Tag: cults

FBI investigating Two by Twos for historical child sexual abuse claims, including in Australia

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched an international investigation into child sexual abuse within a secretive Christian sect that has followers throughout Australia.

The global fundamentalist sect does not have an official name. It is referred to by believers as The Truth or The Way, or by non-believers as the Two by Twos, or the Church with No Name.

WARNING: This story contains details that may be distressing to some readers.

Believers of the church meet in people’s homes for prayer sessions, with the group’s ministers moving between the different cities and countries where followers are based.

In February in the United States, the FBI launched a probe into the group after widescale reports of abuse were publicised by the BBC earlier this year.

A hotline for former members who have experienced sexual abuse within the sect in Australia and New Zealand has received allegations involving about 130 separate people.

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Colombia says 17 minors rescued from Jewish cult Lev Tahor amid abuse allegations

Colombian authorities said Sunday they had rescued 17 minors from Lev Tahor, an extremist ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect under investigation for alleged child sex abuse.

“We have rescued 17 boys, girls and teens,” the country’s immigration service said on X, posting pictures of some of the children with their faces blurred or shielded from view.

Five of the minors rescued were identified as missing persons whom Interpol had issued “yellow notices” to find, authorities said.

Founded in Jerusalem in the 1980s, Lev Tahor — literally, “pure heart” in Hebrew — has been dogged by allegations of child abuse for years, and Israel and others have called it a cult. Its leader is in prison for kidnapping children.

A group called Lev Tahor Survivors has estimated the sect’s membership at several hundred people and says it is led by a core cohort, with the rest being held mostly against their will.

The group adheres to an extreme, idiosyncratic interpretation of Judaism and kosher dietary laws that largely shields members from the outside world.

Women and girls above the age of 3 are required to dress in black robes that completely cover their bodies, leading some to call the group the “Jewish Taliban.” The men spend most of their days in prayer and studying specific portions of the Torah.

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FBI Targets ‘764’ Network That Preys on Victims as Young as 9

FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on Nov. 20 that taking down the “764” network—which grooms and coerces minors on gaming and social media platforms—has become one of the bureau’s highest priorities, with hundreds of active investigations into the criminal acts of the “heinous” group.

Patel said in a Nov. 20 statement that the FBI is fully committed to cracking down on the criminal network. He urged parents to monitor their children’s internet activity more closely to limit opportunities for online predators to harm kids.

“This FBI is fully engaged in taking down the heinous ‘764’ network that targets America’s children online,” Patel said.

He also said that more than 300 investigations are ongoing across the United States, and the FBI is “not stopping.”

The network, which investigators say began in 2021 with a Texas teenager, is linked to a broader extremist online ecosystem that pushes children toward self-harm, animal abuse, sexual exploitation, and even suicide.

Bongino said in a Nov. 20 statement that agents in the FBI’s Baltimore field office recently arrested an individual accused of targeting at least five minors as young as 13. The suspect is in federal custody, and more details are expected soon.

“This @FBI will keep working day and night to destroy this network. It is a top priority,” Bongino said. “We are making progress, but the work isn’t done.”

In Arizona, authorities recently announced charges against another alleged “764” affiliate who prosecutors say targeted at least nine victims, including some between the ages of 11 and 15. The indictment alleges crimes including child sexual abuse material production and distribution, cyberstalking, animal-crushing content, and even conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

“This man’s alleged crimes are unthinkably depraved and reflect the horrific danger of 764—if convicted, he will face severe consequences as we work to dismantle this evil network,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “I urge parents to remain vigilant about the threats their children face online.”

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Member of Satanic “764” Cult Charged After 13-Year-Old Girl Found Hanging in Parking Lot

An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and German authorities led to charges Wednesday against a man accused of convincing a 13-year-old to hang herself in Washington State on behalf of a cult-like group, according to multiple reports.

German prosecutors charged an unnamed defendant dubbed “White Tiger” with hundreds of crimes, including the teen’s murder, for an alleged campaign of online abuse and sexual predation that victimized more than 30 children, CBS News reported. Authorities linked the man to “764,” a Satanic online movement that the FBI says is driven by a nihilistic hatred of society.

