In December, the 85-year-old was sentenced in the Greymouth District Court to more than two years in prison for the offences. <\/p>\n
Howard Temple in court in December at his sentencing for decades of sex abuse. Photo \/ Joe Allison<\/p>\n
Judge Raoul Neave said the offending would have been \u201cexcruciating\u201d for the victims.<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Michael Vesty sought a sentence of home detention, saying Temple was an elderly man \u201cof diminishing physical and cognitive health\u201d. <\/p>\n
But Judge Neave ruled a 26-month stint in prison was the most appropriate outcome. <\/p>\n
He agreed Temple appeared to have \u201can utter lack of awareness\u201d of the effects of his behaviour on his victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe victims were young people who resided in that community, essentially under your protection\u2026 and had no way of escape,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were children. And you were old enough to be their grandfather or even great-grandfather … [there was] an utter lack of concern for the interests of those whom you were there to protect, constantly taking advantage of the situation that presented itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon after sentencing, Vesty confirmed an appeal had been lodged. <\/p>\n
As a result, Temple had been released on bail. <\/p>\n
His appeal was heard today in the High Court at Christchurch by Justice Owen Paulsen. <\/p>\n
Gloriavale Christian Community located at Haupiri on the West Coast of the South Island. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n
Temple did not have to appear in court in person for the hearing. <\/p>\n
But he and some of the victims attended via a remote access link. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe outcome sought by Mr Temple is\u2026 to quash the sentence of two years and two months\u2019 imprisonment imposed and\u2026 reduced to a point where home detention can be considered, which in counsel\u2019s submission is the least restrictive outcome and meets all of the aims and objectives of sentencing,\u201d Vesty told the court. <\/p>\n
He described Temple\u2019s sentence as \u201cmanifestly excessive\u201d and said Judge Neave erred in calculating the totality of the charges, resulting in \u201can overall starting point which was too high\u201d.<\/p>\n
He also submitted that Judge Neave did not give enough of a discount for Temple\u2019s remorse and health. <\/p>\n
\u201cHis Honour didn\u2019t really delve deep enough into factors personal to the appellant… and the value of his remorse and insight,\u201d Vesty said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he didn\u2019t pay enough attention to expert evidence of the doctor commissioned prior to sentencing to meet and assess Mr Temple and make observations about sentencing levels and outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the fact Temple had lived in an isolated community and hadn\u2019t experienced \u201cthe advantages of the outside world\u201d, combined with his cognitive decline, meant his capability to demonstrate remorse and insight was different from other offenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hasn\u2019t had the same exposure to day-to-day life and norms as others in the community might \u2013 but that\u2019s not to say he\u2019s not capable of showing remorse.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis Honour, in expecting more of Mr Temple… has failed to take into account those personal factors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vesty said the final ground of appeal was that the judge did not give enough of a discount for the time Temple spent on bail \u2013 time he spent \u201ccut off from his community\u201d as he was forced to live away from Gloriavale.<\/p>\n
He said the discount Judge Neave gave for that was \u201cmanifestly inadequate\u201d.<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Michael Vesty. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Crown prosecutor Aaron Harvey said it was important the court remembered Temple was not just an old man convicted of sex offending.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was someone who was a leader in the community, a community with particular values and hierarchies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this also highlighted the vulnerability inherent of the victims of this case\u2026 there was greater responsibility on the leadership in that community to look after its members.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd obviously the guilty pleas entered by [Temple] was an acknowledgment that he had\u2026 taken advantage of these vulnerable people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harvey said Judge Neave\u2019s sentencing decision was appropriate and right. <\/p>\n
He said it was \u201creached in consideration of both the purposes and principles\u2026 of the Sentencing Act\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cA non-custodial sentence would inadequately reflect both the scale and time period over which it occurred\u2026 the nature of the offending\u2026 by people who are leaders of their community,\u201d he told the court. <\/p>\n
