Geelong Revival Centre member pleads guilty to raping multiple boys – MASHAHER

ISLAM GAMAL15 August 2024Last Update :
Geelong Revival Centre member pleads guilty to raping multiple boys – MASHAHER


A third child, aged under 16, was persistently sexually abused at various locations including while he played video games.

A fourth child, aged under 12, was repeatedly sexually penetrated at places including a disabled toilet at a regional swimming pool.

Other boys, the court heard, were shown child abuse material or had Hubers perform sexual acts in front of them.

Todd Hubers appeared in the County Court in Thursday.

Hubers was initially set to face trial before pleading guilty on Thursday.

Judicial registrar Matthew Phillips ordered Hubers return to court next month for a two-day plea hearing at which the prosecution flagged details of the case would be read out.

Crown prosecutor Kathryn Hamill said the hearing could be quite lengthy and may include statements from victims and their families.

Defence barrister Anthony Pyne said his client would be psychiatrically assessed ahead of the next court appearance.

In January 2023, this masthead revealed a man connected with a secretive and ultra-conservative Pentecostal church in Geelong had been charged by police with multiple child sex abuse offences.

Hubers is a member of the controversial Geelong Revival Centre (GRC), where sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said he taught religion and music within the assembly.

This masthead does not suggest the church was aware of Hubers’ offending or that any of his crimes were committed against church members or their families.

The Age has previously spoken though to more than a dozen former GRC members who raised serious allegations about a range of incidents stemming from their years inside the church.

Geelong Revival Centre.

Geelong Revival Centre.Credit: Simon Schluter

These include alleged incidents of sexual abuse not being reported to police, claims of brutal physical punishments on children, pressure on members not to seek medical treatment for serious illnesses in the belief that prayer would be sufficient, and the forced separation of families if a member decides to leave the church.

“A reminder to keep Sunday School Teacher & Brother Todd Hubers in your prayers,” the group posted online in the months after his arrest.

The church has its headquarters in the Geelong suburb of Norlane but has branches all over Australia and in every continent around the world.

Another man connected with a GRC-affiliated church in Newcastle, NSW, was last year convicted of aggravated offences involving the transmission of private sexual material via a carriage service.

Online profiles say Hubers, an honours graduate and software engineer, was the founder of software development company Alivate and a Geelong-based coworking space known as StartupCloud.

He is expected to return to court in September.

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