The fire on Castle Hill, Canterbury continues to burn as it has since Thursday this week. Labour continues to press the governments policies as Franklin road prepares to re-open.
The disgraced disciple faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in March.
Warning: This story discusses issues of sexual abuse and may be distressing
Parents whose sons were sexually assaulted by a disgraced Destiny Church youth leader are demanding answers about why the man was allowed to interact with vulnerable young people and how the abuse went undetected for five years.
“You can’t tell me they knew nothing, they’ve got to have known,” claimed a mother whose son was one of six young males molested hundreds of times by the disgraced Destiny disciple.
She said Kiwa Hemi Tamati Edward Hamiora-Te Hira “manipulated, corrupted and groomed” the victims, isolated them from their families, denied them visitors and made them “commit to the church”.
The mother said she no longer recognised her son due to fallout from the abuse he suffered. She held Destiny partly responsible for not protecting the boys and believed the church was more focused on its own reputation than victims’ welfare.
“They didn’t take the time and energy to make sure our boys were in a safe environment. It was just all about the word of God.”
However, Destiny has hit back at the criticisms, saying the offender was only a volunteer with no official church leadership role, and had no relationship with Destiny leader Brian Tamaki.
Destiny Church also claims the youth groups associated with Hamiora-Te Hira – Boys2Men and Youth Nation - were not Destiny Church youth groups, and that the church had no responsibility for or oversight over those groups.
Destiny Church confirmed that Boys2Men and Youth Nation roles were not appointed by the church, the Tamakis or the church Eldership team.
The Herald understands the Boys2Men youth group was established under the Youth Nation community programme. Youth Nation promotes itself as the official youth arm of the Man Up programme founded by Destiny Church.
“Destiny Church had no involvement or awareness of the contact that developed or the offending until it was advised and then it acted immediately,” a spokeswoman said.
“Destiny Church of course does not condone any abuse of young people and will continue to offer support to the victims of this offending.”
Hamiora-Te Hira can finally be named after the now-convicted sex offender pleaded guilty to eight mostly representative charges last Friday and name suppression lapsed.
A nine-page summary of facts details the 29-year-old’s systematic and prolonged sexual abuse of those he was supposed to care for.
The offending included at least 200 incidents of indecent assault and one of sexual violation, occurring over more than five years.
He is now in custody and facing a long term of imprisonment when he is sentenced in March.
The Herald this week revealed the boys were abused at an Ōtara house Hamiora-Te Hiwa co-owns and shares with his mother, Trish Hamiora, who is also a longstanding member of Destiny.
Kate* said her family had been heavily involved in Destiny Church and her son was abused after meeting Hamiora-Te Hira at the Boys2Men youth group then moving into the “father figure’s” home.
Kate’s son told her multiple boys had lived at the property.
“He said some would come, some would go. They would move in for a couple of months then new boys would come in. It was an ongoing thing.”
Kiwa Hemi Tamati Edward Hamiora-Te Hira, 29, in the dock at Manukau District Court earlier this year. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Hamiora-Te Hira would target boys with troubled family relationships, sometimes arriving at their homes and helping to pack their bags.
“That was how he was drawing these boys in.”
But once the boys moved into the Ōtara house, they were isolated from their parents, subject to strict curfews, and not allowed visitors without consent from Hamiora-Te Hira and “Mama Trish”, Kate claimed.
Her son eventually moved out of the house and returned to live with his family before confiding in Kate about the abuse in a painful four-hour conversation.
“He said, ‘Mum I need to talk to you about something’. He didn’t know how to tell me. He said, ‘Kiwa did something to me. I don’t understand what he did’. I just started crying.
“He asked me if I was mad. I said, ‘I’m not mad with you, darling. It’s not your fault you were put through all this stuff’.”
Pattern of abuse: Predator preyed on victims while they slept
Kate’s son outlined a pattern of abuse in which Hamiora-Te Hira would prey upon his victims while they slept.
“It was a pattern happening at nighttime. Not only with him, but with other boys.”
She and other parents say they are shocked at the extent of abuse carried out by Hamiora-Te Hira and can’t understand how the offending went unnoticed for so long.
They believe Destiny Church should have had greater oversight for their sons’ safety and wellbeing, and are angry that a predator was allowed to interact with vulnerable young people.
They believe the church must have had suspicions over the years but failed to take action.
“I hold them partly responsible for what’s happened to our boys,” Kate said. “They could have done better to make sure our boys were in a safer environment.”
The City Of God Destiny Church in Manukau, Auckland. Photo / Chris Gorman
She said her boy was still dealing with fallout from the abuse. He was struggling emotionally and physically.
“Every single day is a trigger for him. It’s made him into a person I never thought he’d become. That’s not my son.”
Another mother whose son was abused said she was glad Hamiora-Te Hira had admitted his offending and was now behind bars. It would give him time to think about his “sinful behaviour” and the effect of his crimes on victims’ families.
She also questioned how the abuse had gone on so long without the church’s knowledge.
‘Very sad’: Destiny Church responds
A Destiny spokeswoman said Hamiora-Te Hira attended some church services, “like many hundreds of people do”, but was not personally known to Tamaki.
Though police described Hamiora-Te Hira as a “youth leader” and “facilitator”, the spokeswoman said he had volunteered with the Boys2Men and Youth Nation programmes but was never given a leadership role by Destiny Church.
Destiny took immediate action after being alerted to the offending by one of the victims in November last year, notifying police with the youth’s 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 that the victims were now receiving support from qualified youth leaders.
The spokeswoman said Hamiora-Te Hira continued attending other churches until recently and claimed that Destiny officials had alerted those churches to the allegations “out of concern for other young men”.
She added that Destiny Church had assisted police and was not itself under investigation.
In a post on X this week, Tamaki reiterated that church leaders had no knowledge of the offending until alerted late last year 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.
“43yrs 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].”
