Howard Temple in court in December at his sentencing for decades of sex abuse. Defence lawyer Michael Vesty sought a sentence of home detention, saying Temple was an elderly man “of diminishing physical and cognitive health”. “He was someone who was a leader in the community, a community with particular values and hierarchies,” he said. He would ask me if anyone had told me they loved me today,” one woman told the court. On August 12, 2025, it was announced Temple had resigned as Gloriavale’s leader, a position known as the Overseeing Shepherd.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 19, 2026 06:05 UTC