The Presbyterian Church has named a late minister as a child sex abuser and published his postings in the hope more of his victims will come forward.
David Wentworth Pimm, who died in 2014, served in parishes from the West Coast to Southland, Hawke’s Bay and Palmerston North between 1955 and 1986, according to a timeline released by the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.
The church said it was working with three of his victims and believed there were more.
Assembly executive secretary Reverend Erin Pendreigh said Pimm sexually abused children in communities where he served during more than 40 years in ministry. The church cannot take disciplinary steps against him because he is dead.
Pendreigh said anyone abused by Pimm had been let down by the church, and it was not their fault.
"If you spoke up and were not believed or silenced, or asked to forgive, that was terribly wrong and we are truly sorry," she said.
"We are ready to listen, to begin redress when you are ready. You will be treated with respect and care."
She said the church's focus was now on being "accountable and transparent".
Church admits failures to protect children and suppresses abuse reports, pledges financial redress and independent investigations following Royal Commission findings. (Source: 1News)
The church said Pimm began as a home missionary at Granity-Karamea on the West Coast, which also covered Hector and Seddonville, from October 1955 to December 1958. He was known to be involved in activities with children and youth there.
After training at the Theological Hall in Dunedin, he served at Fortrose in Southland from December 1961 to December 1965. He then moved to Ōpōtiki, where he stayed until December 1971, and to Ahuriri-Putorino in Hawke's Bay from February 1972 to October 1978.
From 1978 to 1981, Pimm worked as an itinerant minister in a string of short postings. The church said it did not have precise dates or church names, but gave this approximate timeline:
- Titoki, including Tangiteroria, in the first half of 1979
- southern Urewera, including Murupara and Galatea, in the second half of 1979
- Lauder in Central Otago from December 1979 to March 1980
- Kelso in West Otago from mid-April to July 1980
- Riversdale in Southland, possibly from August 1980
- Akaroa on Banks Peninsula from October to December 1980
He returned to settled ministry at St John's in Palmerston North from February 1981 to January 1986, when he appears to have retired. He retired to Knox Presbyterian Church in Feilding in 2003 and attended there for some years.
The church said it was not known whether he assisted in other parishes after retiring.
Anyone who wants to report historic abuse by Pimm, or by anyone connected with the church, can contact its redress hauora coordinator by email at redress@presbyterian.org.nz or on 0800 727 337.
Complaints that are not historic can be sent to complaintsanddisputesmanager@presbyterian.org.nz or made on 0800 244 357, or to police.
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