The teenage victim’s body was found in Gig Harbor, Washington, in January 2022 after she had hung herself with an extension cord on a black chain link fence in a grocery store parking lot, The Washington Post reported. After police sought the FBI’s help, investigators found that online predators associated with 764 allegedly groomed her into the suicide, which she livestreamed on Instagram via her phone. The individuals allegedly suggested in online messages that she take off her clothes because it would make the spectacle “hotter.”

The child victim told her parents she was a transgender boy at age ten and later became anorexic and depressed, FBI agents learned, according to The Washington Post. German prosecutors allege that “White Tiger” began building an online relationship with her while manipulating her and numerous other children into self-harm, starting when the suspect was 16, CBS News reported.

Threats against children from 764 have risen in recent years as the cultists lure vulnerable minors into private group chats and coax them into self-harm or degrading sexual acts, according to the FBI. Similar groups may go by different names but unite around 764’s methods, and adherents work together to evade bans from tech platforms, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported.

Investigators traced the digital footprint of “White Tiger” and allegedly found other victims on multiple social media platforms who he had convinced to cut themselves, as well as a photo of him cross-dressing in women’s clothes, according to The Washington Post. He allegedly shared the child abuse content with other followers of 764 to boost his reputation in the criminal network.

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The secret cult caves of polyamorous Mormon ‘prophet’ with 85 wives are seen for first time

An expert has revealed what’s hidden inside secret caves in Arizona created by the self-proclaimed prophet of a polygamous cult.

In preparation for the end of the world, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, led by Warren Jeffs, began digging caves underneath the compound that housed his enormous ‘family’.  

Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault and a further 20 years for another count of sexual assault.  

‘Not only were they preparing for the end of the world from a religious standpoint, but they were temporarily preparing for it,’ veteran investigator Mike King told NewsNation.

‘And they started digging caves that I heard about all the years I was investigating out there, but I could never prove (their existence), I could never find it when I talked to members of the FLDS.’

The church, a radical Mormon denomination of around 13,000, had mostly previously denied the existence of the caves.

Members told King ‘we’ve heard about it, but [the caves] don’t exist’.

‘I would talk to leaders in the church who fell away and said, “No, it doesn’t exist,”‘ King added. 

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New Jersey Police Chief Accused of Leading a Secret Sex Cult

The daughter of a New Jersey police chief is accusing her father, and others, of having engaged in “ritualistic” sexual abuse against her and her sisters over a period of years.

The unnerving claims are part of an ongoing lawsuit the woman has filed, likening her father and others to participating in a sort of cult while the alleged abuse took place.

Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny, as well as a neighbor and acquaintance of his named Kevin Slevin, are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit launched by Tamagny’s 20-year-old daughter, where court documents assert the young woman, and her sisters, endured years of sexual abuse from their father and others.

Courtney Tamagny has recently taken the claims against her father public, detailing her alleged years-long abuse on various podcasts.

According to court documents, Slevin and her father would regularly abuse her in her home, as well as taking her out into the woods nearby to further the alleged abuse with “ritualistic” worshippers serving as both an audience and participants. 

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Pam Bondi’s Ties to Scientology Explained

Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General Pam Bondi has held ties to the Church of Scientology at various points throughout her career.

Bondi made history in 2010 when she was elected as Florida’s first female attorney general, a job she held until 2019.

During her tenure she accepted campaign contributions from Scientologists and attended multiple fundraisers organized by prominent members of the church.

A fundraiser for Bondi’s reelection campaign in 2014 in Clearwater, Florida, was organized by six prominent Scientologists, the Tampa Bay Times reported at the time. Christina Johnson, Bondi’s campaign spokeswoman, told the newspaper that Bondi was aware that Scientologists were staging the event.

Johnson said that Bondi first connected with Scientologists in 2010 when she and other elected officials toured some of the church’s facilities in Clearwater. She added that Bondi had spoken to a group of Scientologists about human trafficking and antidrug initiatives.

