A young man who used to be in the care of an Oranga Tamariki youth justice facility claims he made a deal with staff allowing them to beat him up in return for chocolate.
It comes after a wide-ranging review resulted in 28 staff complaints referred to police, on top of disturbing footage last month that showed staff facilitating fights between young men in state care.
Newshub spoke to one mum who thought her son would be safe inside at Korowai Manaaki. It seems he was anything but.
"All of a sudden, your kid is in this place that is pretty horrific for them to experience and there is nothing you can do about it," she said.
"You have to sort of step back and watch and hope for the best, and then the best becomes a nightmare. And you end up here doing this - trying to get some sort of justice for a system that is failing."
Her boy is a former resident at the Wiri youth justice facility that has been the scene of multiple escapes.
And in July, it was revealed staff there were facilitating MMA fights.
Now, Newshub has received a video chat between a second mother and her son. Newshub is keeping them anonymous to protect their identities.
The boy alleges being assaulted by those who were meant to protect him.
"I made a deal with the staff for five chocolate bars to do 20 seconds of body shots," he told Newshub.
Body shots are punches to the body and, in this case, the claim is staff gave the children candy in return for a beating.
Rangatahi were told fighting was all good at Korowai Manaaki, the boy suggests.
"The only time that I was ever hit by staff would be in sparring and that's allowed. Sparring is allowed, like with proper boxing gloves," he said.
And, in return for letting them hit him, he said he was given chocolate.
The boy's mum said it was heartbreaking and she felt helpless.
"It's a bit of a shock initially and then you get really angry and incredibly sad, and I felt hugely helpless. There wasn't a lot I could do."
Since the MMA-style fight videos surfaced in August, there have been multiple calls to shut the Oranga Tamariki residences down.
Newshub asked Children's Minister Kelvin Davis if he thinks these sites are safe.
"That's why we brought in Mike Bush to do his review, he's produced it," Davis said. "There have been, I think, 22 staff who have been stood down because of unacceptable behaviour.
"There has been huge improvement since we asked Mike to go in and review," Davis said.
Opposition leader Christopher Luxon called the quality of care "unacceptable".
"There are major questions to be asked about the quality and calibre of staffing and management and leadership, and that's where I'd be going," Luxon said.
Parents on the outside have a message for those in charge.
"You're a failure," said the mum Newshub spoke to.
"I don't know if I could say it quite that nicely if I was sitting across from someone who I know has been involved in the treatment of my boy."
The Oranga Tamariki residences are advertised as "safe, secure and supportive" - but that's far from the experience of some parents and their children.
Responding to the latest claims, Bush - the former Police Commissioner and now the deputy chief executive of Oranga Tamariki - said in a brief statement such behaviour was inappropriate.
Bush also acknowledged, in the past, staff, young people and whānau may have felt unsupported or even unsafe when it came to reporting such behaviour.
Newshub.
