Leader of a 'cult-like' yoga ashram sexually abused children and tortured them, Guatemala Raids Hasidic Group Suspected of Child Abuse, Leader of cult-like Ontario church jailed for assault, Neil Brick, Editor of S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter, Celebrates Twenty Years of Online Child and Ritual Abuse Research

- Leader of a 'cult-like' yoga ashram sexually abused children and tortured them with hard labour, starvation and humiliating public nudity
- Guatemala Raids Hasidic Group Suspected of Child Abuse
- Leader of cult-like Ontario church jailed for 18 months for assault
- Neil Brick, Editor of S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter, Celebrates Twenty Years of Online Child and Ritual Abuse Research

describes violence

Leader of a 'cult-like' yoga ashram sexually abused children and tortured them with hard labour, starvation and humiliating public nudity

    Royal Commission report into Satyananda Yoga Ashram was released
    The NSW Central Coast ashram's response to abuse was investigated
    11 people said they were sexually abused as children by the former leader
    There was also evidence of physical violence in the 1970s and '80s period

By Rachel Eddie For Daily Mail Australia

14 September 2016

Children at a 'cult-like' yoga ashram were separated from their parents, sexually assaulted and threatened with violence if they reported abuse, a royal commission has found.

Satyananda Yoga Ashram was insensitive and defensive in its handling of abuse complaints from the 1970s and '80s against its former spiritual leader, Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse found.

Ten women and one man gave evidence they had been sexually abused by Akhandananda as children at the ashram at Mangrove Mountain on the NSW Central Coast.

Children as young as four, including one with brain damage, were physically abused at the ashram by Akhandananda or his former partner, Shishy, fourteen former residents reported.

Physical abuse ranged from slaps to repeated striking with heavy objects, while discipline included hard labour, starvation, and humiliation through public nudity, the commission found...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3789146/Children-sexually-abused-leader-cult-like-yoga-ashram.html 

Guatemala Raids Hasidic Group Suspected of Child Abuse
Josefin Dolsten September 14, 2016
(JTA) — Authorities in Guatemala raided the compound of a haredi Orthodox sect living there, separating children from their parents, after allegations of physical and mental abuse surfaced.

Israel’s Justice Ministry said Tuesday that the Central American country had obeyed its request to crack down on the Lev Tahor group, according to Orthodox news website Kikar Hashabbat.

The Guatemalan government suspected the sect of performing child marriages and abusing members, including children.

The Justice Ministry said it was in touch with Guatemalan authorities to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens, including minors, who are members of the group, according to Kikar Hashabbat. The report did not specify how many people are currently members of the group or in what city the compound in question was located....

http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/349876/guatema-raids-hasidic-group-suspected-of-child-abuse/ 


Leader of cult-like Ontario church jailed for 18 months for assault

The abuse inflicted by Fred King included squeezing a child’s hand with crushing force, and beating a young mean stripped of clothes in front of his mother.
By The Canadian Press
Wed., Sept. 14, 2016
OWEN SOUND, ONT.—The former head of a cult-like church in Chatsworth, Ont., is headed to jail for 18 months.

Fred King, 57, pleaded guilty earlier this year to nine counts of assault — relating to his time as leader of the Church of Jesus Christ Restored from 1978 to 2008 — and he was sentenced Wednesday in court in Owen Sound, Ont.

The abuse included squeezing a child’s hand with crushing force for fighting with a sister, and beating a teen in church in front of its members after she’d tried to run away.

He also beat a young man stripped of clothes in front of his mother, and then left him standing outside for hours at night as mosquitoes bit him.

Justice Clayton Conlan called the litany of physical abuse that King — who was known as “the prophet” — admitted to in court in May particularly disturbing as he accepted the sentence recommended jointly by the Crown and defence.....
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/09/14/ontario-leader-of-cult-like-church-jailed-for-18-months-for-assault.html 



Neil Brick, Editor of S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter, Celebrates Twenty Years of Online Child and Ritual Abuse Research

Neil Brick has worked hard to build a research base for child abuse and ritual abuse survivors. Neil Brick has worked to develop advocacy efforts to help survivors and their helpers.
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=205239