Detective Inspector Scott Beard (left) has investigated some of the country’s highest-profile cases. He is pictured with Grace Millane’s parents, Dave and Gillian. Photo / Jason Oxenham
If Beard has spent his career investigating predators who destroy lives, Masters, 66, knows what it is to have her own life shaped by them. Raped at the age of 4 by her father, groomed by her grandmother and trafficked by her father, Masters’ childhood was stolen.Beard and Masters are, in their own way, partners in crime – although, to be clear, their business is catching it, exposing it and doing what they can to stop it. Gloria Masters was 8 years old when she was sexually abused and trafficked as a child by her father. Photo / SuppliedThe youngest of five children, Masters grew up in a strict Catholic family in West Auckland. “There was a real disconnect between what was happening at home and what happened at church. They were two very different worlds. As a child, I always felt I was in the way. I never felt loved. I would cling to my mother, but she just saw me as getting in her way. “The abuse began with my father, then his extended family and friends became involved. “My grandmother groomed me when I was 5. People paid her to abuse me. There was a venue on Karangahape Rd where I was filmed being sexually abused by older men and women. Sometimes other children were there, too.“I still remember hearing the ‘click, click, click’ sounds as we were being filmed,” Masters said. Gloria Masters, with her paternal grandmother, who groomed her as a young girl. Photo / Supplied She says the abuse escalated after her mother left her father – who has since died – when she was 11. Her father persuaded her to stay by promising her a horse. She stayed with her father, as did her brother, who was four years older. At times when Masters was desperate for help, she would run to the phone box at the end of her street to call police. Each time, fear got the better of her and she hung up. In her 30s, Masters made a complaint to the police. There was an investigation but there was insufficient evidence. “The police told me, ‘Don’t think this means we don’t believe you’.” Gloria Masters and her partner, Scott Beard. Masters has written a book aimed at teaching children how to recognise sexual predators. Photo / Michael CraigMasters has now turned her horrific past into a mission, and has written and self-published her fourth book, My Body is Talking to Me, aimed at teaching children how to recognise sexual predators, understand unsafe behaviour and to be better equipped than she was. “It’s about teaching children to trust their instincts and understand that it’s okay to say no. The one thing we don’t do as adults is teach children to trust how they feel. We shut them down. “If a child can say, ‘You can’t touch me. I’ll tell on you’, paedophiles will back off. The children who ‘don’t tell’ and keep secrets is a paedo’s dream.” Ashton Slagter, the 11-year-old illustrator of Gloria Masters’ new book, My Body is Talking To Me. Photo / Supplied. Having written three previous books, Masters recognised the importance of making a confronting topic accessible for both children and parents. Written in rhyme, and illustrated by 11-year-old Ashton Slagter, the book features Beard as himself, wearing his police uniform and portrayed as a safe, trusted adult whom children can approach. The book is also available in te reo Māori, thanks to a colleague of Beard’s from the Māori Response Team. One verse, written from a boy’s perspective, sums up the message: “My penis is mine, it’s true. I decide what happens to my body, not you. “If someone touches my private parts my body feels icky right to my heart. That’s a good time to use the hand sign, to show the world, my body’s mine!” Scott Beard, with his partner Gloria Masters, who introduced the Global Hand Sign for under-16s. Photo / Supplied An author, former teacher and child therapist, Masters founded the Handing the Shame Back Foundation and hosts a podcast of the same name. She started the global Hand Sign for Under 16s – a simple, discreet signal designed to give children a way to ask for help. Beard has spent 46 years with the NZ Police; he claims there has been a shift in Police’s approach from being the “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff” to focusing on prevention and early intervention. “Through Gloria’s work, there is a greater focus on educating parents and other adults about grooming behaviours. It’s not always the children being groomed; often, it’s the adults – the gatekeepers who provide access to vulnerable children. “A child might not feel comfortable going to a parent’s friend’s house for a spa, but their parents might insist they go. Offenders can also use threats, such as ‘I’ll kill your dog if you tell’, to frighten children into staying silent.