In May, Just Standfast pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection against two girls aged 7 and 14; 10 charges of indecent assault on girls under the age of 12; and six indecent assaults against girls aged between 12 and 16.
The 74-year-old also admitted five charges of assault with blunt weapons against five boys and a man.
In total there were 21 victims and his offending spanned more than four decades. He lost a bid for name suppression in May but filed an appeal. That appeal was abandoned before his sentencing yesterday.
One of Standfast’s victims, Gloriavale leaver Virginia Courage, as an adult now aged 44, had asked for her name suppression to be lifted. All other victims of sexual offending have automatic name suppression.
A victim impact statement read on Ms Courage’s behalf by Crown prosecutor Kerry White said Standfast had been her teacher at Gloriavale’s original community at Cust, in Canterbury, when she began her schooling.
Standfast had inappropriately touched her and other females openly in the classroom.
"You groomed me and other female students. You befriended us and gained our trust. Your brazen behaviour was never hidden."
Standfast later went on to teach at Gloriavale School at Lake Haupiri, on the West Coast, where sexual offending occurred as well as violent offending against boys that the court heard was regarded as discipline.
Ms Courage said she had witnessed his "anger and unchecked rage" over many years in his schooling.
"Why were you so angry, why were you unchecked?"
He had been able to continue his behaviour in Gloriavale for many years, never being asked to leave, and never being reported to the authorities.
Standfast had left a "terrible legacy".
"You have hurt children, broken trust and left lasting damage to so many people."
Standfast was arrested by members of the West Coast CIB in February. According to the summary of facts, Standfast was known as Harvey Weston Bishop before he joined the Christian Community, when it was based at Cust. That evolved into Gloriavale.
In late 2020, police started a large-scale criminal investigation, Operation Minneapolis, in relation to Gloriavale.
Standfast was directly engaged as a classroom teacher of young and adolescent children, both at Springbank (Cust) and Gloriavale (Lake Haupiri) for many years.
The sexual offending took place at both Cust and Gloriavale between 1983-2001. There were 15 victims, the youngest of whom was 5 at the time; Standfast was 33.
The assault with weapon charges occurred as late as 2023 and involved lining up boys as young as 8 and striking them with various garden instruments to "discipline" them.
Between the late 1980s and early 2000s he was in direct contact with juvenile females at the Gloriavale Christian Community. Over this period he intentionally committed various sexual acts upon many of them, police said.
The offending took place in the classroom while girls sat on his knee and he taught them the recorder, or marked their work. Some also happened at Standfast’s home.
Two sexual violation charges were highlighted at the more serious end of Standfast’s offending. They involved contact with two unnamed victims where on both instances their genitalia were exposed, which Standfast "briefly kissed".
Standfast’s lawyer, Marcus Zintl, said he had apologised to a majority of the victims of his sexual offending in person and was genuinely remorseful. His physical disabilities would make a prison sentence "unduly harsh".
Prosecutor Ms White said the Crown accepted Standfast’s age and health should be considered in sentencing. However, prison authorities said they could accommodate his health issues.
Judge Quentin Hix began with a starting point of 10 and a-half years for all offending, the bulk of which was seven years for the sexual offending.
Adjustments were made for Standfast’s personal situation, and the judge applied a 50% discount for his guilty plea and co-operation with police.
His remorse, as reflected in his co-operation with police, which included a written confession, was also factored in, along with Standfast’s significant health challenges for another discount of 10%. An end sentence of four years’ prison was handed down.
In March 2019, Standfast was sentenced to six months’ community detention and two years’ intensive supervision for indecently touching and kissing a 9-year-old. — Greymouth Star
