The Star: April 18, 2019

Former soldier says he was raped
A FORMER Territorial soldier
claims he was gang raped at
Burnham Military Camp in the
mid-1970s.
The shocking allegation is
made by the now 65-year-old
in a series of videos on male sex
abuse, which will be launched in
Christchurch tonight.
Terry King, who was 21 at the
time, says the gang rape was
meted as “barrack justice.”
He had dirt on his rifle when
his platoon was inspected, and
as a result, weekend leave for all
was cancelled.
He and other who appear in
the video series, have gone public
to raise awareness of male sexual
abuse.
Mr King said he was attacked
the following night in the showers,
by four or five men. Several
others watched, he said.
Another young soldier had endured
similar treatment a week
before. The soldier reported the
rape, but soon after was “kicked
out” of the military, Mr King
said. On parade the next morning,
Mr King’s facial injuries saw
him sent to the medical officer.
No one asked him how he
got his injuries. Mr King never
reported it at the time for fear
he would get kicked out of the
military.
“You’ve got to remember, back
then homosexual acts were illegal,
and both people could be arrested,’
he says. Mr King served
in the Territorials for 10 years.
Last year Mr King finally decided
to inform the New Zealand
Defence Force about what happened.
Mr King and a counsellor
he had been seeing since having
a mental breakdown in 2017 met
with two representatives from
the NZDF.
Mr King and the NZDF differ
over what came out of the meeting.
Mr King said he believed
his allegations would be taken
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AWARENESS: Terry King, 65, says was gang raped in Burnham Military Camp’s showers in
1975. He has told his story for the first time in CTV’s Challenge the Silence series.
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But a NZDF spokesman told
The Star in its view there was an
agreement with Mr King and his
counsellor the NZDF would not
take “further action.”
The spokesman said if Mr
King wanted a formal investigation,
he would need to
contact the police in the “first
instance” due to jurisdiction
issues.
Mr King said he was angry
with the response. He will not go
to the police with his allegations.
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‘They’ve heard my story, how
come I’m the one that has to
push it further? They just want
me to disappear and shut up,” he
said.
“What point would there be of
a police investigation? Everyone’s
probably bloody dead, why can’t
they just bloody do something,
acknowledge it, apologise.”
Male Survivors Aotearoa national
advocate Ken Clearwater
said the NZDF should investigate
further, not the police.
Mr Clearwater also says he was
The Star Thursday April 18 2019
sexually violated while at Burnham
Military Camp in 1972, a
few nights before his wedding.
At a meeting last year held at
the Christchurch City Mission
by the NZDF, Mr Clearwater
stood up and shared his story
for the first time. Afterwards,
he spoke to two members of the
NZDF about it in further detail.
He never heard back from the
NZDF and says it has “no idea”
how to handle cases of historical
sexual abuse.
“I don’t think they have acknowledged
or even understand
the issues.”
A NZDF spokesman said it is
working on how it responds to
historical sexual trauma cases.
“We acknowledge that we still
have a lot of work to do. The
work into historic cases will take
time and is only just starting.”
Defence Minister Ron Mark
said he expects the NZDF to
treat “every survivor with respect
and dignity.”
He said NZDF has come a
“long way” in how it deals with
sexual trauma cases.
• For help, phone Male
Survivors Canterbury 377
6747 or Safe to Talk 0800
044 334.
•Watch Challenge the
Silence at www.star.kiwi/
challenge-the-silence from
5pm tonight.
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