Tony McCorkell has delayed his return to Australia in light of the new sex abuse claims
NZ Herald
The Nelson Mail
NZ Herald
The Nelson Mail
April 21 2007
Brethren man faces sex claims
by Vanessa Phillips
Three former Exclusive Brethren women have laid complaints with police about allegedly being sexually abused by the same man as children in Nelson.
A fourth woman is understood to be in the process of laying a complaint in Auckland about the man.
Constable Sally McBride of the Nelson CIB confirmed that she had received complaints from three women who were former members of the Exclusive Brethren church.
She also confirmed that the complaints involved allegations of historical molestation of children by one man over four decades.
The women are understood to be aged between 29 and 61 and to be alleging offending in the Nelson area between the early 1950s and early 1980s.
Mrs McBride said she had spoken to the three women who had laid complaints with Nelson police, but had not yet spoken to the man, and was unsure if he was a current or former member of the church.
However, the Nelson Mail understands that the man is still a member of the sect.
Mrs McBride said the investigation was in its early stages and it could be some time before police decided if charges would be laid.
The Nelson Mail understands that some of the women were unknown to each other before the complaints were laid.
The complaints came about after the women or friends of the women approached two former members of the Exclusive Brethren to ask for help.
The mother of the 29-year-old who has laid a complaint alleged that her daughter was six when she was sexually assaulted by the man, then a friend of the family, during overnight stays at the man's house during the space of one year.
The family left the church some years later, and the girl told her mother about the alleged abuse when she was 12. She said the man would put her to bed and touch her inappropriately.
The mother said she wrote to her parents, who were still in the church, with the allegations.
She said her daughter had no reason to make up such allegations.
"Both my daughter and I were pretty vulnerable. I had expressed my concerns in a letter home to Mum and Dad. They took their concerns to the church leaders in Nelson and had it looked into, and were told it was completely without foundation."
She said they received a letter from the man they had accused, saying he would never do such a thing.
The woman said she was a busy mother at the time and felt unable to pursue the allegations further.
She said her daughter was prepared to lay a complaint now that she knew there were other women in the same situation.
"It's not something she's been actually wanting to do, but she agreed if it was going to help the situation and make it stop."
TV One news on Thursday night reported that the church's Australia-based spokesman, Tony McCorkell, was in New Zealand to investigate the claims himself although he was not willing to admit this.
Mr McCorkell arrived on Tuesday, announcing his presence and answering media questions about the latest row over political involvement by Brethren members.
Asked by One News what the church was doing about the sexual abuse allegations, he replied: "I'm not aware of that. If you have evidence of that, I'd be glad to see it.
"If there is a claim, then the church has a moral and a legal, maybe ... obligation to look at it, depending on the circumstances, but certainly the church wouldn't seek to cover that situation up."
One woman, who was not identified, said in an interview with One News that she believed there had been "multiple offenders".
The network said the women claimed they were abused by the man when they were aged between five and 10.
Attempts by the Nelson Mail to get comment from Nelson members of the Exclusive Brethren church were unsuccessful today.
The Dominion Post
April 21 2007
Three former members say they were molested
Three former Exclusive Brethren women have laid complaints with police about allegedly being sexually abused by the same man as children in Nelson.
A fourth woman is understood to be in the process of laying a complaint in Auckland about the man.
Constable Sally McBride of Nelson CIB confirmed that she had received complaints from three women who were former members of the Exclusive Brethren church.
She also confirmed that the complaints involved allegations of historical molestation of children by one man over four decades.
The women are understood to be aged between 29 and 61 and to allege offending in the Nelson area between the early 1950s and early 1980s.
Mrs McBride said she had spoken to the three women who had laid complaints with Nelson police, but had not yet spoken to the man, and was unsure if he was a current or former member of the church.
However, it is understood the man is still a member of the sect.
Mrs McBride said the investigation was in its early stages and it could be some time before police decided if charges would be laid.
It is believed some of the women were unknown to each other before the complaints were laid.
The complaints came after the women or friends of the women approached two former members of the Exclusive Brethren to ask for help.
The mother of the 29-year-old who has laid a complaint alleged that her daughter was six when she was sexually assaulted by the man, then a friend of the family, during overnight stays at the man's house during the space of one year.
The family left the church some years later, and the girl told her mother about the alleged abuse when she was 12. She said the man would put her to bed and touch her inappropriately.
The mother said she wrote to her parents, who were still in the church, with the allegations.
