Two by Twos church leader Wayne Dean responds to sex abuse claims, FBI, NZ Police investigation

• Wayne Dean, head overseer of the Two by Twos church, has addressed investigations into sexual abuse allegations.
• New Zealand Police have launched several investigations after 27 people reported abuse within the church.
• A number of people before the courts of jailed for offending have been previously linked to the secretive sect.

The man at the helm of the controversial Two by Twos church has broken his silence about investigations by the FBI and New Zealand Police into allegations of sexual abuse.

Head overseer Wayne Dean has repeatedly refused to give interviews about his church, which has no official name.

But he has addressed the multiple investigations underway in an email to the Herald.

The Two by Twos are a controversial home-based fundamentalist Christian church.

The movement was founded in 1887 by Scotsman William Irvine, but some profess its beginnings can be traced back to Galilee, where Jesus Christ is said to have been raised.

Officially, the church has no name, no official buildings, and is not registered as a charity.

Its members meet at private homes for “House Church” on Sundays and gather at community halls for gospel sessions led by “workers” – pairs of preachers – several times a week.

The church is thought to have several thousand members in New Zealand.

Wayne Dean (second left) pictured in 2020 with other overseers of the Two by Twos church from NZ and Australia.

Last year, 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, the New Zealand Police became involved, and members here who had contacted the FBI received an email from the national adult sexual assault team.

Dean told the Herald no authorities had been in contact with him or other church leaders.

But if they did, the church would “cooperate fully”.

The FBI has been investigating the church and its members since at least 2014. Photo / FBI

“The FBI and the New Zealand Police have not contacted us regarding the investigation we hear of in media reports,“ he said.

“Nor are we aware of our NZ Fellowship being under any investigation.

“We do understand that some individuals who are and have been members of our fellowship have or are being investigated for allegations of child sexual assault, and in some cases, charges have been laid.

“We will cooperate fully with any authorities should they request any information we may hold.”

Dean said the church had “put in place safeguards to protect children”.

“And we will not tolerate any forms of abuse.”

He would not comment further.

“We do not see any benefit in responding to your reporting,” he said.

“Nor are we interested in an interview.”

Dean later answered several further questions by email about what church members could do to report abuse - and what action church leaders took if it was raised with them.

“If we are made aware of any abuse where the victim is currently a child we will immediately contact both police and Oranga Tamariki,” he said.

“For other historical cases, only the victim can report this to the police - we do however encourage the victim to report it and we will support them to do so.

“When notified of abuse we take steps to mitigate any immediate risk to children - consulting with police when the abuse has been reported to them and following their advice.

“We encourage and support people to report to police. This is noted in various documents on the (church) website including in the guidelines published under the New Zealand section.”

A number of people either in or connected to the Two by Twos church have been charged over the years with sexual offending. Photo / File

Last week Detective Inspector Warwick McKee - the national manager of adult sexual assault and child protection - confirmed 27 New Zealand-based people had recently reported allegations of sexual abuse within the Two by Twos.

As a result, police had launched “several” new criminal investigations.

He said there might be more to come.

McKee said today there had been no further reports made at this stage.

“Any new or subsequent complaints should be made through normal police process of reporting,” he said.

“Each investigation/investigator determines whether any approach will be made to any individual or organisation.”

Last week McKee confirmed police here had contacted a number of people in relation to “alleged sexual offending connected to a sect”.

“The purpose of making contact was to ensure anyone who may want to make a complaint has an appropriate avenue through which to do so, or so that any required support can be provided,” he explained.

McKee said of those 27 people, 10 had already made reports of possible offending.

In two of those cases, the offenders have already been convicted.

“Investigations also remain ongoing in relation to some of these reports,” he said.

“The remaining people were contacted by [police] to see if they wished to make a report to police and/or to be put in touch with an appropriate support agency.

“Police have commenced several investigations as a result.”

The Herald reported on National MP Hamish Campbell's link to the group last week. Photo / NZH

National MP Hamish Campbell confirmed he was a member of the church after refusing to specify his role for more than a year.

He previously said he had an “association” or “connection” to the church through family.

But after repeated requests from the Herald for clarification, he admitted he was a member and had held religious meetings in his home.

A number of former members have referred to Campbell as an “elder” within the sect - and said his father was an even higher-ranking elder.

Two by Twos before the courts

Northland man and church member William Easton’s sexual offending against children dating back 60 years finally caught up with him after the FBI’s investigation began.

In September, the 79-year-old pleaded guilty to sexually abusing four boys between 1964 and 1986.

William Stephen Easton during an earlier court appearance. Photo / Peter de Graaf, RNZ

His victims were aged between 7 and 16 at the time and the offending occurred in multiple locations, including Dannevirke, Whanganui, Timaru and around the mid-North.

The Herald revealed last week that a former assistant principal convicted of filming up girls’ skirts was an elder in the church.

Douglas Haora Martin filmed up the skirts of 17 unsuspecting girls and women with a secret pen camera for his own “sexual pleasure and gratification” during a six-month period in 2012.

Martin pleaded guilty a year later to 20 charges relating to seven victims - the only ones who could be identified.

The then-57-year-old filmed them at his school and at a shopping mall, as well as other locations that have been suppressed.

Douglas Martin refused to comment abou his connection to the church when visited by the Herald this month. Photo / George Heard

Analysis of his computer showed he had accessed the videos he had made more than 400 times.

At his sentencing in the Christchurch District Court, Judge Emma Smith sentenced Martin to 10 months of home detention, ordered him to undergo rehabilitation for his sexual deviancy and banned him from having contact with any girls under the age of 16.

The judge at the time said Martin was a church elder.

Last week, multiple sources confirmed to the Herald this week that the “church” was the Two by Twos.

And a man in his 80s is currently before the courts facing a raft of charges, including sodomy and bestiality, spanning almost two decades.

RNZ reported he was a member of the Two by Twos. A number of sources have confirmed this to the Herald this week.

The man has denied the offending and currently has name suppression.

He is accused of 12 counts of indecent assault on a boy aged between 12 and 16, two indecent acts on a boy aged between 12 and 16, one charge of sodomy on a person under 16 and one charge of bestiality.

The four complainants were aged between 12 and 15 at the time of the alleged offending, in the 1970s and 1980s.

Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 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