Malcolm Hore, pictured in 2018, was found guilty of sexual offending. Photo / File
Warning: Distressing content
A Rotorua church leader told a young woman "how good God was" as he indecently assaulted her and later threatened to kill himself when she insisted he stop his ongoing abuse.
Malcolm Hore told the young woman he was autistic and needed physical contact otherwise he could not function, making the young woman feel frightened.
When she eventually distanced herself, he would walk near her home, hanging around outside for long periods, and walk past her work. She moved to get away from him, but he started daily walks in the area, eventually buying a house nearby.
Hore, 54, was found guilty by a Rotorua District Court jury in July this year of five counts of indecent assault, one representative charge of indecent assault (which means the offence happened several times), two charges of unlawful sexual connection and one charge of harassment.
A summary of facts outlining Hore's offending has now been released to the Rotorua Daily Post after Hore objected to its release.
His lawyer, Andy Schulze, opposed Rotorua Daily Post applications for the summary to be released and Hore's photo to be taken in court at his sentencing later this month on the grounds that publicity would cause extreme hardship to Hore, who suffered from several medical conditions.
However, Judge Tony Snell ruled the summary should be released on the grounds, among other things, there was public interest in the case. Some details of the summary have not been included in this article to protect the woman's identity.
The summary said the woman, who has automatic name suppression and was younger, trusted Hore.
He abused her trust and started sexually offending against her over about a year.
That was followed by nearly two years of harassment after she tried to distance herself from him.
He indecently assaulted her the first time at his house when he got a blanket and covered them both and told her to keep an eye out for his wife, saying she would be angry if she saw he had her blanket outside.
The woman suddenly felt uncomfortable and started to worry, thinking it wasn't appropriate.
Hore started to talk to her about God and "tummies" and how God was good. He asked if he could touch her stomach and without waiting for her response did so.
He moved his hand around her stomach talking about how God was clever and how all the functions of the body helped sustain life, the summary said.
He then moved his hand and indecently assaulted her.
The woman felt frightened, sick and was frozen in shock, the summary said.
The same thing happened again sometime later when she was at his house. He asked again if he could touch her stomach and she said only if he stayed on her tummy but he ignored her request.
About three months later he asked the woman to help him get fit and asked her to go on walks with him.
He chose isolated locations such as Mt Ngongotahā and would try to hold her hand.
On one walk, he said he wanted to go for a swim and he tried to follow her as she sought privacy to get changed.
Once in the water, he tried to get her to sit on his knee but she refused and left to sit on the sand. Hore followed her and put his hand on her tog shorts and indecently assaulted her.
He also indecently assaulted her in a hot pool after a walk. She tried to move away but he followed. He only stopped when she moved near other people in the pool.
He sexually assaulted the woman on a number of occasions while they were in a spa pool.
The woman was too scared to stop it but one night told him it was not appropriate and it was not welcomed.
Hore told her his wife wasn't fulfilling his needs and he needed to feel connected or close to somebody and without it, he could not function.
He told her he was autistic and he could not live the way he was if he didn't have physical connection.
He also told her he wanted to take his life and he had tried a few times before in earlier years.
The next day, Hore told the woman he had cut himself the night before and showed her his arm. The cuts frightened the woman and she became scared he would kill himself if she continued to insist his behaviour toward her stopped.
On a night after this conversation, he again touched her indecently in the spa but this time he committed an act of unlawful sexual connection.
The summary said the woman felt sick and she immediately pushed him away. She then feared an angry backlash from him.
He had previously told her he had been institutionalised for mental health issues and this made her unsure what he was capable of if he snapped, the summary said.
On another occasion, he called her and said he was in pain and could not move to get out of bed and needed her to massage him.
Believing she would be safe because he was not able to move, she went to his house. There, he again committed an act of unlawful sexual connection.
The woman felt sick and frozen in fear and didn't know how to make it stop.
The woman then tried to avoid Hore by not going to places where he would be and stopped going to his house.
However, he started turning up at her house on a regular basis. She tried to say she was busy but he would still arrive. On one visit, he again indecently assaulted her.
At the time of the offending, Hore lived near the woman's home.
After she began to distance herself, he started walking along her street twice a day. When she started a job, he would appear daily walking near the workplace.
He would then appear near her house early in the morning as she left for work. She altered her times of leaving but he would adjust his walk times also.
If he noticed her car was not in the garage he would walk straight past but if it was in the driveway, he would stop at a nearby lamppost and wait for her to leave.
The summary said one day Hore stood for 20 minutes at a lamppost. The woman began to take photos of Hore as he stood nearby.
After some months of the stress of being watched, the woman and her husband sold their home privately to avoid him knowing.
After the woman and her husband moved to their new house, Hore was seen in the suburb riding his bike around the streets looking up and down driveways.
Hore was then seen walking around the area at 7.30am, despite still living on the other side of the city.
On one occasion, he appeared in the car behind her as she pulled on to a road. He then drove in the lane beside her at speed and if she slowed down, he would slow down. The summary said he was deliberately intimidating her.
A house near where she lived went up for sale and Hore bought it and moved in.
When spoken to by police, he said he could walk wherever he liked. He denied the sexual offending but admitted he inappropriately touched the woman by accident a couple of times.
Judge Snell ruled this week the Rotorua Daily Post could not take Hore's photograph at his sentencing on September 22, however, permission was granted for photographs from previous publications to be published. Hore has been previously featured in unrelated news stories in the Rotorua Daily Post.
He is on bail until sentencing.
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 Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 (available 24/7)
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youth services: (06) 3555 906
• Youthline: 0800 376 633
• Kidsline: 0800 543 754 (available 24/7)
• Whatsup: 0800 942 8787 (1pm to 11pm)
• Depression helpline: 0800 111 757 (available 24/7)
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
• Helpline: 1737
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.