"Both my daughter and I were pretty vulnerable. I had expressed my concerns in a letter home to mum and dad. They took their concerns to the church leaders in Nelson and had it looked into, and were told it was completely without foundation."
She said they received a letter from the man they had accused, saying he would never do such a thing.
The woman said she was a busy mother at the time and felt unable to pursue the allegations further. Her daughter was prepared to lay a complaint now that she knew there were other women in the same situation
The Dominion Post
April 21 2007
The very public face of a secretive church
by Tracy Watkins
There is nothing shadowy about the official spokesman for the Exclusive Brethren. He is young, larger than life, brash and media-savvy.
He refers to them constantly as "the seven". And occasionally even lapses into calling them the "secret seven".
A label which, incidentally, Tony McCorkell -- unlikely official spokesman for the shadowy Exclusive Brethren church -- cannot disguise his admiration for. "Terrific name," he says. "Who came up with that?"
The seven are wealthy businessmen, members of the Brethren, who admitted funding a secretive pamphlet campaign against Labour and the Greens before the 2005 election.
There is nothing shadowy or secretive about Mr McCorkell.
He is young (27), larger than life and brash -- just what you would expect of an Australian. And media- savvy, of course.
Before leaving Sydney for New Zealand, he made sure journalists knew he was on the way and obligingly distributed his cellphone number. This from a church whose members are generally notoriously uncommunicative is startling.
Well, says Mr McCorkell, he is not actually an Exclusive Brethren member, though his family used to belong.
"When I was six my family left the Brethren, so I haven't grown up in the Brethren but all my relatives are Brethren."
He votes -- and as a rule members of the church he represents don't. Which of course was one of the burning unanswered questions from the 2005 election campaign, when Brethren members actively gave time and money toward getting a National government elected.
Why do it, when they have no interest in "worldly" matters like voting?
Mr McCorkell takes a while to respond.
"Well, I can understand why the general public have that issue. But they're taxpayers. They have a right to do that. If they choose to conscientiously object from voting they also have that right."
The purpose of his trip was to "razzle up" some of the seven and have a chat with them about the need to distance the church from their political activities. That was interpreted on this side of the Tasman as the church's Australian bosses deciding it was time to knock a few heads together, but Mr McCorkell says that "where I come from razzle up just means to get together and have a chat".
But he agrees he did have "a fairly firm discussion" with the seven about their foray into the political arena.
"They said to me, 'As individuals, we want to do this'. I said, 'You have a right to do this as taxpayers, however you need to be conscious and mindful that when you do speak the church does get involved, so you need to distance yourself from that'."
The church's protestations about being at arm's length from the pamphlet campaign are too little and too late. Whether condoned or not, the activities of its members have inflicted a fatal blow on any hopes the church might hold of gaining a political ear in the foreseeable future.
The door of every important politician in New Zealand is closed to the Brethren. Frankly, they are political poison.
The wreckage of Don Brash's leadership of the National Party lies in their wake. Dr Brash was forced to admit that Brethren members had told him about their campaign plans at one of many meetings with him. Any MP unwise enough now to strike up a similar relationship would be fatally wounded. Even Australian Prime Minister John Howard has been forced on to the defensive about the right of church members to meet him.
The similarity between material distributed in New Zealand and during the Australian elections was the the "smoking gun" that pointed at direct church involvement.
The Brethren were planning to throw up to $1.2 million behind National's campaign in 2005, though it appears that they may have ended up spending just half that. In Australia, they spent at least $400,000, but again insist that the spending was done by individual church members.
Mr McCorkell concedes: "There were definitely pamphlets shared between New Zealand and Tasmania. But he says: "It's entirely reasonable to suggest that would happen, you've got businessmen in New Zealand and businessmen in Tasmania that belong to the Exclusive Brethren church, that have to do with each other on a daily basis through church as a networking arrangement.
"So the Australian group in Tasmania were fighting issues on the Green Party, and because some of the individuals over here had a similar problem they shared the resource. There was no suggestion ever that this was church-orchestrated."
So why wait two years before trying to put the record straight?
Mr McCorkell suggests it's because the Brethren were ill-equipped in 2005 to deal with the media.
"I'm not sure the Brethren were prepared for it to be such a big story. There was a great deal of naivete at the last election."
He suggests, seemingly innocently, that he would welcome a meeting with Prime Minister Helen Clark to discuss the church's stance. "The Brethren actually have good relationships with the Government in general terms at the departmental level. . . . I think we need to have a long hard look at how it's going to work in the future."
