There is a sense gang members have been reluctant to engage with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. That is something the Waikato chapter of the Mongrel Mob is out to change.
They were supposed to be a sanctuary for tamariki taken away from a world of abuse, but for those placed in Social Welfare facilities in the 1970s and '80s, they were houses of pain and fear.
We felt like a piece of dirt - man who was abused in state care Andrew Mcrae
Warning: Graphic content in this story might be distressing to some readers.
A terminally ill man who spent time in state care and was abused says it is important that he tell his story to help stop the abuse of children continuing.
Desmond Hurring, 60, is of Pākeha, Māori (Ngāi Tahu) and Aboriginal descent.
He experienced sexual, physical and psychological abuse while at the Lookout Point Boys Home and the Kohitere Training Centre in the 1970s.
His problems started when he was sexually abused by a family friend. From that moment on his schooling suffered and he became very withdrawn.
Warning: Graphic content in this story might be distressing to some readers.
Locked in cells, physically, sexually and emotionally abused: a man tells the Royal Commission of Inquiry about his life in state care from ages nine to 15.
Kohitere Boy s Training Centre in Levin was one of the main welfare institutions that has been the subject of complaints.
Photo: Aaron Smale/RNZ
A Samoan man, X, 63, has given evidence to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care at its hearing in Auckland this week focusing on abuse and neglect of children in residences run by the state, such as homes for boys and girls, and in family homes where children were fostered.