Source: Radio New Zealand
Vigilant Standtrue was the boys’ teacher and supervisor at the time of the assaults. Jean Edwards
A Gloriavale man has been sentenced to 10 months’ home detention for assaulting four boys he was supposed to be supervising with weapons including pipes and sticks.
Vigilant Standtrue, 43, was convicted of seven assault charges, some of which were representative, at the Greymouth District Court in January.
Standtrue assaulted the boys with weapons including an axe handle, pitchfork handle, plastic pipe and stick while he was supervising their work in a swamp picking moss and in a drying shed at the West Coast Christian community.
Judge Tony Zohrab said Standtrue was the boys’ teacher and supervisor at the time, but he lacked maturity at the age of 18 when he started in the roles.
“You were under pressure when managing the work in the swamp and the moss shed, you were quick to rise to anger and on occasions you used weapon on what were young boys at the time to react to the pressure you were under,” he said.
Boaz Benjamin, who is now 29, was one of the boys assaulted by Standtrue.
In a victim impact statement, Benjamin told the court that even though the physical abuse happened many years ago and he was now married with four children, the mental strain growing up was hard to quantify.
“I found it hard to relate and trust older people especially those in authority,” he said.
Benjamin said the abuse made him into a hard and emotionless person because it was the only way he could mentally protect himself.
“Even now at times when I am with my kids I have flashbacks to when I was younger and it scares me how I was treated then. I try so hard not to be like that with my kids,” he said.
Benjamin said the abuse made him angry and sad that his childhood was full of nightmares he could not wake up from, rather than a happy one.
“One thing that helped me through the abuse was thinking was one day I will be bigger than him and he won’t be able to do it any more,” he said.
In sentencing on Tuesday, judge Zohrab took Standtrue’s 2022 conviction for a lower-level assault on a Gloriavale child into consideration.
On that occasion Standtrue was sentenced to supervision and had counselling that gave him tools to be able to react positively, he said.
Judge Zohrab said he also considered a submission from Standtrue’s wife, who emphasised his important contribution to their home life and care of their nine children.
In addition to his sentence of home detention, Standtrue was told to do any counselling or treatment deemed necessary.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand