Wellington - Four New Zealand women have laid complaints
with police alleging they were sexually abused by a senior member of
the Exclusive Brethren sect when they were children more than 40
years ago, news reports said Friday.
Police in the South Island city of Nelson confirmed they were
investigating the complaints, and the church's Australian-based
official spokesman Tony McCorkell told Radio New Zealand, 'The church
and its members will cooperate fully with law enforcement and any
other authority to ensure the matter is dealt with transparently,
openly and to the satisfaction of the law and the public.'
Constable Sally McBride told the Nelson Evening Mail that the
complaints were serious allegations of historical molestation of
children by one man over four decades. One victim was reported to be
under 10 at the time she was assaulted.
The women, who were all reported to have left the church, are
understood to now be 29 to 61 years old, the paper said.
Meanwhile, a Salvation Army captain, Maxwell Trimble, 62, was
found guilty on Friday on seven charges of sexual offences against
four women from December 2003 to July 2005.
A jury took about four hours to reach its verdict after a four-day
trial in the Hamilton High Court, and Trimble was remanded in custody
for sentencing in June.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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