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Kiwa Hemi Tamati Edward Hamiora-Te Hira was sentenced to six years and four months in prison for sexual offences.
The former Destiny Church member abused his role in religious youth programmes to exploit six male victims aged 13 to 24.
Judge Clare Bennett highlighted the “egregious” abuse of trust and ordered his name on the sex offender registry.
Warning: This story discusses issues of sexual abuse and may be distressing
A stream of young men took turns standing before a disgraced ex-Destiny Church member in court today and, one by one, described how the now-admitted sexual predator used a veil of religious outreach to violate their trust.
“He was like a brother/father figure to me,” one 21-year-old said of the former youth group volunteer. “I have flashbacks/nightmares about what happened.”
Kiwa Hemi Tamati Edward Hamiora-Te Hira, 29, pleaded guilty in December to eight mostly representative sexual offences. As a result, he faced up to 20 years in prison as he appeared today in Manukau District Court.
Judge Clare Bennett ordered a sentence of six years and four months imprisonment.
She noted the victims, between the ages of 13 and 24, had turned to the defendant for counselling and a place of refuge.
“Frankly, the harm to the victims is incalculable,” she said, describing his predatory behaviour as “persistent and pernicious”.
The Herald revealed in May a Destiny Church member had been stood down and a police investigation launched into allegations he sexually abused youths in his care. He was charged a month later.
Kiwa Hamiora appears in Manukau District Court on sexual abuse charges in June 2024. Photo / Jason Oxenham
“The defendant was a member of Destiny Church,” the agreed summary of facts for the case states. “He assisted with youth work in Boys to Men and Youth Nation, youth programmes the complainants understood to be connected to Destiny Church, which they also attended with the defendant. The defendant’s role at the time included co-ordinating youth programmes, mentoring and counselling young males.”
Hamiora-Te Hira was banned from Destiny Church after his offending was reported to police in November 2023.
‘Prolific offending’
A nine-page summary of facts details Hamiora-Te Hira’s systematic and prolonged sexual abuse of those he was supposed to care for, and for whom he “held himself out as a father figure”.
The offending — which included at least 200 incidents of indecent assault and one of sexual violation — occurred over more than five years and involved six male victims.
“This was prolific sexual offending,” Crown prosecutor Chris Howard said today. “He has been offending against young men or youths for the past four to five years. It suggests he has not been of good character for much of his adult life.”
Court documents state the pattern of offending was always the same. The young victims would be invited back to the Ōtara house he co-owns and shares with his mother, Trish Hamiora, often after Boys2Men or Youth Nation meetings.
Alternatively, they would already be staying there — some for years — after being “kicked out” of home by their families.
Hamiora-Te Hira would usually assault the victims as they slept, sometimes on several occasions in the same night. One recalled being woken “feeling the defendant’s breath on his shoulder”.
One of the victims estimated the unwanted sexual contact happened “on about 100 occasions”.
Former Destiny Church member Kiwa Hamiora, (left) with the church's founder Brian Tamaki (right).
All of the victims told police they did not consent to the abuse. One felt “paralysed and did not know what to do”. Another was “too shocked and afraid” to confront the predator after being assaulted, which he said “would generally happen weekly, sometimes daily”.
After Hamiora-Te Hira sexually violated one of his victims, the youth pulled away before returning to bed crying, telling his abuser “he wanted to kill himself because of what happened”.
“The defendant told him, ‘It doesn’t matter what just happened, don’t ever think about killing yourself’.”
Another victim told police he was abused at Hamiora-Te Hira’s house “on multiple occasions”. Hamiora-Te Hira spoke to the victim about a previous night’s abuse the next day at work.
“Whatever happened last night, that’s on me,” he told the teenager. “I’ll take the blame for it.”
However, when interviewed by police, he denied the offending, saying “he could not recall any inappropriate touching”.
Trust violated
As Hamiora-Te Hira’s victims stood in the witness box today, each described having put an enormous amount of trust in him — and the ongoing pain caused by that broken trust.
One victim described “manipulation” and “mind control” as the defendant, while another described descending into a “dark place” of drugs and alcohol as he struggled to come to terms with what had happened.
