Sharon Ready giving evidence about her life at Gloriavale. Photo / NZH
A Gloriavale father of 13 once convicted of beating two of his young daughters with shoes, carpentry tools, coat hangers and belts has turned on the community's leaders, telling the court that sexual abuse, bullying and forced labour are prevalent within the sect.
And he says he was "impotent" to do anything about it - even though he raised issues and concerns repeatedly with Gloriavale leaders.
Clem Ready is giving evidence in the Employment Court in a case taken against Gloriavale by a number of leavers including his daughter and granddaughter.
His wife Sharon, a Gloriavale member since its inception, also spoke in court today.
Virginia Courage, Anna Courage and fellow leavers Pearl Valour, Serenity Pilgrim, Rose Standtrue and Crystal Loyal are fighting for a legal ruling that they were employees and not volunteers during their time at Gloriavale.
They allege women at the West Coast sect are treated as "modern-day slaves" and are forced to work from a young age.
The women say they were effectively born into and kept in "servitude" - which is illegal in New Zealand - and expected to work long days in physically demanding jobs often with no breaks and very little food or water.
Their case follows a similar action in the Employment Court by a group of former Gloriavale men whom the court ruled were employees from when they were just 6 years old.
In 2018 Clem Ready was convicted of assaulting two of his daughters; Connie Ready and the late Prayer Ready, over a period of 13 years.
He was sentenced to 12 months' supervision.
Today he told Chief Employment Court Judge Christina Inglis that his conviction was a "turning point" in his life.
It made him deeply reassess himself and in doing so he realised the wrongs being done to women - and others - within Gloriavale.
"I have come to understand in retrospect that my behaviours harmed and hurt my family and I am not proud of my actions."
Ready joined the community when it was based in North Canterbury when he was 19.
When he was 21 he married 19-year-old Sharon who had joined four years earlier.
They went on to have 13 children including Prayer Ready who died in 2015 after choking on her dinner.
Currently seven of the Ready children are living outside Gloriavale and five remain inside.
He said when he joined the community he fully believed in the teachings of founder and leader Hopeful Christian whose real name was Neville Cooper.
"It was very easy to overlook the full picture of the community being swept away in the inspirational righteous speak of Hopeful," he said.
But his child abuse case was "a huge revelation and humiliating".
Ready realised he had "zero emotional intelligence" and turned inward to change his ways.
"What they were teaching did not sit well with my Christian beliefs," he told the court.
"The sexual attitudes towards my wife and daughters … the sexual culture of relief not restraint.
"Many people's lives have been destroyed … Traumatised … unable to live a normal life
This has gone on for a long long time."
Ready told the court he became deeply uncomfortable with the treatment of women and the sexual abuse of both females and boys at Gloriavale.
"Any fall from grace would primarily be a woman's fault, he said.
"That was a tenet of the community taught by Hopeful and endorsed by other leaders … I did not agree with Hopeful - but what could I do about it?
"If you disagreed with him he bullied you and made your life hell."
Ready recalled a moment with Hopeful Christian that solidified his concerns.
"The incident that hurt me the most was when my Down syndrome daughter Prayer died in 2015," he said.
"Watching her die being helpless as I did not have the skills to save her.
"On the day of the funeral Hopeful came up and said to me - in a serious comment that she now would not be sexually molested by anyone in the community.
"His attitude shook me."
Ready gave evidence that sexual abuse was "prevalent" within Gloriavale and took it upon himself to "dig up" information.
"One servant (a member of leadership) had mistreated a young woman terribly … as consequence she left the community in tatters and she was described publicly as a harlot," Ready said.
"I lost respect for leaders … I felt so angry I wanted to expose them.
"I uncovered some very very disturbing information … inappropriate sexual activities with other underage and vulnerable young women.
"I went to the leaders … I expected them to take action but they did not."
Ready spoke to a shepherd and "tried to get his support".
He initially agreed to help and back him in a meeting with senior leaders.
"Then to my great disappointment he later declined … He would not help me as he said this was a dangerous mission," he said.
"He did not want his name to be tarnished he said he could not participate."
Ready said his wife was "scared" of him pursuing the matter in case he was "removed from the community".
"They hold all the power in just about every area in your life,' he said.
"Worker bees … we're treated like cheap labour, expected to submit to their will and that is what most of the community do," he said.
"I became very depressed at my impotence to do anything … so I left the community for 18 months."
Ready eventually went back to Gloriavale because he wanted to be with his "lovely" wife.
He had to front the leaders to get permission to return and said he had "every intention of making everything right" so he could be with his family again.
He said he was "bullied" and "intimidated" but eventually told he could come back but "just as one of the brethren".
