Abuse Of Minors & Apocalypse Predictions: Words From A 'Children of God' Cult Survivor, ‘It’s like being in a cult for one’: 14 tactics used by coercive controllers - domestic abuse, Jane Fonda reveals rape and child abuse, abuse and cover up by Word of Faith Fellowship

- Abuse Of Minors & Apocalypse Predictions: Words From A 'Children of God' Cult Survivor
- ‘It’s like being in a cult for one’: Read 14 tactics used by coercive controllers -  domestic abuse
- Jane Fonda reveals rape and child abuse
- AP Investigation into abuse and cover up by Word of Faith Fellowship

Abuse Of Minors & Apocalypse Predictions: Words From A 'Children of God' Cult Survivor
March 2, 2017  By Jancy Richardson

Cults & Conspiracies seeks to understand the evil that we do to each other and the psychological drives that inform those actions. Inspired by season 2 of Hulu's #ThePath, Cults & Conspiracies investigates how cults and radical ideologies work their dangerous magic on the unsuspecting.
MP Super News's dark-leaning, inquisitive show has looked at the Jonestown Massacre and de-programming techniques, but this episode we're talking to Flor Edwards, a survivor of the Children of God cult (a.k.a. The Family International).

The Children of God cult became famous for the bizarre teachings of leader David Berg, particularly those encouraging the sexual abuse of children and forced prostitution of young women (a technique to recruit new members known as 'Flirty Fishing'). Several celebrities escape the cult, including Joaquin Phoenix and Rose McGowan.

What Did the Children of God Believe?

Berg encouraged his followers to move away from "corrupted" Western society to South East Asia and South America. They were poor, idealistic, and convinced by their leader that the world would end in 1993.

When the foretold apocalypse didn't happen, Edwards says, Berg made a public apology to his flock, but said that God had granted them an extension for being good. Berg "believed that he was God's middle-man," which he used to promote his strange teachings:

    He had these free sexual beliefs, people had to have a sexual revolution and it needed to happen very young, believed adulthood began from 12... He had absolute power.

Fortunately for Flor Edwards, the bad publicity from the cult's sexual abuse of minors meant that there were stricter rules in place when she was a child: she wasn't witness to sexual abuse but did see a lot of physical abuse: "they would punish us a lot."....

Cults & Conspiracies' guest for episode 5 is cult survivor Flor Edwards, who left the cult with her family at the age of 13.
https://moviepilot.com/p/cults-and-conspiracies-episode-5-flor-edwards/4217520 

‘It’s like being in a cult for one’: Read 14 tactics used by coercive controllers
06 March 2017 Gemma Mitchell
....Experts in the field of domestic abuse gathered in Suffolk today to explore the intricacies of a crime that is “invisible in plain sight”.
Keynote speaker was American university lecturer and author Lisa Aronson Fontes, who described a manipulative relationship as “like being in a cult of one”.

Dr Fontes said dangerous romances often started out happy, with abusers using methods that seem loving such as constant texting or only not wanting to be around anyone else.

She added: “It looks like the care that many women crave, then over time that warm beam gets narrower and narrower and she wants to get that back and she feels like it’s her fault she doesn’t have it....

According to Mr Stark, around 25% of women in abuse relationships are never assaulted, and in some cases it is “low level” harm which police may not take seriously, such as biting, pushing and shoving.

This is where the new law, which was passed in England and Wales in 2015, can come into play.

It carries a maximum prison term of five years for perpetrators who repeatedly subject spouses, partners and other family members to serious psychological, social, financial and emotional torment.

Mr Stark deems coercive control a “liberty crime” that turns victims into “slaves in their own homes”.....

Here are 14 ways coercive control can exist in an intimate relationship:
- Controlling access to a phone and social media
- Enforcing a certain diet
- Prohibiting or limiting contact with friends, family and health services
- Monitoring and controlling time and movement
- Regulating what clothes, make up, hairstyle is worn
- Continual belittlement, telling someone they are worthless
- Harming or threatening children
- Jealous accusations
- Constant phone calls, texting and emails
- Controlling access to money and transport
- Forcing sex
- Name calling
- Refusing contraception
- Preventing a person from working and sleeping
http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/it_s_like_being_in_a_cult_for_one_read_14_tactics_used_by_coercive_controllers_1_4919263 

Jane Fonda reveals rape and child abuse
3 March 2017
Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda has revealed she is a rape survivor and suffered sexual abuse as a child.

In an interview with fellow Oscar winner Brie Larson for The Edit, the 79-year-old also said she had once lost a job because she refused her boss's sexual advances.

