Leader of Destiny Church youth group resigns, police investigation underway into allegations of sexual abuse

Warning: This story contains themes of sexual abuse and may be disturbing.

A youth leader at Destiny Church was fired and a police investigation was launched because the man allegedly sexually abused young people in his care.

The Herald assumes that there are several alleged victims and that the alleged abuse has been going on for several years.

The man was a long-time follower of Destiny. His Facebook page contains numerous photos of church events, often involving young people from the Boys2Men youth group.

There are also several pictures of the man with Destiny leader Brian Tamaki, including him being anointed by the self-proclaimed Apostle.

A mother whose son attended the youth group claims the youth was abused by the accused, who often hosted teenagers in his home.

She alerted police in November last year after her son revealed he had been sexually abused. It is believed that police then contacted Destiny Church, who immediately removed the man from his volunteer leadership role and barred him from entering the church.

The Herald also assumes that the church leadership went to the man’s house to remove all the teenagers housed there.

Police questioned the mother’s son late last year and told her they were gathering evidence for possible prosecution, she said.

But more than six months later, the mother said she had received no news about the investigation.

The single mother said that apart from an initial meeting with church leadership, she has received no messages or support from Destiny since the abuse allegations emerged.

She told the Herald She sensed something was wrong with her son a year ago because he was having angry outbursts and showing less and less respect for women. She felt that he was being “controlled” and “used” by the youth group leader.

“Other mothers also felt that something was wrong, but there was no evidence. We thought we had beautiful, respectful children, and they all no longer showed respect for us as women.”

“Our own youth have turned against us as if they were gang members.”

The mother said she reached out to Destiny Church last year with her concerns but received no response.

“Nothing was done.”

Accused man resigned from Destiny Church and was no longer allowed to contact alleged victims

Since the abuse allegations surfaced, the mother says Destiny has held a meeting with the man’s alleged victims, including her son, without contacting the parents or obtaining their permission, which she considered highly inappropriate given the boys’ ages and during a police investigation.

She said her family joined Destiny Church around 2018. Her son was involved in the youth group, which she believed would have a positive impact on his life.

However, after the alleged abuse, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which manifested itself in violent and unpredictable behavior.

“He had so much hatred towards me. It was really difficult. When I saw his behaviour, I was scared for him. He was suicidal and everything was going in the wrong direction for him.

“He was incredibly hateful. He was like a demon. And that’s not the boy I know.”

Her son is now on the road to recovery, but there is still a long way to go.

A spokeswoman for Destiny Church declined to comment, saying: “We are unable to comment while the police are investigating. That’s all I can say.”

A message sent by a high-ranking church leader to a branch and received by the Heraldsays the matter came to light late last year.

The church leader said he had supported one of the families in going to the police and the child protection agency Oranga Tamariki had also been notified.

“I stopped (the defendant) from going to church, from contacting the (alleged) victims and went to the police to make sure he paid for this. I will not allow (the defendant) and his (alleged) crimes to continue and am deeply disgusted by this.”

“Drawn into a cult”

The mother said she left the Destiny Church several years ago after becoming disillusioned with the culture and cult-like following.

“It all seemed to be just hype and emotion. I just felt like the loyalty was to the leaders and the Führer and not to God.”

In their opinion, the disciples were indoctrinated and lost the ability to think for themselves, while younger members were isolated from the family and raised to “love Brian.”

“For me as a mother with life experience, it is very dangerous when adults indoctrinate young people and do so in such a subtle way that suddenly, ‘boom’, they are gone.

“You want to get them into a youth group where they feel safe, and then they get drawn into a cult.”

The mother is eagerly awaiting news on the status of the police investigation and hopes that charges will be brought against the man and that he will be brought to justice.

Accused man now active in new church group in South Auckland

Although the man no longer has any connection with Destiny, according to his mother’s knowledge he has since joined another church in South Auckland and is allegedly active in another youth group there.

She fears that other potential victims could be at risk while the police investigation drags on.

“I don’t know how much more time they need.”

A police spokesman confirmed that an investigation was underway into “historical allegations of sexual assault” involving a youth group from Manukau County.

“Given the nature of these complaints, a special procedure must be followed to move the investigation forward.”

Due to ongoing investigations and for privacy reasons, the police did not want to comment on details.

“Basically, we would like to encourage anyone who would like to discuss an issue with the police to come forward.

“Any complaints will be treated confidentially and support services may be made available.”

Lane Nichols is a senior journalist and deputy news director based in Auckland. Before joining Herald In 2012, he spent a decade at Wellington’s Dominion Post and that NelsonMail.