Hopeful Christian was sent to prison in 1995 after being found guilty of three charges of indecent assault. Photo: Greymouth Star
A granddaughter of Gloriavale founder and convicted sex offender Hopeful Christian has told a court abuse has never been accepted in the community's culture and she was not convinced of his guilt.
Dove Stedfast, whose wedding featured in a documentary about the Christian community, also addressed talk of a breakdown in her teenage years, in an Employment Court case brought by six leavers.
She said she always felt safe and secure growing up at Gloriavale and was unaware of sexual abuse.
"It has always come as a shock to me to find out about these things happening. Sexual abuse has never been accepted in our culture. I believe the leaders have always done their best to protect the people from sexual offenders," she said.
"These individuals must answer and pay for their own actions. The blame for their wrong must not be put on the leaders, management or the general people at Gloriavale."
Hopeful Christian - formerly known as Neville Cooper - was sentenced to five years in prison in December 1995 on three charges of indecent assault for repeatedly inserting a wooden dildo inside a 19-year-old woman.
Stedfast said her grandfather was convicted when she was young and she knew little about his case.
"My understanding has always been that he did some things that were not wise but I never understood what he did to be sexual abuse. I believe him to have been an honest person. I believe that if he was guilty he would have pled [sic] guilty," she said.
Under cross-examination, the plaintiffs' barrister Brian Henry questioned Stedfast about Christian's crimes and her claim leaders tried to protect people.
"The evidence in respect of him is that he was a perpetrator, rather than a protector. It's not acceptable to be a perpetrator is it?" Henry asked.
"No, and I never saw him to be a perpetrator at all," Stedfast said.
"I've asked my mum at times about it. She said he did something that was not wise and he learnt from his mistake. She said it was not sinful and it was not wrong, what he did. He never pled guilty for it, I think if he had have done it, he would have pled guilty."
Henry told Stedfast the chief justice noted in a Court of Appeal judgment that there were no signs Christian had the capacity to accept responsibility for his offending and to reform.
"You agree that's a pretty damning statement about him?" Henry asked.
"Yes, it sounds bad," Stedfast said.
"Do you agree that really you've been kept very sheltered from a lot of things going on in the community?" he asked.
"Yes. Only as much as I believe any parent should protect their child," Stedfast said.
Last year the court heard Hopeful Christian told members Dove Stedfast had a mental breakdown in a meeting and had to be sent away to have demons and evil spirits cast out of her.
She told the court that was not accurate and she was not dragged away screaming and yelling.
"This was between me and God and finding myself as a teenager and what I wanted for my life," she said.
"My brain just got exhausted, then I couldn't sleep at all. My parents took me to get me some medication to help me sleep and within a couple of weeks I was back on track, I was fine, healed.
"I was given time off to recover and then I was brought back into the community. I don't believe that the leaders said I was sent away to have the demons cast out or anything like that."
Gloriavale on the West Coast. Photo: RNZ / Jean Edwards
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The six women who have brought the case claim they were treated like slaves working on the commune's domestic teams and are seeking a ruling they were employees, rather than volunteers.
Stedfast said they had distorted reality.
"In some instances I am even appalled by the interpretation of situations, circumstances and events. I do not appreciate the way our beliefs, faith and views are repeatedly discredited by statements implying that we are brainwashed and therefore my or our opinions don't count," she said.
"I recognise that many of them see things differently now that they are out in society and I believe that in many cases they are upset about choices that they happily made when they were living here.
"I love and care for all these people and wish them all the best in comfort, peace and happiness in the life they have chosen, but I do not believe this gives them the right to tear down the life I have chosen to live and love."
The mother-of-five, who briefly held her baby son in the witness box, said women had freedom at Gloriavale.
"I was born in the community and have lived here my whole life, but I don't feel that this has made me ignorant of my rights, restricted or constrained in choosing to be a member. I love my place as a woman," she said.
"Having large families does come with a price - hard work - and I always felt it was a worthy price to pay."
Stedfast was 17 when a visiting television crew first asked her for an interview.
"Over the years I was interviewed by them many times, but the leaders never told me what to say. They gave me complete liberty to say what I thought, felt and believed," she said.
The crew filmed her wedding, when she sang a special song written for her husband that was later broadcast on radio and available for download online.
"Apparently I became quite famous, receiving many letters, emails and visits from people all over New Zealand," she said.
She and her husband turned down invitations to special events and an offer of a free trip to the United States, without any pressure from Gloriavale's leaders, Stedfast said.
"When any of these things came up, the leaders left it entirely up to my husband and I to decide what we would like to do," she said.
"I think it's a good example of the freedom we have as women to make decisions for ourselves. I believe every step of the way the leaders were totally supportive of my wishes. I was, and am, really grateful to be sheltered from a lot of what the media has to say."