The star added she thought being a young actress now was "terrifying" because of female sexualisation.

"You have to get naked so much. There is even more emphasis on how you look."

Fonda said she "felt diminished" growing up because the men in her life were "victims of a [patriarchal] belief system".

She also said she had been "brought up with the disease to please".
'We were violated'

"To show you the extent to which a patriarchy takes a toll on females - I've been raped, I've been sexually abused as a child and I've been fired because I wouldn't sleep with my boss and I always thought it was my fault; that I didn't do or say the right thing.

"I know young girls who've been raped and didn't even know it was rape. They think, 'It must have been because I said no the wrong way'.

"One of the great things the women's movement has done is to make us realise that [rape and abuse is] not our fault. We were violated and it's not right."....
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-39151842 


Part 2: AP Investigation into abuse and cover up by Word of Faith Fellowship
by MITCH WEISS Associated Press; Karen Zatkulak
Monday, March 6th 2017

SPINDALE, N.C. (AP) — At least a half-dozen times over two decades, authorities investigated reports that members of a secretive evangelical church were being beaten. And every time, according to former congregants, the orders came down from church leaders: They must lie to protect the sect.

Among the members of the Word of Faith Fellowship who coached congregants and their children on what to say to investigators were two assistant district attorneys and a veteran social worker, the ex-followers told The Associated Press.

Frank Webster and Chris Back -- church ministers who handle criminal cases as assistant DAs for three nearby counties -- provided legal advice, helped at strategy sessions and participated in a mock trial for four congregants charged with harassing a former member, according to former congregants interviewed as part of an AP investigation of Word of Faith.

Back and Webster, who is sect leader Jane Whaley's son-in-law, also helped derail a social services investigation into child abuse in 2015 and attended meetings where Whaley warned congregants to lie to investigators about abuse incidents, according to nine former members.

Under North Carolina law, prosecutors cannot provide legal advice or be involved in outside cases in any manner. Violation of those rules can lead to ethics charges, dismissal or disbarment. Offering legal advice in an ongoing investigation to help a person avoid prosecution could lead to criminal charges.

The receptionist for Back and Webster at the Burke County Courthouse said the two men were "too busy" to talk to AP reporters. They also did not respond to a note seeking comment about their roles in the church.....

Last week, the AP revealed decades of physical and emotional abuse inside Word of Faith, which has 750 members in Spindale, North Carolina, and nearly 2,000 members in churches based in Brazil and Ghana. Former members described being punched, choked and thrown through walls as part of a violent form of deliverance meant to purify sinners....

Cooper said social services personnel were investigating complaints that students were beating classmates at the church-run K-12 school to cast out devils, and that teachers, including Whaley, encouraged the violence....

Former congregant Jamey Anderson said parents and children were ordered to lie to social workers.....
http://wlos.com/news/local/part-2-ap-investigation-into-abuse-and-cover-up-by-word-of-faith-fellowship


Former member of Word of Faith Fellowship calls for authorities to investigate church
by Justin Hinton  Monday, March 6th 2017
RUTHERFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — Allegations of abuse and a cover-up plague a controversial mountain church after the second part of the Associated Press investigation into Word of Faith Fellowship is released.

"We didn't think we were part of a cult," said John Huddle, a former member of the church.

He held a news conference Monday afternoon calling for an investigation by local, state and federal authorities.

"From what I read this morning, it's highly likely that an investigation could be beneficial," Huddle said.

In that AP article, former members said they were beaten, choked and thrown through walls. Then when it came time to investigate, they say they were told to lie.

"It makes me feel sad that it has gone on for so long," Huddle said.

After part one of the AP's investigation, the church released a lengthy statement saying in part, "We do not condone or allow abuse - in any form - at our church. Period."....
http://wlos.com/news/local/former-member-of-word-of-faith-fellowship-calls-for-authorities-to-investigate-church

Police vent fury over cancelled inquiries into VIP child abuse: Officers claim covert investigations were shut down as they closed in on Establishment figures

                       

Police vent fury over cancelled inquiries into VIP child abuse: Officers claim covert investigations were shut down as they closed in on Establishment figures

    Serving and former detectives vented their fury on internet chat forum
    They claim child sex abuse investigations in 80s and 90s were 'canned'
    Comes as senior MP said he was aware of six police probes being shelved
    Cover-up claims will heap pressure on Government and Scotland Yard
By Rebecca Camber, Crime Correspondent For The Daily Mail
15 December 2014

A series of covert police investigations into alleged VIP paedophile rings were shut down as they went ‘to the heart of the Establishment’, officers have claimed.

