Wife-swapping, incest and 'sex talked about at every meal': Escaped member of secretive religious sect Gloriavale lifts the lid on life inside the commune

Daily Mail, Australia/December 23, 2020

By Tita Smith

An escaped former member of the notorious Gloriavale sect has lifted the lid on the secretive religious sect and the devastating toll it took on her life.

Linda Feary was lost and questioning God when she came across Gloriavale preachers at Christchurch's cathedral square, New Zealand, in 1975.

Immediately taken by their community lifestyle, the single mother-of-two moved her family to the 120-person compound at Cust, a rural village in North Canterbury, believing it would be a positive influence for her son, 13, and daughter, 11.

At first, tending to the self-sustained farm and practising the New Testament teachings of the Springbank Christian Community - as it was.

But soon several alarming incidents sparked cause for concern.

The family were laboriously working long hours unpaid, leaders were harshly punishing her son and the father of the family they were living with had tried to persuade her daughter to shower with him. 

By the 1980s, the mirage had begun to dissipate as the group descended down a dark sexualised path engaging in incest, sexual assault, child abuse, bullying, and forced labour.

'Things became sexualised, immoral,' Ms Feary told the NZ Herald.

'It got to the stage where sex was talked about at every meal.

'It was top subject - there was no room for God. It was almost like a competition as to who could pump out the most kids.'

Ms Feary said community members had started indulging in illegal activities at the behest of Australian-born founder Neville Cooper, known by followers as 'Hopeful Christian'.

Incest became rampant with daughters expected to bath or shower with their fathers, children were encouraged to watch their parents have sex and wife swapping was encouraged, she said.

Ms Feary said wives were not allowed to refuse their husband's requests for sex, recalling an incident where a seven-month pregnant woman was punished when she asked for a brief rest before intercourse after a long day's work. 

She was forced to sleep on the floor without bedding until she pledged obedience to her husband, Ms Feary said.

Cooper soon began encouraging masturbation, Ms Feary said, especially among young girls.

Ms Feary claims Cooper would call them to his bed to teach them how to masturbate, and would also physically handle brides before their wedding night.

Ms Feary said she was also mistreated for being overweight, publicly shamed and her food rationed.

And when her son was deemed naughty, he was punished by being forced to wear wool on hot days or thin clothes when it was cold. 

By the age of 15, Ms Feary said he was working up to 20-hour days butchering sheep, plumbing, doing carpentry, drain laying, and interior decorating.

Gloriavale refused to comment when approached by Daily Mail Australia.

She noticed her son was becoming more dark and distant, on one occasion he ran away but eventually returned.

When he finally escaped in 1983, he cut all ties with her, with Ms Feary saying leaders would fill his mind with negative thoughts about his mother.  

Ms Feary would learn years later he was gang raped by four or five men at the commune when he was 13.

Her daughter would flee the commune in 1991, eight years after her son, leaving Ms Feary alone on the compound. 

The following year, when group leaders decided to relocate the commune to a  remote property in Haupiri, on the South Island's West Coast, where it is now based, Ms Feary became fearful she would become more isolated.

When she tried to speak up against the decision, Ms Feary said she was told the kindest thing she could do for her children was not be around: An insinuation she should take her own life.

She rushed back to her room with suicidal intentions, but after 'speaking to God' she decided is was time to escape.

She started walking down the road, out of the farm, when a station wagon with former Gloriavale members pulled up beside her.

They told her to get in the car and she moved with them into a caravan, and never returned.

Looking back, Ms Feary, now 79, and living on the North Island, said joining the commune was a 'stupid mistake' that destroyed her family.

Gloriavale spokesman Fervent Stedfast previously said the sexual assault allegations and suggestion a sexual predator lived within the community were 'nonsense'.

About 550 people now live in Gloriavale, where followers submit to the  interpretation of the New Testament.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest any current members are involved in illegal activity. 

Cooper was convicted of sexual abuse in 1995 and spent 11 months in prison. He died aged in his 90s, in 2018.