New Zealand child abuse inquiry finds quarter of a million harmed in state and faith-based care

Still image taken from video shows New Zealand's Minister For Public Service Chris Hipkins talking to the media in Wellington, New Zealand December 16, 2020. TVNZ/Reuters TV/via REUTERS

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Up to a quarter of a million children, young people and vulnerable adults were physically and sexually abused in New Zealand's faith-based and state care institutions from the 1960s to early 2000s, a public inquiry revealed on Wednesday.

An interim report by the Royal Commission of Inquiry found children, some from as young as nine months old, suffered years of abuse, which included rape and electric shock treatment, by staff at psychiatric and state care facilities, clergy and foster guardians.