Oranga Tamariki knew of Gloriavale child suffocation claims eight years ago

| NZ Herald | Michael Morrah |

Oranga Tamariki received a complaint about Gloriavale parents suffocating children eight years ago but concluded their investigation with police without taking any formal enforcement action, the Herald can reveal.

Instead, social welfare workers and police spoke to senior leaders about “safe parenting techniques”.

That’s despite evidence about the same suffocation tactics emerging again late last year – prompting yet another joint investigation.

Barrister Brian Henry called the response by authorities “unbelievable” saying the hand-over-mouth technique – taught as a form of discipline to silence crying babies – is “a serious crime”.

The Herald has confirmed authorities offered Gloriavale’s leaders parenting tips after Oranga Tamariki (OT) received a “report of concern” about the suffocation tactics in 2017.

However, an affidavit obtained by the Herald, says leaders decided not to follow the advice that was offered.

Instead, they urged parents to carry out the practice in private and away from “outsiders”.

Former Gloriavale resident David Courage said in the affidavit signed in April this year that he learned about the hand-over-mouth technique during a married couples meeting when he lived at the community.

“If a baby of up to a school age child (5 years) was crying or fussing, usually crying, we would place a hand over their nose and mouth until the child went limp. The practice was a leadership-encouraged practice and was common,” Courage said in the affidavit.

Courage said in the document that a Canadian woman who was living in the community complained to OT after witnessing the practice and authorities visited Gloriavale as a result.

OT’s National Commissioner for the South Island Arihia Bennett confirmed staff went to Gloriavale and conducted interviews in 2017.

“Following a report of concern in 2017, Oranga Tamariki, alongside police, spoke with senior leaders within the Gloriavale Christian Community about safe parenting techniques. The investigation concluded with no further action required,” she told the Herald.

Police told the Herald education – rather than prosecution – was seen as the best option at the time.

“Police and Oranga Tamariki attended a meeting in April 2017 in relation to the hand over mouth practice. At the time, based on the information available, education was considered to be the most effective form of prevention,” a police spokeswoman told the Herald.

Courage’s affidavit said that after that visit by authorities “he heard nothing more”, and at no stage were parents advised to stop the suffocation practice they’d been taught.

Instead, he said, parents were encouraged to continue the practice but in secret.

“The leadership told us that if there were outsiders in any meeting, we had to take the children outside and somewhere private to conduct this practice,” he said.

Courage, who left Gloriavale in 2019, said in his affidavit that as far as he knew, the suffocation practice was ongoing when he left.

The Herald’s previously revealed that OT and police quietly started a new inquiry into the practice in November last year which involved interviews with more than 100 parents.

That inquiry, referred to in Government briefings as a “mass allegation investigation”, began after the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care heard evidence about children who’d had their airways blocked turning blue.

The most recent investigation concluded with OT and police offering parenting advice once again.

Police also gave two adults formal warnings over their use of the practice. Formal warnings are issued when police have enough evidence to prosecute but decide against taking the matter to court.

A Gloriavale spokesman told the Herald of the two warnings issued, one was the result of a parent self-reporting the abuse, and the other allegation was denied.

Lawyer: ‘Abuse of children beyond belief’

Barrister Brian Henry believes Oranga Tamariki has failed to ensure children at Gloriavale were safe despite first learning of the suffocation practice years ago.

“They (OT) have just let it go. This is unbelievable from a government agency that’s supposed to protect children.”

He believed OT and police had an obligation “to stomp down hard” on the abuse but didn’t.

“I am flabbergasted because it’s a serious crime” Barrister Brian Henry

Henry said Courage’s affidavit shows Gloriavale leaders “ignored” the parenting advice from OT and police in 2017, and he believed the practice of blocking babies’ airways continued up until late last year when authorities intervened once again.

“I have witnesses who tell me it was a widespread practice throughout that period of time. If they just gave them [parenting] tips, I am flabbergasted because it’s a serious crime,” he said.

Henry, who’s involved in ongoing court action in relation to Gloriavale, said the suffocation technique was taught to “break the child’s free will” and wasn’t only about stopping children from crying.

Gloriavale’s founder Hopeful Christian emphasised the importance of eradicating the free will of babies and children in a letter he wrote his community while in jail for sex crimes.

“For heaven’s sake, what’s happened to so-called looking after children. They (OT) have a primary obligation that the welfare of the child is paramount,” Henry said.

A Gloriavale spokesman has previously told the Herald education programmes on safe parenting and child safety have been “progressively embedded” in the Gloriavale community since 2016, and a child protection and safety policy was introduced in 2022.

“The members of the Gloriavale community uphold the national expectations of safety for children in New Zealand,” the spokesman said.

Social Development Minister Lousie Upston, who’s overseeing the Government’s response to the Royal Commission’s recommendation on Gloriavale, told the Herald she wasn’t made aware of the 2017 complaint until the Herald contacted her office.

Asked whether she felt offering parenting tips was a satisfactory way to stop the practice, she said “all agencies” were taking action on child safety reports as they arise and the suffocation technique was “completely unacceptable”.

Upston has previously not ruled out closing Gloriavale amid multiple ongoing issues.