By Erin Pearson
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
A member of a secretive and ultra-conservative Pentecostal church has pleaded guilty to raping and persistently sexually abusing multiple children in the Geelong area.
Todd Hubers, 38, also known as Todd Hubers Van Assenraad, from East Geelong, was charged in January 2023 with a string of child abuse charges relating to nine boys, including the sexual penetration of two children who were aged under 12 years old.
Todd Hubers has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing children.
On Thursday, Hubers, a software engineer, stood for the County Court via video link from remand at Ravenhall Correctional Centre and uttered the word “guilty” after each of the 16 charges.
The court heard that between 2016 and 2023 Hubers sexually penetrated and touched boys aged 16 and two boys aged under 12, multiple times, and performed indecent acts in front of other children.
The court heard the crimes took place at various locations around the Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula areas including at public swimming pools and on one occasion inside play equipment.
One boy, aged under 16, was persistently sexually abused over two years, at times while he and Hubers discussed science, pianos and television shows.
A second child, aged under 16, was persistently sexually abused over six months, with the court hearing Hubers inappropriately touched the boy while they watched Spider-Man and Star Wars shows.
The boy was later abused by Hubers at a public swimming pool.
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.
Todd Hubers appeared in the County Court in Thursday.
Other boys, the court heard, were shown child abuse material or had Hubers perform sexual acts in front of them.
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.
The 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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