It is an admission that the Brethren have rocked the boat too far and now worry about the consequences.
But there is not much chance of a meeting with Miss Clark any time soon. Mr McCorkell's arrival in New Zealand has already sparked another media frenzy, this time over her saying she had to "up her security detail" after being harassed by Brethren members.
Mr McCorkell's parting flick then? "Everyone needs to have a cold shower, cool down, relax and just get over it."
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CAPTION:
Knowledge gap: Tony McCorkell suggests that the reason the Brethren have waited two years before trying to put the record straight over church involvement in election pamphleteering is that they were ill-equipped in 2005 to deal with the media. 'There was a great deal of naivete at the last election.'
Picture: ROBERT KITCHIN
The Press
April 21 2007
Sect to help in abuse inquiry
by Don Eaton and Ian Steward
The Exclusive Brethren church has pledged to co-operate with police in an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of children.
Police said yesterday that they started an investigation five weeks ago into allegations of historical sex abuse filed by four women against a member of the secretive sect in the Nelson region.
Tasman police district commander Grant O'Fee called for people to come forward with information.
"All of the people involved either were or are Exclusive Brethren. The complaints were historical, stretching back 40 years," he said.
"They are serious sexual allegations. Some of the complainants no longer live in the Nelson area."
It is thought at least one of the women lives in Auckland.
"Police are still at the gathering-information phase. We have not yet spoken to the man in question.
"Because of the long time period, the circumstances are understandably hazy," O'Fee said.
"If these sorts of circumstances strike a chord with people, we would like to hear from them."
Asked if the sect was being co-operative, O'Fee said police had not informed it until yesterday of the investi-gation.
The women are understood to be aged between the mid-20s and the mid-60s and to be alleging offending in the Nelson area between the early 1950s and early 1980s.
The allegations come amid a political row between the Brethren and the Government, which this week accused the sect's leadership of lying about its involvement in efforts to sway the results of elections in New Zealand.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark declined to comment on the sexual-abuse allegations.
The Labour-led Government and the National Party have traded blows over the Brethren since it was revealed during the 2005 election campaign that seven New Zealand businessman belonging to the sect planned to spend more than $1 million on advertising critical of the Government and its allies.
The Australia-based church leaders said they had yesterday started a "vigorous" investigation of their own into the allegations of sexual abuse.
Church spokesman Tony McCorkell, who arrived in Auckland this week from Queensland, said police had confirmed they were investigating.
"Obviously, the church as a whole won't make a comment on it now it has gone to that stage, other than to say the church will co-operate with any investigation fully and openly," he said.
McCorkell said earlier in the day that police had not given him details of the allegations, but he had interviewed the man accused by the women after the allegations began to filter through to the public on Thursday night.
The complaints came about after the women, or friends of the women, approached two former members of the Brethren to ask for help.
The mother of one complainant alleged her six-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by the man, then a friend of the family.
She said they received a letter from the man they had accused, saying he would never do such a thing.
She said her daughter was prepared to lay a complaint now that she knew there were other women coming forward.
McCorkell accused the complainants of keeping the church leadership in the dark. Brethren leaders in Australia and New Zealand were aware of "rumours of sexual abuse" but he would be surprised if any leaders who originally received the historical complaints were alive. "We still don't have any information on the accusers or the alleged victims."
– With the Nelson Mail
NZ Herald
April 21 2007
Brethren troubleshooter stays to deal with sex claims
by Mathew Dearnaley
Exclusive Brethren troubleshooter Tony McCorkell has delayed his return to Australia after revelations that New Zealand police are investigating claims that a member of the secretive religious sect had sexually abused children.
The Brisbane businessman, sent by the church to distance it from political activities of some New Zealand members, said last night that he would stay in this country to deal with the latest controversy.
Tasman police commander Superintendent Grant O'Fee confirmed yesterday that the police were investigating complaints by four women that they were abused as children by a man in Nelson at various times from about 20 to 40 years ago.
The women were all former members of the Exclusive Brethren, he told the Weekend Herald.
Some of the accusations referred to alleged abuse when they were aged under 10.
Mr O'Fee said although the police were treating the complaints seriously, they had yet to interview the man, who another former church member told the Herald was now in his 70s.
Mr O'Fee said he was sure his officers would seek help from the church as their inquiry unfolded, but they had yet to do so, even though he was contacted yesterday by Mr McCorkell for confirmation they were investigating complaints by the women.
