News & Events

Charles Afeaki, a Marist Brother and schoolteacher, was prolific in his sexual offending against his pupils in the 1970s. This month, he stood trial again on charges which have ruined his victims’ lives. Steve Kilgallon reports. Charles Afeaki walked slowly into courtroom 16 of Auckland District Court leaning on a cane. He was 81 years…

“From that day on, I was terrified,” an alleged victim of sexual abuse by Marist Brother and schoolteacher Charles Afeaki told an interviewing police detective. “I stopped learning at that class, I stopped learning at that school. I stopped learning forever.” Three hours of police video interviews with the complainant were shown to the court on the…

A female teacher at Auckland’s Dilworth School has been struck off the teacher’s register, after her sexual relationships with two students three decades ago came to light. The discovery was made in 2020 after police began investigating historical sexual abuse at the school. It’s alleged Julia Brown, who began teaching at the school in 1995,…

A Victorian jury has delivered a stinging rebuke to the Catholic Church, awarding $3.3 million to the victim of a notorious paedophile after the church argued compensation should be only $250,000. The Supreme Court case is the first time a civil trial against the Catholic Church has been tested before jurors. On Friday, the jury…

Best known for their door-to-door evangelising, Jehovah’s Witnesses are on a quest to save the ‘wicked’ from damnation. For victims of sexual abuse within the organisation, however, that quest has seen perpetrators shielded from justice. Amy Parsons-King has met several survivors as part of an investigation for The Spinoff. These are their stories. Everything changed…

Prominent leaders within New Zealand’s Catholic Church are being investigated by police over historical allegations of abuse. The Herald understands that allegations have been made against three officials who are involved or were previously involved in the church. The individuals are fighting to keep the claims from being made public, and a court order prevents publication of…

A King’s College teacher jailed for child abuse offences in the UK was being supervised by a man now known to be a serial paedophile, a mother of a former student has told Stuff. Paul Dodd, now 64-years-old, worked as a history teacher and rugby coach at King’s College between 1988 and 1994. He is currently serving…

Crown lawyers endure strong questioning from a panel of judges as Newsroom goes to court to overturn a ban on a video investigation into Oranga Tamariki.  Tim Murphy reports. Newsroom has gone to the Court of Appeal to try to reverse a near three-year ban ordered by the High Court on publication of a video investigation…

A man who raped and sexually assaulted fellow high school students at parties is asking the Supreme Court to keep his name secret – despite three survivors of his offending taking the brave step of having their name suppression removed. The young man, who is now 20, was a teenager when he was given a “lucky break” by Judge…

A damning independent inquiry into sexual and physical abuse at Auckland’s Dilworth School has uncovered a “catalogue of damage and injustice” spanning more than half a century, from 1950 to 2005. Led by Dame Sylvia Cartwright and Frances Joychild KC, the inquiry found serious failures by the school’s senior leadership and governance. Cartwright and Joychild released their report…

“Confronting”. That’s how Tim Whaitiri Henderson, of Dove Hawke’s Bay, describes the “Hopeful Horizons” exhibition that will be showcased as part of the 2023 Fotofest in Hawke’s Bay. He recalls people breaking down in tears when they first saw the faces that lined gallery walls in Taranaki, and now he hopes the exhibit will help spread awareness…

The Jehovah’s Witness church has been fighting scrutiny from a national inquiry into the historical abuse of children for three years, court documents show. The church has accused the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care of wilfully “miscasting” its religion and ignoring evidence showing why it should be excluded from the inquiry. In…