“I feel like I can’t trust anyone anymore,” said another victim, now 20.
A now-27-year-old victim’s hands and voice at first shook as he read his statement.
Kiwa Hemi Tamati Edward Hamiora-Te Hira appears in the dock at Manukau District Court last year. Photo / Jason Oxenham
“I felt like my masculinity had been ripped away from me,” he said. “I was hurt.
“I just wish I had stood up to him before.”
But his voice steadied as he turned to the other victims in the courtroom.
“Don’t let it stop you from all the dreams and aspirations you have,” he urged. “This is the last time you have to deal with this, so let’s move on from here. I hope you hear this and I remind you that you are important.”
Struggling, self-loathing
Defence lawyer Kelly-Ann Stoikoff said after the victim impact statements her client was deeply remorseful and hoped that he could someday apologise to each victim in person.
“The offending took place at a time in Mr Hamiora-Te Hira’s life when he was struggling with his sexuality,” she said, adding that he was “deeply conflicted” over what he was brought up to believe was right and what he felt in his heart. “Unfortunately for everyone, he allowed himself to surrender to those feelings.”
He had been receiving counselling for his sexuality before the crimes came to light, she said.
Judge Bennett was not convinced.
“It’s not just confusion about sexuality, is it?” she asked, pointing out that his crimes involved violation of trust. “There were some boys who were very young.”
Stoikoff acknowledged the judge’s point and said her client has been through much self-loathing as a result.
Crown prosecutor Howard said the repeated violation of trust and the pre-mediation in his offending should be seen as aggravating features.
He asked for a starting point of nine to nine-and-a-half years for all of the charges combined.
Judge Clare Bennett ordered a sentence of six years and four months' imprisonment.
The judge set the starting point at eight and a half years but allowed a 25% discount for his guilty pleas.
She described the abuse of trust as “egregious”.
“Much of the harm [to the young men who were victimised] may not be known for years to come,” she said, adding that the men who addressed her in court were “not just brave but resilient”.
She expressed hope that each of the victims would be able eventually to move on.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Bennett ordered the defendant’s name be placed on the sex offender registry.
Destiny family
Among those sitting in the courtroom gallery during today’s hearing was Hamiora-Te Hira’s half-brother Kaleb Cave, who has regularly appeared on stage alongside Destiny leader Brian Tamaki at protests and televised sermons.
“I had nothing to do with this alleged offender, I don’t even know him, and neither do I know everyone who attends our church,” Tamaki previously wrote on X, adding that his heart went out to the victims and their families.
Kiwa Hemi Tamati Edward Hamiora-Te Hira, photographed with Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki and wife Hannah, has been sentenced to prison for sexual abuse of boys.
“I have no time or tolerance for [any] individuals who harm young people.”
A Destiny spokeswoman previously said Hamiora-Te Hira attended some church services, “like many hundreds of people do”, but also emphasised that he was not personally known to Tamaki. She said he had volunteered with the Boys2Men and Youth Nation programmes but was never given a leadership role by Destiny Church.
Upon learning of the allegations, months before the defendant’s arrest, the church took immediate action, the spokeswoman said, explaining the church notified police with the youths’ consent. Church elders immediately banned Hamiora-Te Hira from attending church services and visited his house “to ensure no young men were living with him or his mother, and ensured Oranga Tamariki and guardians were informed of the offending”.
Destiny confirmed the victims were now receiving support from qualified youth leaders.
The spokeswoman said Hamiora-Te Hira continued attending other churches until recently and claimed Destiny officials had alerted those churches to the allegations “out of concern for other young men”.
In another post on X, Tamaki reiterated church leaders had no knowledge of the offending and stressed the church had done nothing wrong.
“This is the first time to my knowledge that we have had this kind of problem,” Tamaki wrote.
“[Forty-three years] in my Ministry and Never has Peodophiles been in My Church knowningly [sic]. Our Church has very Strict Standards and Practices in Protecting Children and Young People from this type of behaviour.
“Im Very Sad about this and my heartfelt Prayers and Support go to the Victims to whom we have reached out to and are Helping. These Crimes are unexceptable anywhere [sic].”
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
Lane Nichols is deputy head of news and a senior journalist for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