Mr McCorkell, who has been in New Zealand since Tuesday discussing the impact on the church of plans by some of its senior members here to campaign against the Government, denied the sex allegations were a primary reason for his visit.
He said the alleged offender remained a member of the church but held no position of seniority.
He said that the church would give every co-operation to the police, if asked, and that he had already spoken to the man.
"My understanding is that the relationship between the alleged victims and the alleged perpetrator was a family relationship ... nothing to do with the church.
"I think the myths surrounding the church are getting a little hysterical."
The Marlborough Express
April 20 2007
Brethren man faces sex claims
Three former Exclusive Brethren women have laid complaints to police about sexual offending by a member of the Exclusive Brethren church over four decades in Nelson.
A fourth woman is understood to be in the process of laying a complaint in the North Island about the same man.
Constable Sally McBride of Nelson CIB confirmed she had received complaints from three women who were former members of the Exclusive Brethren church.
She also confirmed the complaints involved allegations of historical molestation of children over four decades by one man.
The Marlborough Express understands the women range in age from 29 to 61 and live in different parts of New Zealand. The offending took place in the Nelson area between the early 1950s and the early 1980s. Some of the women were unknown to each other before the complaints were laid.
The complaints came about after the women or friends of the women approached two former members of the Exclusive Brethren asking for help.
Mrs McBride said she had spoken to the women who had laid a complaint with Nelson police, but had not yet spoken to the man, and was unsure if he was a current or former member of the Exclusive Brethren church.
The inquiry was in the early stages, and she said it could be some time before police decided if charges would be laid.
TV One News last night reported that it was a member of the Exclusive Brethren Church who was "under police investigation" because of the complaints.
The network said the church's Australia-based spokesman, Tony McCorkell, was in New Zealand to investigate the claims himself ? although he was not willing to admit that.
Mr McCorkell arrived on Tuesday, announcing his presence and answering media questions about the latest row over political involvement by Brethren members. Asked by TV One News what the church was doing about the sexual abuse allegations, he replied: "I'm not aware of that. If you have evidence of that I'd be glad to see it.
"If there is a claim then the church has a moral and a legal, maybe ... obligation to look at it depending on the circumstances, but certainly the church wouldn't seek to cover that situation up,'' Mr McCorkell told the network.
The mother of the 29-year-old woman who laid a complaint said her daughter was six when she was sexually assaulted by the man, then a friend of the family, on overnight stays at the man's house.
The family left the Exclusive Brethren some years later and the girl told her mother about the abuse when she was 12.
She said the man would put her to bed and touch her inappropriately. The offending took place over a year.
The mother said she wrote to her parents who were still in the church with the allegations. Her parents took the concerns to church leaders in Nelson and said the issue had been looked into and found to be completely without foundation and simply the imagination of a child.
The mother said her daughter had no reason to make up such complaints.
"Both my daughter and I were pretty vulnerable, I had expressed my concerns in a letter home to mum and dad, they took their concerns to the church leaders in Nelson and had it looked into and were told it was completely without foundation."
They received a letter from the man they had accused saying he would never do a thing like that.
The mother said she was a busy solo mother at the time and felt unable to push the allegations further.
The mother said her daughter was prepared to lay charges now she knew there were other women in the same situation.
"It's not something she's been actually wanting to do, but she agreed if it was going to help the situation and make it stop."
The Nelson Mail
Three former Exclusive Brethren women have laid complaints to police about sexual offending by a member of the Exclusive Brethren church over four decades in Nelson.
A fourth woman is understood to be in the process of laying a complaint in the North Island about the same man.
Constable Sally McBride of Nelson CIB confirmed she had received complaints from three women who were former members of the Exclusive Brethren church.
She also confirmed the complaints involved allegations of historical molestation of children over four decades by one man.
The Marlborough Express understands the women range in age from 29 to 61 and live in different parts of New Zealand. The offending took place in the Nelson area between the early 1950s and the early 1980s. Some of the women were unknown to each other before the complaints were laid.
The complaints came about after the women or friends of the women approached two former members of the Exclusive Brethren asking for help.
Mrs McBride said she had spoken to the women who had laid a complaint with Nelson police, but had not yet spoken to the man, and was unsure if he was a current or former member of the Exclusive Brethren church.
The inquiry was in the early stages, and she said it could be some time before police decided if charges would be laid.
TV One News last night reported that it was a member of the Exclusive Brethren Church who was "under police investigation" because of the complaints.
The network said the church's Australia-based spokesman, Tony McCorkell, was in New Zealand to investigate the claims himself ? although he was not willing to admit that.
