The Royal Commission investigating abuse in care has heard a former gang member lost the ability to love because of the time he spent as a child of the state. ​Fa'afete Taiko told the social welfare officers he was being abused by his father and didn't want to return home but they didn't believe him. Taiko told the inquiry there was a lot of physical violence at the home and its staff, who were all Pākehā, were racist. Fa'afete Taiko told the inquiry that with the help of his partner, he stopped taking meth and has since earned a degree in sociology and Māori. "Over the years I was in that world, I realised I lost the ability to love ... a lot of kids in that world don't know how to love.

Source: Stuff November 04, 2019 18:11 UTC