Justice Paulsen has reserved his decision. <\/p>\n
Temple\u2019s litany of offending<\/p>\n
The women described Temple taking advantage of the domestic duties they performed to touch, caress and grope them<\/a>, such as during meal times, when they would be serving large, heavy jugs of non-alcoholic cider or hot drinks to tables of 50 or more. One woman said she was left without \u201cany hands free to protect myself\u201d.<\/p>\n The women said it was common practice to attempt to arrive early so they could be allocated to any table except Temple\u2019s.<\/p>\n The only space to pour would be at his side at the head of the table, which allowed him to grab the young women around the waist, caressing them from their calves to their lower backs or grabbing them around their waists.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would run his hand up and down my legs, and touch my bum, or put his arm around me. He would ask me if anyone had told me they loved me today,\u201d one woman told the court.<\/p>\n She would usually \u201cjust shrug\u201d because she was scared, \u201cbut if he persisted, I would often lie and said yes, someone has told me they loved me, because I didn\u2019t want him to say he loved me\u201d.<\/p>\n Another woman said this would happen while Temple was flanked by his wife and daughter and in front of the community of more than 500 people, \u201cbut no one ever spoke up or said anything, so I didn\u2019t know that I would be allowed to. I didn\u2019t know it was wrong, I just know it didn\u2019t feel right to me\u201d.<\/p>\n Temple was also alleged to have frequented the kitchen to \u201chug\u201d the young women from behind while they were cooking or washing dishes, kissing them on their necks, touching their breasts or making lewd remarks.<\/p>\n Asked why she feared Temple, one woman said it was because the leaders hold all the authority in Gloriavale and \u201chad the power to ruin your life\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cRight from a baby, you\u2019re taught not to speak against the leaders. As a woman, you\u2019re supposed to be meek and quiet with downcast eyes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you do speak up about abuse that has happened, it was inevitably your fault because you seduced them somehow.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew nothing good would come of saying anything. I didn\u2019t have anyone to protect me because my parents hold the leaders in ultimate authority and they would listen to the leaders over their own daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n The complainants told the court there was no way to refuse Temple, nor to report his actions to anyone.<\/p>\n Temple originally faced 24 charges. But on July 29, he entered guilty pleas to five charges of indecent assault, five of doing an indecent act and two of common assault.<\/p>\n Under the Crimes Act 1961, he was facing a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.<\/p>\n On August 12, 2025, it was announced Temple had resigned as Gloriavale\u2019s leader, a position known as the Overseeing Shepherd.<\/p>\n Temple, a former US Navy engineer, stepped into the leadership role in 2018 after the death of the community\u2019s founder, Hopeful Christian.<\/p>\n Christian, whose real name was Neville Cooper, was sentenced to six years in prison in September 1994 after being found guilty by a jury of 10 counts of indecent assault between 1980 and 1984 against five young complainants.<\/p>\n He was aged between 53 and 57 at the time of the offending.<\/p>\n After an appeal and retrial, Christian was sentenced to five years in prison after he was found guilty of three charges of indecent assault.<\/p>\n Current Overseeing Shepherd Stephen Standfast has declined to speak about Temple\u2019s offending and sentence.<\/p>\n Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In December, the 85-year-old was sentenced in the Greymouth District Court to more than two years in prison…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5811,74,9092,5768,5761,7500,6125,6097,60049,2740,13838,114486,29888,42,93793,1334,13489,5769,130,43,30083,1523,5353,33244,5763,79677,131,40,38,41,39,2248,1530],"class_list":{"0":"post-291239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-admitted","9":"tag-after","10":"tag-against","11":"tag-appealed","12":"tag-appeals","13":"tag-december","14":"tag-disgraced","15":"tag-down","16":"tag-excessive","17":"tag-former","18":"tag-girls","19":"tag-gloriavale","20":"tag-handed","21":"tag-headlines","22":"tag-howard","23":"tag-jail","24":"tag-leader","25":"tag-manifestly","26":"tag-more","27":"tag-news","28":"tag-offences","29":"tag-over","30":"tag-period","31":"tag-raft","32":"tag-sentence","33":"tag-temple","34":"tag-than","35":"tag-top-news","36":"tag-top-stories","37":"tag-topnews","38":"tag-topstories","39":"tag-women","40":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Howard Temple, a former US Navy engineer, arriving at Greymouth District Court. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n
The Gloriavale compound on the West Coast. Photo \/ RNZ \/ Jean Edwards<\/p>\n
Gloriavale founder and convicted sex offender Neville Cooper was also known as Hopeful Christian. Photo \/ TVNZ<\/p>\n