Gloriavale = Centrepoint = Bert Potter

[beerwithduncan 724]

In the 80's and 90's we ran a family business in the Albany Village. We routinely heard stories of sexual abuse of minors happening at the Centrepoint community in Albany. It took far too long for the authorities to act. I recall hearing people say after it was shut down that at least this sort of thing would never be allowed to occur again in NZ. That has now gone out the window.

 

There are alarming, even staggering similarities with what is now coming out of Gloriavale.

 

The NZ Police need to shut down this very well organized cult / pedophile ring urgently. The first witnesses they need to track down are the kids that have been sent to India away from NZ authorities.

 

 

http://www.crime.co.nz/c-files.aspx?ID=1844

 

 

CENTREPOINT – ALLEGATIONS & CONVICTIONS
Bert Potter was convicted on drug charges on Anzac Day 1990 in the Auckland High Court and sentenced to three and a half years jail. Charges came after a search of Potter’s home in the Centrepoint community yielded LSD and Ecstasy. Potter prior to this had always appeared to be a crusader against the use of drugs, and this was to lead on to more serious allegations being made regarding him having sex with minors within the confines of the community he ran.

In 1991 Centrepoint was again the site of a police dawn raid, this time leading to the arrest of six men and two women on indecent assault and rape charges spanning the period between 1978 and 1984. Centrepoint had experienced large growth in membership just prior to the arrests, and the trials in the Auckland High Court concluded with members of Centrepoint convicted and facing prison terms. 

The convicted men were: 
(all ages are stated as at the time of being found guilty on the associated charges)

Bert Potter, aged 67, charged and convicted of indecently assaulting five minors. His victims were as young as 3 and a half years old. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in November 1992.

Keith McKenzie, aged 71, charged and convicted of indecently assaulting a minor. He was fined $2,500 and later struck off the medical register, as he was a registered doctor at the time.

David Mendelssohn, aged 48, charged and convicted of indecently assaulting three minors. He was sentenced to four years in prison. 

Ulrich Schmid, aged 52, charged and convicted of sexually assaulting two minors. He was sentenced to one year in prison after a retrial.

Richard Parker, aged 45, charged and convicted of attempting to rape a minor. Sentenced to four years and five months in jail.

Henry Stonex, 51, guilty of indecently assaulting a minor. Sentenced to nine months jail. 

A later conviction followed as victims told their stories, years after the events took place.

Kenneth Smith, 75, charged and convicted of indecently assaulting two minors. Sentenced to 200 hours community service and had to pay damages to each minor of $1,500. January 1995 – North Shore District Court.

All the names of the children involved and their testimonies were suppressed. The victims came together in March 1990 to make their complaints following a meeting organized by one of those subjected to the abuse. In 1998, in reaction to police confiscating computer equipment from Centrepoint after finding pornography stored in it’s database, Sarah Smuts-Kennedy (NZ actress with a high profile) voluntarily spoke out about the abuse she had suffered at the hands of Bert Potter. She is concerned that the community is still operating and the same thing could happen to children again.

 

 

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/68166569/men-groomed-to-have-underage-sex-in-gloriavale-exmember-says

[beerwithduncan 724]

http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/commune-founders-victim-relieved-at-death-2012050708#axzz3YpRIMxdp

 

 

One of Potter's victims, Sarah Smuts-Kennedy, told Radio New Zealand his death was the only way to guarantee he would not offend again.

"Bert Potter was a very, very clever, manipulative, charismatic psychopath, very powerful. He affected hundreds of lives, and of those lives, many of their children's lives," she said.

Ms Smuts-Kennedy says Potter never expressed remorse for his offending,

 

[crustyngrizzly 1,700]

A religious sect and claims of sexual abuse.

How unusual is that.

[Miss Mel 0]

Its 2020 and Id love to know all information of all that are surrounding this case, if any others were never brought forward and where everyone is at now, and possible victims turned offenders, I have been researching these cults and wonder how far spread this got and if other members started other camps... pure interest

[Gruff 2,790]

On 10/25/2020 at 8:02 PM, Miss Mel said:

Its 2020 and Id love to know all information of all that are surrounding this case, if any others were never brought forward and where everyone is at now, and possible victims turned offenders, I have been researching these cults and wonder how far spread this got and if other members started other camps... pure interest

The Victim turning offender is one i cant understand, of anybody having lived it their understanding of the effects surely should deter them knowing the Consequences of their actions.