Father tells of rescuing kids from West Coast cult

April 23, 2009: | NZ Herald | Rebecca Quilliam | For hundreds of people living in a cut-off community called Gloriavale on the West Coast, Neville Cooper speaks the word of God. For his son Phil, Neville Cooper was a controlling, manipulative, sexual deviant who set out to dominate every aspect of his…

Dad reaches out to sect child

April 1, 2009: | NZ Herald | Anna Leask | A New Zealand father of six is desperate to give a 16-year-old daughter he has never met the chance of life outside a religious sect that still has his former wife in its grasp. Phil Cooper escaped the sect, a Christian community set…

Hope, faith and big bucks

August 17, 2002: | The Press | Paul Madgwick | Article archived: National Library A remote West Coast complex houses a growing sect with multimillion- dollar businesses. Even infrequent trips by some of the 300 members into Greymouth put $300,000 monthly into the town’s stores. Welfare, benefits, and pensions are foreign concepts; community…

Jury finds Cust sect leader guilty

December 14, 1995: The Press | A man who faced three charges of indecent assault arising from incidents at the Cust Christian community was found guilty on all three counts by a jury in the Christchurch district Court yesterday. Further reading:  Jury finds Cust sect leader guilty      …

After the Fall: Listener

September 17, 1994: By Jane Gray | To the members of his community, Neville Cooper was the voice of God, obeyed without question.  Now he answers to an earthly authority. Hopeful Christian, born Neville Barclay Cooper, stood in the Christchurch District Court dock in the blue jersey, shirt and trousers and tie that…