Serving and former detectives have vented their fury on an internet chat forum, claiming Scotland Yard investigations into child sex abuse were ‘canned’ during the 1980s and 1990s as they closed in on powerful figures, some of whom were said to be at ‘cabinet level’.

It comes as a senior MP said he was aware of six police probes into child sex abuse being shelved, five of which were run by Scotland Yard.
‘This is about kids being raped by those in power that included politicians of all sorts. It goes to the very heart of our Establishment.

‘There is very clear evidence that the general nature of the allegations are true.

‘There are enough officers on this site who have mentioned paedophile ops involving high-profile politicians being stopped at the eleventh hour.’

Labour MP John Mann yesterday admitted that he was aware of six inquiries which were shelved for 'no good reason'

A former detective constable said: ‘In the 90s I uncovered a middle class paedo ring at [a police station in east London]. It linked into a massive UC [undercover] paedo job which was being run by [a named detective sergeant].

‘The UC who shall remain nameless found that it went to cabinet level and four years of work was pulled overnight.’

Some of the officers also claimed there was a secret file dating back to the 1960s on a celebrity recently linked to historic abuse.

One civil servant, who said he had signed the Official Secrets Act, wrote: ‘The cover up began in 1985 when operations were closed for no apparent reason except that prominent persons were allegedly involved and again in 1990 and again over the North Wales child abuse and successive governments have continued the practice.’ The forum is open only to those who have worked in the Metropolitan Police or closely alongside the force.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2873927/Police-vent-fury-cancelled-inquiries-VIP-child-abuse-Officers-claim-covert-investigations-shut-closed-Establishment-figures.html

 











Man sentenced to jail for 'execution' of cat during sex ritual
Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald More from Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald
Published on: December 15, 2014

A man who slit the throat of a cat obtained on an Internet site and used it as part of a sick sexual ritual with his girlfriend has been jailed for 20 months and banned from owning any animals for life.

Provincial court Judge Brian Stevenson said Monday in sentencing Steven Edward Alcorn, 29, that the offender committed the act on Sept. 25, 2012 — just days after it was purchased through an ad on Kijiji — for his own sexual gratification.

“This is nothing short of an execution,” the judge concluded. “He found it to be sexually arousing and violated the trust that should be present between an owner and a pet.”

Stevenson also gave Alcorn three months consecutive for an assault on his girlfriend three months after the cat was slain and one month consecutive for breaching release conditions for a total 24-month sentence. With just over three months pre-trial credit, he has just under 21 months to serve.

Alcorn, who had pleaded guilty in November 2013, was also placed on probation for three years and must take counselling for domestic abuse and anger management....
http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/stiff-jail-sentence-for-man-for-execution-of-cat-during-sex-ritual

Child Sacrifice and Trafficking in Holland, Cleveland Suspect Ariel Castro Domestic Abuse, Jimmy Savile

- Child Sacrifice and Trafficking in Holland: An Eyewitness speaks out
- Chains, ropes found in Cleveland house where women were held
- Cleveland suspect Ariel Castro: A troubling portrait emerges
- Conference shines light on plight of battered mothers seeking custody
- Police force admits mistakes that let Jimmy Savile escape justice

Child Sacrifice and Trafficking in Holland: An Eyewitness speaks out (Introduction)
Published on May 8, 2013 
During Kevin Annett's visit with us here at Freedom Central, we have been contacted by several people with some very interesting stories.
Meet Toos of the Family Nijenhuis, a very brave woman who came to meet Kevin Annett at the event Freedom Central hosted for him. Following of from the disclosure of some very sad but important facts, we immediately arranged for an interview with Toos....
very graphic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PyrPEu7nk1Q 


Chains, ropes found in Cleveland house where women were held
By Alana Semuels and Tina Susman
May 8, 2013
CLEVELAND -- Chains and ropes have been removed from the home where three women were rescued on Monday after being held captive as long as 11 years....

Speaking on NBC's "Today" show, the police chief confirmed reports that the victims -- Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight -- had been physically bound in the Castro home.

“They were released out in the backyard once in a while, I believe,” he told Savannah Guthrie.

That could bolster some neighbors' claims Tuesday that they had seen at least one naked woman in Castro's backyard a couple of years ago. Police have said they have no record of calls reporting such a sighting, but neighbors have said their attempts to alert police were dismissed.

Ariel Castro’s first cousin, 45-year-old Maria Castro Montes, a hospital administrator, expressed shock and disbelief at her cousin’s alleged actions as she stood Wednesday outside his small white house in a downtrodden area about two miles from downtown Cleveland.