That meant he had "no opinion, no voice, no conscience".
"All that was required of me was complete submission … and not to have any opinion," he told the court.
Ready was still deeply upset and concerned about how women were being treated at Gloriavale.
"I had concerns over the sexual behaviour of some males in the community," he said.
"I was unaware just how prevalent sexual offending was by males in the community - when I was left I was hit by an avalanche of facts exposing this offending and realised that those who held all the power had used their position to cover up their own and their children's offending."
He said women were simply used at Gloriavale to "work hard, get married and have children".
"They are groomed from birth," he said.
"They are to submit … to provide unlimited sex to their husbands, to become pregnant, to become mothers of many children.
"They are indoctrinated to be cheap sweatshop labour - underpinning the whole financial structure of the community.
"They have very limited options … the teaching of the girls is to not be worldly, to be submissive and not to complain."
He said it was accepted that women would tolerate "anything from physical to emotional pain to abuse" to conform to Gloriavale's rules and regulations.
"They have no option but to work on the teams," Ready said.
"They are taught from birth that women are subservient, if [a] girl complains about a male she quickly learns that she as the victim is punished.
"The girl is totally to blame, she must be a harlot, a whore - these are the words they use to describe the girl who complains.
"They do not receive relief from inappropriate sexual conduct … the leaders believe it is the girl to blame."
Ready said any changes announced by Gloriavale leaders in the wake of various safety concerns, abuse convictions and investigations were "no more than superficial change to appease outside scrutiny".
He still feared - deeply - for his children and others still living in the community.
Sharon Ready also gave evidence in court today about her life at Gloriavale.
She said she had been a member of the community since she was 15 when her mother joined "by invitation".
It was then based in Cust, north of Christchurch and was known as Springbank.
When Ready was 19 she married 21-year-old Clem Ready.
She said in the early days the members were active in the wider community.
They lived in their own home, cared for their own families and managed their own money.
Children went to public schools and people were involved in local activities.
Ready said back then people had access to newspapers and radio and television if they could afford it.
"There were not religious rules about access to public information," she said.
But over the years things began to change and the cloistering began.
The community eventually moved to the isolated Gloriavale site on the West Coast.
"So that people could not easily reach the community," said Ready.
"Particularly family member who had once been part of the community but had left.
"We moved to Gloriavale and the community became very isolated - we no longer had members living outside so did not receive news or external input.
"The children all attended the community school which was under the control of the overseeing shepherd.
"No one had their own money, telephone, newspapers, radio, no television.
"However the overseeing shepherds and the shepherds had access to and control over all these things."
Ready also spoke of signing various documents over the years - without any independent legal advice - relating to the operation of the community and relinquishing control of her bank accounts.
"I never felt I ever had a choice when documents were put in front of me," she said.
"I had no control over the money at all … I did not understand the structure at all but I was required to sign the documents, so I did.
"When we are expected to sign documents it is not a matter of free choice. There is only one expectation - that we sign without complaint.
"We live in a very isolated community, to me the reality is whatever advice we get is to sign or to put at risk our ability to live at and quality of life at Gloriavale."
Ready said she had "no idea" what the leaders had been doing with the community's assets, money and land.
"They were supposed to belong to the people - that is all of us living in the community," she said.
"That is what I always understood was the purpose of the community - to build communal assets, to care for the people in a Christian environment. There should have been no other purpose."
She said Gloriavale was not about "total control" of the community but the leaders.
"This is right across the board by the overseeing shepherd and those he has appointed," she said.
As a result she joined her son John Ready in a civil court case seeking intervention and the removal of Gloriavale's board of trustees.
The wanted the board members replaced with a public trust "until a fit board can be found".
"I have been in this community as a wife and mother from the inception and (in) September 2020 I filed proceedings in the High Court to remove the shepherds as trustees from the community because that is what my responsibilities as a Christian required me to do," she said, becoming visibly emotional.
"I did this after a lot of thought and prayer - I did not do this lightly, as I do not give evidence here lightly."
The case is expected to run for at least seven weeks and a Givealittle page has been set up to help support the women and their families during the lengthy proceeding.
Gloriavale rejects all claims by the leavers and say the case is an attempt by "embittered" people to "blacken" the community's reputation.
Current members will give evidence of their life and treatment later in proceedings.
TO VISIT THE FUNDRAISING PAGE CLICK HERE
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact the Safe to Talk confidential crisis helpline on:
• Text 4334 and they will respond
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• Visit https://safetotalk.nz/contact-us/ for an online chat
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.
Kemp died at home, aged 50, after battling aggressive kidney disease.