3 Feb 2015

Youth trust no sex club - chair

4:45 pm on 3 February 2015

The head of a Christchurch youth centre being investigated by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) denies it is running a sex club for men.

Te Poaka Tipua Charitable Trust shares a Linwood address with a men's club, the Backroom, which is advertising online.

But trust chair Veronica Stuart said it was not its website and men had not been turning up at its office seeking sex.

The DIA received a complaint yesterday and was looking into whether the trust was breaching the Charities Act.

Ms Stuart said it had told her in a letter the trust was "running a men's sex club" - something she rejected.

"I did not put that (website) up there at all. We had no idea that that website was actually up," she said.

"None of the kids that have come here have come across any men knocking on the door looking for any sort of sexual favours or looking for the back room."

The trust, which operates out of a Linwood address, provides a space and activities with the aim of deterring youth in the area from causing trouble.

A DIA spokesperson said a preliminary assessment an investigation had been launched and that its subsidiary, Charities Services, had the authority to deregister the trust if it no longer met the requirements for registration.

"The charity was advised that we had received information about its activities - that is, an allegation that it was running a men's sex club - and about the qualification of one of its officers to be a certified officer of a charity."