Ahead of the fundraiser in 2014, Johnson said: “It’s like-minded folks sharing the same goals: Protecting children against drug overdoses and human trafficking.”

Bondi’s office also cited the importance of speaking about the same issues before she addressed a group with ties to Scientology in 2016.

“Considering the seriousness of this issue, the Attorney General is open to talking to any organization about what our office is doing to combat this awful crime and educate them on what they can do to help,” Bondi’s spokeswoman Kylie Mason told the Tampa Bay Times.

Newsweek has contacted Bondi for comment outside of normal working hours.

A Trump spokesperson and The Church of Scientology have also been contacted for comment.

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Three Zizians face trial together in Maryland amid sprawling federal investigation

Three members of a violent cultlike group, including its alleged ringleader, will be tried together on charges of trespassing, gun and drug possession after police discovered them camping in box trucks in rural western Maryland.

The group known as Zizians, which attracted a fringe contingent of computer scientists who connected online over their shared anarchist beliefs, has been linked to six killings spanning three states in recent years.

The Maryland cases were originally scheduled for separate trials, but the defendants requested a joint proceeding despite concerns from their attorneys; a judge granted the request following a court hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Jack “Ziz” LaSota and her associates Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank were arrested in February after a man told police that “suspicious” people had parked two box trucks on his property and asked to camp there for a month, according to authorities. The trucks were found in a largely remote wooded area near the Maryland-Pennsylvania line, a mountainous region dotted with small towns.

LaSota, a transgender woman who’s regarded as the group leader, entered the courtroom Tuesday hoisting a brown paper bag filled with documents. Throughout the hearing, LaSota and Zajko repeatedly interjected to address the judge directly, disregarding conventional courtroom practices and occasionally speaking over their attorneys. The regular interruptions added to the already unusual circumstances of the case, which hinges on the findings of federal investigators despite being prosecuted in state court.

The main issue discussed Tuesday was the timeline of the proceedings. After the trio was arrested in February on trespassing and illegal gun possession charges, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment last month with new allegations, including LSD possession.

Defense attorneys argued prosecutors are trying to slow-walk the case while federal authorities continue investigating the Zizians.

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The Legacy of Barbara Marx Hubbard and the Conscious Evolution of Psychological Operations

The history of the New Age movement is riddled with stories of cults that have sexually abused initiates under the pretenses of actualizing human potential, attaining spiritual enlightenment, or evolving a higher consciousness. In many cases, these alleged sex cults have been reportedly entangled with intelligence agencies, such as the United States (US) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Israeli Mossad. Consider the following three case studies: 

  1. The Finders cult, which was investigated for child sex trafficking and Satanic ritual abuse, was reported to be a CIA front operation posing as a “‘futurist’ network” guided by “human potential” psychology, “New Age” spirituality, and “Eastern mysticism.”
  2. Sects of Tibetan Tantric Buddhists under the auspices of the Dalai Lama, who has served as a longtime CIA asset, have been accused of sexually abusing devotees through Tantric rituals conducted at Maurice Strong’s New Age mountain retreats in Crestone, Colorado [1].
  3. The NXIVM cult, which branded its “sex slaves” under the cloak of its “human potential” development programs, was supported by members of the billionaire Bronfman family,  at least one of whom was instrumental in the broader network of the child sex trafficking operations of Jeffrey Epstein, who was evidently yoked with the CIA and the Mossad [2].

Are these overlaps between New Age sex cults and intelligence agencies merely tenuous coincidences? Or do these patterns suggest the existence of underground networks of intelligence operatives who orchestrate or infiltrate New Age cults in order to experiment with Tantric sex rituals and other forms of “sex magic” as tools for psychological operations? 

To be sure, the overlaps between these three case studies are not just thematic. Consider the curious common denominators of New Age futurist, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and her Malthusian gospel of conscious transhuman evolution:

  1. Hubbard appointed NXIVM cult leader Nancy Salzman as an “ally” of her Birth 2012 “shift” toward Malthusian sustainable development through conscious transhuman evolution [3]. 
  2. Hubbard also preached her Malthusian gospel of conscious transhuman evolution at Strong’s New Age outpost for Tibetan Tantric gurus in the mountains of Crestone [1]. 
  3. Hubbard’s efforts to advance conscious evolution through her Synergistic Convergence, or SYNCON, conferences were also aided by members of the Finders cult [4]. 

