Sincere Standtrue inquest: Gloriavale man's death was result of 'blacking out', coroner finds

Warning: This story discusses suicide and sexual abuse.

A young Gloriavale man's death was the result of a tragic accident after experimenting with "blacking out", while his ability to recover was affected by brain damage caused by exposure to solvents, a coroner has found.

Sincere Standtrue, 20, was found unresponsive at the Christian community's paint shop where he worked in October 2018. He died at Christchurch Hospital 10 days later.

In findings released on Friday, coroner Alexandra Cunninghame discounted a scenario in which Standtrue died by suicide, instead finding that "Sincere's death was an accident, which occurred in the course of him attempting to black himself out".

She said there was no evidence that his death occurred in the course of sexual activity.

"Sincere's death was a tragedy," coroner Cunninghame said.

"It is perhaps unfortunate that Sincere's death drew such a level of speculation, but I am hopeful that the issuing of these findings will lay some rumour and suspicion to rest."

During an inquest in Greymouth, the court heard that young people at Gloriavale, in particular school-aged boys played "blacking out games". Witnesses suggested the attraction was the resulting headrush from being temporarily deprived of oxygen.

The coroner noted Sincere had mentioned "blacking out" to others in the community in the year before he died, by deliberately restricting his airway, and had expressed a belief that he could stop himself from breathing and start again.

"While some adults had told Sincere that blacking himself out was silly and dangerous, it does not appear that the true dangers of the activity were explained to him," she said.

The coroner also heard evidence about Gloriavale parents blacking out fussing babies to quieten them during a Sunday service or meeting - a practice they were told was harmless.

"This evidence about managing babies' behaviour is relevant to the issues for this inquiry. It supports a finding that Sincere was aware of a practice of "blacking out" by breath suppression which was considered to be harmless, at least by some in the community," she said.

The coroner recommended that Gloriavale's leaders worked to ensure that any Ministry of Education guidelines, policies or resources on the subject of self-induced acute asphyxiation were disseminated among the community.

Standtrue worked at Gloriavale's paint shop from the age of 15, where he was exposed to solvents.

Coroner Cunninghame found "toxic leukoencephalopathy" was a "contributory cause" of his death.

"Sincere's brain was damaged because he had been exposed to solvents. The changes in his brain affected his ability to recover from the blacking out incident which ultimately killed him," she said.

It was not possible to establish whether Sincere was exposed to solvents as a result of working with them in an unsafe manner, or as a result of intentionally inhaling them, she said.

At the time of Standtrue's death, the coroner was satisfied that paint team safe work practices in Gloriavale had improved, but management of hazardous substances was not fully compliant with safety standards.

She recommended the community ensured all solvents were kept in a secure place when not in use, members used them in compliance with safety standards and were educated about the dangers of exposure, and containers were properly disposed of.

Coroner Cunninghame noted the inquest into Standtrue's death took on an adversarial nature.

"Those who live in the community took the position that Sincere's life was easy and happy, and that his death was the result of a tragic accident after he had experimented with 'blacking out'," she said.

"Those who have left the community took the position that Sincere faced great challenges in his everyday life, which seriously impacted on his mental health, ultimately leading to him dying by suicide."

Standtrue was the eldest of 11 siblings and in good physical health apart from deafness.

He was considered slower than his peers to develop and had not attained the same milestones as other men of his age, such as getting a driver's licence, taking Gloriavale's declaration of commitment or marrying.

Standtrue could be impulsive and was considered to have an anger management problem.

Coroner Cunninghame found he was teased and bullied on occasions and had experienced unwanted sexual advances from other young men in the community.

'Harmful sexual behaviour' investigated

The inquest heard from Detective Senior Sergeant Kirsten Norton, who had responsibility for investigating "harmful sexual behaviour" at Gloriavale, including intergenerational offending typically passed between older and younger boys.

Norton said 61 young people were identified as being involved in that behaviour, either as offenders, peers or victims.

In notes of evidence she said "there were a number of incidents where those boys went on to offend against their younger sisters".

The coroner found there was no direct evidence that Standtrue was a victim of the harmful sexual behaviour referred to by Norton.

He did not feature in either of two large police investigations and was not identified as a victim in any criminal proceedings relating to the community.

She noted he was working on a project that he was proud of, had events in his life he was looking forward to and there was no evidence he had expressed thoughts of suicide or despair.

Standtrue's sister Rose Standtrue, who left the community in 2021, had supported a theory that her brother's death was a suicide and that negative experiences led him to decide that taking his life was the only way out.

In a statement provided to RNZ, she was critical of the coroner's findings.

"In my opinion, by limiting the inquest's scope to exclude the interpretation of religious doctrine, (except when directly relevant to understanding certain issues), the coroner overlooked a key characteristic of Gloriavale," she said.

"In Gloriavale, doctrine dictates every aspect of life, eliminating any division between the secular and the sacred. This oversight potentially hinders a full understanding of the issues at hand, significantly impacting the outcome of the case."

Rose Standtrue said her legal team felt that key information about the timeline of events leading to her brother's death had been inadequately considered.

She said her brother was a loving person with a beautiful soul and kind heart.

"Sincere was taken too soon and we miss him every day," she said.

In a separate statement provided to RNZ, Standtrue's parents Caleb and Hannah Standtrue expressed their thanks to coroner Cunninghame.

"We would like to express or appreciation for the care and sensitivity that coroner Alexandra Cunninghame showed during the inquest into our son's death," they said.

"Her professionalism and empathy made a difficult process more bearable. We are grateful for her role in helping us find closure during this difficult time. Please know your efforts are appreciated and we are grateful for your service."

Coroner Cunninghame said it was not the case that Sincere Standtrue was always unhappy and she was struck by his big smile and sense of playfulness.

"The first name given to Sincere was Ariel, "Lion of God". I saw how he showed courage, a trait associated with the lion, in his determination to overcome a sense that he was not a good student by producing meaningful work in the painting team, and to find moments of joy in his days, through singing, laughing, and interacting with others, especially younger children. Traits of his second name also shone through in his honest nature, and his lack of pretence. May he rest in peace," she said.

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Sexual Violence

• NZ Police.
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• Tautoko Tāne Male Survivors Aotearoa.
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Family Violence

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