“He was a normal man. He was a loving cousin, a loving father a loving grandfather,” she said. “Just like any other member of a family that you think you know.”....
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-cleveland-kidnapping-20130508,0,743912.story 


Cleveland suspect Ariel Castro: A troubling portrait emerges
By Matt Pearce  May 9, 2013

When three young women emerged from a Cleveland home Monday evening after being held captive for about a decade, neighbors were thunderstruck. Ariel Castro, 52, who owns the home and who faces kidnapping and rape charges, was known as a sunny face, someone who was good with children.

The neighborhood was shocked. But Fernando Colon wasn’t.

"The first thing I said was, 'I knew it, I knew it,' " Colon told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, adding: "He's a monster. He's the opposite of what people thought he was."

As the case gained worldwide attention, details were trickling out about the dungeon-like conditions in which Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, about 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, were purportedly imprisoned and abused.

A dark portrait of Castro also was emerging. Interviews and court documents detailed long-term, repeated allegations of manipulation and domestic abuse....

According to court records and interviews, allegations of abuse against Ariel Castro began in the early 1990s. Castro had three daughters and a son with Grimilda Figueroa between 1981 and 1990. The pair never married. In 1993, Figueroa would say later, Castro attacked her at their home on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland.

Figueroa, who died last year, suffered a broken nose, broken ribs, a blood clot in her brain and two dislocated shoulders, in addition to losing a tooth, according to a court petition she filed against him.

In 1994, a Cuyahoga County grand jury was to hear the abuse allegations, but Figueroa failed to testify. In a sworn statement she gave a decade later – in connection with the child abuse charges against Colon – Figueroa said Castro saw her on the day she was to testify and offered her money and a car if she didn’t tell the grand jury about his beatings.

"He also told me, 'You know what will happen to you if you do testify,' " Figueroa said in the statement. "I knew that he would find me and assault me again. … I was unable to offer my testimony before the grand jury. I did not tell anyone about the threats."

The case against Castro was dropped....
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-castro-abuse-history-20130509,0,1600490.story 


The Post’s View
Conference shines light on plight of battered mothers seeking custody

By Editorial Board, May 10, 2013

THE BATTLES over child custody that unfold in courtrooms across the United States don’t get much attention. If a celebrity is involved, there might be headlines, but publicity is generally shunned out of the not-unreasonable urge to protect the privacy of children. Unfortunately, though, that has tended to shroud problems in how these critical decisions are made. That’s why a conference focusing attention this week on systemic issues in family court is so important.

The Battered Mothers Custody Conference started Friday at George Washington University Law School and concludes Sunday with a vigil at the White House. It brings together victims of domestic abuse, advocates and experts in an effort to reform a system they say doesn’t do enough to protect children. Too often, said organizers of the event, which is now in its 10th year, custody or access in contested cases where domestic violence has been alleged is given to abusive fathers because of a misguided emphasis on parental rights that discounts or disbelieves the concerns of women who have been battered. Victimized parents, often suffering from trauma caused by the abuse, are bankrupted and punished for fighting for their children.

“Cascading disasters and shattered lives are predictable and inevitable,” said Eileen King, executive director of Child Justice in the District and a speaker at the conference. She pointed to the case of 15-month-old Prince McLeod Rams, allegedly drowned by his father after his mother unsuccessfully tried to block unsupervised visits, and the infamous deaths in 2008 of Amy Castillo’s young children by a father she warned was dangerous....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/conference-shines-light-on-plight-of-battered-mothers-seeking-custody/2013/05/10/8a2830fc-b8f1-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html  



Police force admits mistakes that let Jimmy Savile escape justice
Kiran Randhawa 10 May 2013

A police force today denied a cover-up of Jimmy Savile’s five-decade reign of sex crimes but admitted to “mistakes” and missed opportunities which allowed the DJ to escape justice.

According to a new review, the disgraced entertainer was rumoured to be a “pervert” and officers were passed on information about his possible sex offending while he was alive.

One officer even commented on the late DJ getting “so many of these type of complaints”.

Despite this, he was left free to sexually assault 68 victims in his hometown of Leeds, including eight under the age of nine, and one as young as five.

The inquiry, dubbed Operation Newgreen, examined the history of the TV presenter’s relationship with West Yorkshire Police, including how officers attended his well-known Friday Morning Club at his Leeds flat.

But although the force admitted there was an “over-reliance on personal friendships” between the Jim’ll Fix It host and officers who socialised with him, it found he was not shielded or protected from arrest.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/police-force-admits-mistakes-that-let-jimmy-savile-escape-justice-8610304.html