“The church deeply regrets his actions and the deep harm that he caused.“Currently, the church is working with three victims of Pimm’s historic abuse and, from information we have received, believe there to be more.”Pendreigh “could not stress enough” to any victims that it was not their fault. They were let down by the church, she said.“If you spoke up and were not believed or silenced, or asked to forgive, that was terribly wrong and we are truly sorry.”Anyone harmed by Pimm as part of their involvement with the church was urged to make contact. The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand is asking victims of David Wentworth Pimm, a predator minister who abused children over decades, to come forward. “We are ready to listen, to begin redress when you are ready. You will be treated with respect and care. “We can’t take away this betrayal, but we can, through our survivor-centred redress, try to help in ways that are important for each survivor. Our focus now is on being accountable and transparent,” Pendreigh said.The church failed to provide protection, did not act when alarms were raised and “did not uphold our own values and commitments to vulnerable children”. “This breach of trust is unjustifiable, and we have such profound remorse that this heartbreaking abuse was allowed to happen,” Pendreigh said. Safeguards to prevent future harm were continually being worked on by the church, she added. Through mandated protective policies, every person representing or working for the church must adhere to a code of ethics policy and where a church member is responsible for children and young people, its child protection policy must be enforced. Between 1955 and 2003, Pimm was based at churches across the country, including on the West Coast and in Otago, Southland, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Banks Peninsula, Northland and Manawatū. Anyone who wished to report historic abuse by Pimm or anyone else in the church can contact redress@presbyterian.org.nz, call 0800 727 337 or visit the website.
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