Mr McCorkell arrived on Tuesday, announcing his presence and answering media questions about the latest row over political involvement by Brethren members. Asked by TV One News what the church was doing about the sexual abuse allegations, he replied: "I'm not aware of that. If you have evidence of that I'd be glad to see it.
"If there is a claim then the church has a moral and a legal, maybe ... obligation to look at it depending on the circumstances, but certainly the church wouldn't seek to cover that situation up,'' Mr McCorkell told the network.
The mother of the 29-year-old woman who laid a complaint said her daughter was six when she was sexually assaulted by the man, then a friend of the family, on overnight stays at the man's house.
The family left the Exclusive Brethren some years later and the girl told her mother about the abuse when she was 12.
She said the man would put her to bed and touch her inappropriately. The offending took place over a year.
The mother said she wrote to her parents who were still in the church with the allegations. Her parents took the concerns to church leaders in Nelson and said the issue had been looked into and found to be completely without foundation and simply the imagination of a child.
The mother said her daughter had no reason to make up such complaints.
"Both my daughter and I were pretty vulnerable, I had expressed my concerns in a letter home to mum and dad, they took their concerns to the church leaders in Nelson and had it looked into and were told it was completely without foundation."
They received a letter from the man they had accused saying he would never do a thing like that.
The mother said she was a busy solo mother at the time and felt unable to push the allegations further.
The mother said her daughter was prepared to lay charges now she knew there were other women in the same situation.
"It's not something she's been actually wanting to do, but she agreed if it was going to help the situation and make it stop."
The Nelson Mail
April 20 2007
Brethren man faces sex claims
by Vanessa Phillips
Three former Exclusive Brethren women have laid complaints with police about allegedly being sexually abused by the same man as children in Nelson.
A fourth woman is understood to be in the process of laying a complaint in Auckland about the man.
Constable Sally McBride of the Nelson CIB confirmed that she had received complaints from three women who were former members of the Exclusive Brethren church.
She also confirmed that the complaints involved allegations of historical molestation of children by one man over four decades.
The women are understood to be aged between 29 and 61 and to be alleging offending in the Nelson area between the early 1950s and early 1980s.
Mrs McBride said she had spoken to the three women who had laid complaints with Nelson police, but had not yet spoken to the man, and was unsure if he was a current or former member of the church.
However, the Nelson Mail understands that the man is still a member of the sect.
Mrs McBride said the investigation was in its early stages and it could be some time before police decided if charges would be laid.
The Nelson Mail understands that some of the women were unknown to each other before the complaints were laid.
The complaints came about after the women or friends of the women approached two former members of the Exclusive Brethren to ask for help.
The mother of the 29-year-old who has laid a complaint alleged that her daughter was six when she was sexually assaulted by the man, then a friend of the family, during overnight stays at the man's house during the space of one year.
The family left the church some years later, and the girl told her mother about the alleged abuse when she was 12. She said the man would put her to bed and touch her inappropriately.
The mother said she wrote to her parents, who were still in the church, with the allegations.
She said her daughter had no reason to make up such allegations.
``Both my daughter and I were pretty vulnerable. I had expressed my concerns in a letter home to Mum and Dad. They took their concerns to the church leaders in Nelson and had it looked into, and were told it was completely without foundation.''
She said they received a letter from the man they had accused, saying he would never do such a thing.
The woman said she was a busy mother at the time and felt unable to pursue the allegations further.
She said her daughter was prepared to lay a complaint now that she knew there were other women in the same situation.
``It's not something she's been actually wanting to do, but she agreed if it was going to help the situation and make it stop.''
TV One news last night reported that the church's Australia-based spokesman, Tony McCorkell, was in New Zealand to investigate the claims himself - although he was not willing to admit this.
Mr McCorkell arrived on Tuesday, announcing his presence and answering media questions about the latest row over political involvement by Brethren members.
Asked by One News what the church was doing about the sexual abuse allegations, he replied: ``I'm not aware of that. If you have evidence of that, I'd be glad to see it.
``If there is a claim, then the church has a moral and a legal, maybe ... obligation to look at it, depending on the circumstances, but certainly the church wouldn't seek to cover that situation up.''
One woman, who was not identified, said in an interview with One News that she believed there had been ``multiple offenders''.
The network said the women claimed they were abused by the man when they were aged between five and 10.
Attempts by the Nelson Mail to get comment from Nelson members of the Exclusive Brethren church were unsuccessful today.
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