Anihera Black hands police names of four she says know of Awanui's alleged child sex ring

Anihera Black said police have been given names of four people 'aware of the sex ring'. Photo / via Facebook

The widow of Awanui Black says she has given police the names of four people she believes were aware of an alleged child sex ring he was a part of.

Anihera Zhou Black today confirmed to the Bay of Plenty Times she had given names to police.

Allegations Awanui, a Bay of Plenty Regional councillor and chairman of the Tauranga Moana Iwi Leaders Group, came to light last week when Anihera went live on Facebook with the claims.

The late Awanui Black has been accused of being part of a child sex ring. Photo / File

Te Awanuiārangi Black died aged 48 with organ failure in 2016 after a short hospital stay.

Twenty months later, Anihera Zhou Black was on Facebook trying to deal with fresh emotions as she told the world she believed the man she loved was an imposter.

By the weekend she claimed she had information about a least three claims of child sexual abuse by her husband which were "irrefutable".

The video she posted last week spread like wildfire and was viewed 30,000 times in the few hours after she posted it.

"Those good deeds Awa did for individuals will live on in the memory of their lifetimes.
However the pain and suffering he caused others may live on for generations to come if things are left unsaid."

Anihera Zhou Black said her former husband had come across as a larger-than-life leader with a booming voice but was actually "a shrivelled up cowering soulless shadow of a man".

The couple met aged 15 and married aged 18 before spending 26 years married.

Throughout that time, she said he lived a double life that - she believed - stemmed from sexual abuse he had suffered as a boy.

"In turn it created the same behaviour in Awa. Awa became a paedophile and over the years, honing his skills, waiting for that perfect moment he had preordained to steal the innocence of others.

"I wondered why Awa invited so many young people through our home over the years and I thought it was to be a good aunty and uncle. I know differently now.

"He became a predator, a recruiter, a teacher, a pimp, a ringleader of one of the many child-adult sex rings here in his beloved Tauranga Moana and he took that shit nationwide with all his contacts in every stream of life.

"They would recruit the innocent ... share them around like a box of beer, consume every last drop and discarding the empty vessels into the gutter, soulless, cold and broken.

"I am so extremely sorry and devastated. You are all my babies now and I will do what I can to navigate through your healing process.

Anihera Zhou Black said those who were victims had "permission to speak your truth".

"Take back the power of the secret. It has no power in the light. Give yourself permission to be heard, be it a whisper or a bloodcurdling scream."

Ngāi Te Rangi iwi chief executive Paora Stanley last week said the iwi were desperate to find out if the allegations were true so put up an $11,000 reward for information about the allegations.