Spiritualist sex-abuse
A spiritual ‘guru’ has faced criticism for not disclosing historic sex offences against a young girl.
Imre Vallyon, who runs the Foundation of Higher Learning retreat at Raglan, was convicted of four representative counts of indecent assault and one count of sexually violating the girl in 1998.
His followers pay thousands to hear his esoteric teachings at his worldwide retreats – from New Zealand to the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, and his native Hungary.
One of his European followers, Peter*, says he grew concerned about what kind of group Vallyon was running – noticing the strange blend of Latin and Sanskrit chants, the ‘‘hodgepodge’’ of religions – and the rumours trickling in about the guru.
When he discussed this with his partner he was told there was talk Vallyon had been jailed before – maybe in New Zealand or Australia.
‘‘It was not exactly clear . . . what was the exact reason for this, so we decided to ask around to clear this up.’’
But no one could tell them much more – ‘‘except that there was a family that left the group and they accused Imre of indecent behaviour towards their female child’’. Peter tried to raise this with other followers – ‘‘most are very friendly and loving people that do not intend to harm others’’ – but was troubled by the responses.
Any rumours about Vallyon were said to be a ‘‘past life’’ or the work of ‘‘evil forces’’ that wanted to destroy the group, Peter claims.
A Sunday News investigation uncovered a 1998 sentencing report that details the sexual abuse carried out by Vallyon on one young girl at one of his ‘‘institutions’’ a decade earlier.
The sentencing report was released by Hamilton District Court Judge David Wilson QC.
Vallyon’s encounters with his victim happened in one-on-one spiritual ‘‘teaching’’ sessions. The girl had travelled with her mother, a devoted follower of his, to an ‘‘institution’’ – not named in the report – where Vallyon was the recognised spiritual leader.
Judge R.P. Wolff’s sentencing notes record that the child had gone to him alone for spiritual guidance about her dead family member.
‘‘In the guise of assisting her with self-discovery or self-