“Around 90% of sex offenders are known to the kids; there are only 10% kerb crawlers in white vans on the prowl. Our message is Safe Adults Save Kids,” Beard said. Scott Beard in his office at home. He has spent 46 years with the NZ Police. Photo / Michael CraigThe couple first met at a documentary screening about sex trafficking, Buying Her, where Masters was speaking on a panel. Beard was moved by her story and bought two of her books. “Our two worlds collided and here we are. Scott understands that, despite the terrible things that have happened to me, they haven’t made me hard.“He has a very big heart and will do whatever he can to help. Doing the right thing is incredibly important to him. He has strong ethics and values, and I really respect that.” At home, Masters is simply Mum – and her children, she says, find some of what she has been through difficult to talk about. “I’m just their annoying mum. I’m fiercely protective of my children. To be honest, they struggle with what happened to me. It’s horrible for them; they look at me and feel sick about it. I love them to bits and I’m so proud of them. One thing I regret is not playing with them enough. I didn’t know how to play or understand the value of that.” Gloria Masters says that at home she is just an “annoying mum.” She is fiercely protective and proud of her children. Photo / Michael CraigBetween the pair, they have six children and eight grandchildren. Their home reflects a close-knit family, with walls littered with photographs of those closest to them. Masters affectionately calls Beard the “singing detective”. “Scott is a romantic and likes to sing to me,” she says. Beard chimes in: “One of my favourite songs is Sweet Caroline. I change it to Sweet Gloria.”He describes his partner “as kind, loving, caring and supportive”.Gloria Masters says her partner Scott Beard is romantic. He likes to sing her songs. Photo / Michael CraigMusic is one of the things that binds them. They love the sounds of the 1970s and 80s, dancing, keeping fit and travelling. “He likes Meat Loaf, no surprises there. But our favourite song is Whitney Houston’s The Greatest Love of All,” Masters says.It is hard to imagine the romantic crooner as the boy he once was.Beard was an only child, raised by his English mother in Palmerston North. At primary and intermediate school, he says, he fell in with the wrong crowd and was a “little s***”.Football gave him somewhere to channel that energy. By the time he was at Palmerston North Boys’ High School, he had earned a place in the first XI.Scott Beard as a constable. When he was chosen to be a prefect, a friend suggested he join the police. Photo / Supplied. By seventh form (now known as Year 13), Beard had gone from a troublemaker to prefect – and took the job seriously.“I was the first prefect to give out detention. My mate said, ‘You should join the police’, so I did.”There was another part of his life, however, that took considerably longer to resolve.Beard was 49 when he met his birth father for the first time. It was his daughter’s questions about her grandfather that prompted him to track him down. “My mother was terminally ill when I met him, but he tried to deny he was my father. I had a stepfather from the age of 10. He was fine, but there wasn’t a connection,” Beard says.Gloria Masters and Scott Beard. When she has nightmares, Beard gives her a cuddle and reassures her she’s safe. Photo / Michael CraigNow he is busier than ever, overseeing a broad portfolio of policing teams, from child protection and child exploitation to adult sexual assault, major crime, financial crime and child sex offender management.Masters knows she cannot change what happened to her as a child. But alongside Beard, she is determined to make sure other children know they have a voice, that they deserve to feel safe and that there are adults willing to listen.The past has not entirely loosened its grip. Some nights, the nightmares return and Masters wakes up in tears.“It’s not often, but when it happens, it’s lovely to have this big fella here to cuddle me. Scott is very invested in making me feel safe. We love each other …”>> Gloria Masters’ new book is available via gloriamasters.com Where to get help:If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:• Call 0800 044 334.• Text 4334.• Email support@safetotalk.nz.• For more info or to web-chat, visit safetotalk.nz.• Survivor Experiences Service: 0800 456 090 (8.30am-4.30pm Monday-Friday) or text 8328. This service is for people abused in state, faith-based or other forms of care. Alternatively contact your local police station – click here for a list.If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it’s not your fault.Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards in 2022. This year she was a finalist for Best Current Affairs. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007 to 2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ’s 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.
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