: | RNZ| The Detail| The Gloriavale offshoot in India is home to Kiwi women and children. A former member of the sect says getting them out of there is urgent. Listen to Theo Pratt and Rosie Overcomer share insights from their visit to the Indian community. They are joined by…
: | RNZ | First Up The director of a three-part Gloriavale documentary says members of the isolated West Coast community “live like life is frozen in an oppressive communist regime in the 1970s”. Justin Pemberton’s “Escaping Utopia” follows members of the community who want to escape and have escaped Gloriavale…
: | NZ Herald | A new documentary has revisited the origins of the Gloriavale Christian Community, as ongoing legal challenges continue to threaten the secretive commune’s future. The first episode of Escaping Utopia aired on TVNZ 1 last night, with two more episodes to follow tonight and tomorrow. Series co-director Justin Pemberton…
: | Newstalk ZB |The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin Description The insular Greymouth community of Gloriavale has kept Kiwis enthralled as testimonies keep emerging. A new TVNZ documentary, Escaping Utopia, promises to unveil the stories of people who’ve left the community- and the struggles they’ve endured. Co-director Justin Pemberton says Gloriavale…
: | More FM | The Breakfast Club | Escaping Utopia premieres on Sunday, March 24 at 8.30pm on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+, and continues Monday, March 25 and Tuesday, March 26. More Info Here www.gloriavaleleavers.org.nz…
: | RNZ: Checkpoint | Victims of a predator in the Gloriavale Christian community have described him as an opportunist who used the vulnerability of his victims to exploit them. Jonathan Benjamin has been sentenced to 11 years and 10 months in prison for more than 20 charges of sexual offending…
: | Maree Buscke | Reality Check Radio | Liz Gregory, General Manager of Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust joins Maree Buscke to share the story of the Leavers’ landmark Employment Court case.…
: Niva Chittock | RNZ | Warning: This story contains details that may distress some readers. A woman who accused a man of raping her at Gloriavale was told there was no way she would ever marry and was written off as a “whore” and a “slut”, a Greymouth court has…
: RNZ | Checkpoint | Jonathan Benjamin is facing 20 charges, including four of rape, during his time at the Gloriavale Christian Community between 1986 and 2017. Crown lawyer, Kerry White, says some of the complainants were aged between six and 14 when they say they were attacked. The five complainants,…