Perhaps Hubbard’s position at the juncture of these alleged sex cults is coincidental. Yet, Tantra and other forms of sexual mysticism have been deliberately intermarried with Hubbard’s Malthusian vision of conscious transhuman evolution. Today, her Rockefeller-funded Foundation for Conscious Evolution is led by Marc Gafni who, despite being accused of sexually abusing two underage girls, is advancing a new rendition of conscious evolution through Integral Evolutionary Tantra and CosmoErotic Humanism . Like Hubbard, Gafni has magnified his “cosmo-erotic” version of conscious Tantric evolution through public displays of “co-creation” with the Dalai Lama, who also rendezvoused with NXIVM. 

Meanwhile, Hubbard’s Malthusian vision of conscious transhuman evolution has been carried on through the World Future Society, which she co-founded with Edward Cornish, reportedly with the help of the Finders’ “Game Caller” [4], whose alleged sex cult was implicated as a CIA shell operating as a “‘futurist’ network” that provided “information gathering” services for the price of “finders’ fees.” In fact, Hubbard’s World Future Society is listed as a “forecasting . . . resource” alongside the CIA in a US Army Psychological Operations (PSYOP) manual authored by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Aquino [5], who was investigated for child sexual abuse involving Satanic rituals. Hubbard also cultivated “co-creation” of global consciousness with fellow evolutionary, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon [6], who set up the US Army’s First Earth Battalion of New Age psychic soldiers.

Whether fortuitously or strategically, Hubbard personally occupied a nexus between New Age sex cults and intelligence agencies while her Malthusian beliefs in conscious transhuman evolution have been married to Tantra and other modes of sex magic practiced by gurus and spooks alike. Tracing the threads that tie together Hubbard and her legacy with these sex cults and intelligence agencies, this final article in my “Barbara Marx Hubbard” series examines whether these threads are anchored to coordinated PSYOPs aimed at socially engineering New Age cultures to believe in futurist promises of collectivized self-actualization through technocratic globalization and sustainable transhuman evolution. To be sure, as expounded  in previous installments of this series, Hubbard’s conscious evolutionary faith has been proselytized to generate new cultural values that are commensurate with transhumanism and sustainable development, which are the crux of emerging global technocracy of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

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Leaders of ‘orgasmic meditation’ women’s wellness company OneTaste convicted in forced labor trial

The leaders of a sex-focused women’s wellness company that promoted “orgasmic meditation” have been convicted of federal forced labor charges.

A Brooklyn jury on Monday found Nicole Daedone, founder of OneTaste Inc., and Rachel Cherwitz, the California-based company’s former sales director, guilty after deliberating for less than two days following a five-week trial. The two each face up to 20 years in prison when sentenced later.

Prosecutors had argued the two women ran a yearslong scheme that groomed adherents – many of them victims of sexual trauma – to do their bidding.

They said Daedone, 57, of New York, and Cherwitz, 44, of California, used economic, sexual and psychological abuse, intimidation and indoctrination to force OneTaste members into sexual acts they found uncomfortable or repulsive, such as having sex with prospective investors or clients.

The two told followers the questionable acts were necessary in order to obtain “freedom” and “enlightenment” and demonstrate their commitment to the organization’s principles.

Prosecutors said OneTaste leaders also didn’t pay promised earnings to the members-turned-workers and even forced some of them to take out new credit cards to continue taking the company’s courses.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nina Gupta, in her closing statement last week, said the defendants “built a business on the backs” of victims who “gave everything” to them, including “their money, their time, their bodies, their dignity, and ultimately their sanity.”

“The jury’s verdict has unmasked Daedone and Cherwitz for who they truly are: grifters who preyed on vulnerable victims by making empty promises of sexual empowerment and wellness only to manipulate them into performing labor and services for the defendants’ benefit,” said Joseph Nocella, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

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