, but this did not take place. He also said Trust had experienced violence growing up, which should be considered when sentencing him.
Crown prosecutor Mitch McClenaghan urged the judge to impose a sentence of imprisonment, stating the beatings sounded “pretty severe”.
McClenaghan said the sexual offending was for Trust’s own “sexual gratification”, pointing out that he took one girl down to a secluded spot at a lake to take sexualised photos.
He said the victims were vulnerable and the only appropriate sentence would be one of imprisonment.
Judge Raoul Neave said there was clearly a link between Trust’s background and the offending, stating he had an upbringing marked by trauma and abuse.
The judge said Trust had been involved in a head-on collision with a truck when he was 27, resulting in his legs being amputated and confining him to a wheelchair.
The judge gave Trust discounts for his guilty pleas, efforts toward rehabilitation, his background and a small discount acknowledging the fact prison would be more difficult for him due to his disability.
However, this did not bring the sentence down to meet the threshold for home detention and Trust was sentenced to two years and two months’ imprisonment.
His supporters cried as they left the court.
Emily Moorhouse is a Christchurch-based Open Justice journalist at NZME. She joined NZME in 2022. Before that, she was at the Christchurch Star.
