Abuse in care: Trial begins for three former Kingseat boys’ home staff

Lawyer Susan Gray, speaking on behalf of the accused, questioned the veracity of the complaints.
Photo: RNZ/Kelvin Samuel

Warning: This story contains references to sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

• A trial is currently underway in which the Crown alleges a home for vulnerable boys in South Auckland was the scene of physical and sexual abuse for nearly a decade.
• All eight complainants were boys aged between six and 17 at the time of the alleged abuse. They are adults now.
• Lawyers for the three former employees say the allegations are false and question the veracity of the complaints.

A trial is underway in Auckland over alleged historical abuse at a home for vulnerable boys in state care, once located in a run-down part of the former Kingseat mental hospital.

Three former employees of the south Auckland home have pleaded not guilty to multiple criminal charges in the Manukau District Court.

All eight complainants were boys aged between six and 17 at the time of the alleged abuse. They are adults now.

The Crown alleges the home for disadvantaged boys was the scene of physical and sexual abuse for nearly a decade.

Crown prosecutor Charlie Piho told jurors the case involved abuse of boys in state custody and said they suffered in a home where they were supposed to be looked after.

“Things that some of the boys who lived there will not forget as adults over a decade later, things that some of the staff did to these boys, the staff who were tasked with caring for these boys who were wards of the state. Things that remained hidden for many years.”

The house was run by the Tirohonga Hou Mo Nga Rangitahi Charitable Trust and was located on the former Kingseat Hospital site, near Spookers, before moving to a house and garage in Pukekohe.

He took in vulnerable boys under a court order and contracted with CYFS, which is now Oranga Tamariki.

The abuse is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2014, with much of it impossible to report due to suppression orders.

The prosecutor told jurors it would be “disturbing” to hear allegations of abuse, including sexual and physical abuse, one teenager’s refusal to have sex with the defendant who then urinated on him, and other instances of boys being beaten, tied up or forced strip as punishment for not doing what they were told.

Last year police arrested four people – two men and two women – after a two-year investigation that resulted from a complaint from Oranga Tamariki. One of the women is not appearing in court.

Piho said the eight men had found their voices as a result of a two-year police investigation into custody abuses.

“Most of the boys who were abused while in one of the two houses did not tell anyone what happened to them then, and for those who tried to turn to others for help, it only led to a dead end. “It didn’t work out,” he said.

“Some of the boys also ran away from the boys’ home on more than one occasion.”

None of the accused can be named for legal reasons.

Lawyers for the three defendants said their clients denied the alleged abuse and asked jurors to assess the complainants’ credibility.

Lawyer Oliver Thrun represents one of the two defendants and urges the jury to weigh the case impartially.

“Allegations of this nature, historical and wards of the state, do attract sympathy and/or prejudice by their very nature. You shouldn’t entertain those emotions.”

Lawyer Susan Gray represents the woman facing trial and questions the complainants’ credibility.

“They must be truthful and reliable. The Crown’s case depends on you being satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the applicants they are going to call are truthful and reliable.

“For reasons that will become clear during the trial… I say that is not so. They are not truthful, they have a very distant relationship to the truth.”

Defense attorney Devon Kemp is representing the other of the two men, who faces three charges related to the same complainant, and told jurors the charges were either fictitious or the man was mistaken about what happened.

Piho told the jury they would hear evidence from each of the eight complainants during the trial.

He said the biggest question in court will be whether they can be sure each plaintiff is telling the truth about the alleged abuse.

“You can come to the conclusion that these were boys and young men who had been largely forgotten by society and who had been out of sight, and that is what they are here to tell you about in the coming weeks,” Piho said.

“The Crown says that when you see and hear all the evidence, a clear picture will emerge, a picture in which troubled boys were placed in the care of a boys’ home that was set up to look after them.

“But instead, over many years and many boys, the people who were supposed to be looking after these boys took advantage of them and abused them.”

It was a fresh start to a trial that began last week with 10 complainants but was cut short a day later when the Crown prosecutor refused to testify on some of the charges, which numbered 31; there are now 18 charges.

The trial is set for five weeks before Judge Jelana Jelavic.

Where to get help:

If there is an emergency and you feel you or someone else is in danger, call 111.

If you have been abused, remember that it is not your fault.