International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 8, 2017 33
The Impact of Trials on Leaders,
Founders, and Members of Alternative
Religions
When alternative religious leaders face child-
abuse allegations, they and their groups face
difficult decisions. By pleading guilty, they will
have admitted that they had been involved in
inappropriate if not illegal activities with minors
over which they now acknowledge a court’s
(rather than God’s) jurisdiction. Even out-of-
court settlements imply that courts have
authority over actions that members may have
considered to have been godly. By fighting the
allegations through a trial, the leaders and their
groups risk widespread negative publicity, the
possibility of a harmful decision by a judicial
entity, and the resultant condemnation of their
religious practices and ways of life.
Sometimes, however, the risks of trial provide
the best if not only options for leaders and their
groups, and they will fight allegations and
charges through an array of legal and extralegal
actions. If courts convict them, then groups may
portray their fallen leaders as martyrs,
denouncing the legal institutions that
prosecuted/persecuted them. Perhaps these
denunciations will be enough to maintain
sufficient legitimacy for the groups to continue,
sometimes with convicted leaders still in charge
from prisons.
Leader Controls From Prison
A remarkable example of a convicted and
imprisoned leader still directing followers from
prison involved an African-American preacher,
Reverend (sometimes called Bishop) Wilbert
Thomas, Sr. (b. 1929) from Trenton, New
Jersey.
105F
106 Thomas, his wife, and 11 other
church members were indicted in 1983 for
having perpetrated “sexual assaults, coercion,
aggravated and atrocious assault and battery and
criminal restraint.”
106F
107 His ministry had begun in
1969, attracting members through his musical
talents, oratorical skills, and ecumenical
106 Kent, 2012, pp. 52–53.
107 Indictment, quoted in Lee Pasternack and Tom Torok, 1983
(February 18), “Pastor, Family, Church Members Charged with
Sexual Abuse,” Philadelphia Inquirer, W5-B.
teachings.
107F
108 Within a decade, however,
Thomas had taken over people’s private lives
and made himself the subject of worship.
108F
109
Racial hatred frequently appeared in his
sermons, as did sexual comments, often directed
at female members.
109F
110 Court testimony
indicated that he required some female
congregants to give him what he called “spiritual
nourishment,” which was code for sex. All the
while he worked members mercilessly in
church-owned businesses, and directed severe
beatings against those who displeased him.
110F
111
For these crimes Thomas received a 20-year
sentence, while his wife received only a year’s
probation for lewdness.
111F
112
Over the prison telephone, and through
directives sent back to the congregation through
members who visited him, Thomas directed and
maintained a unique sex-education program,
which involved eroticized instructions about
women sexually expressing themselves, partly to
further please their men. Often the group ended
the telephone conversations by members putting
down the phone (but not having hung up) so that
Thomas could hear congregants’ sexual
responses to his instructions. The instructions
covered a range of topics, often using underage
girls in demonstrations in front of others.
112F
113
The best-known example of a cult leader still
controlling his flock while serving prison time
for crimes related to child sexual abuse is the
Fundamentalist Later-day Saints “prophet,”
Warren Jeffs (b. 1955). Serving a life sentence
for forcing two teenage girls into “spiritual
marriages” and impregnating one of them while
she was 15 years old,
113F
114 Jeffs still maintains
108 Lisa Hoffman, 1983 (February 27), “Beatings, Sex Inflicted on
Faithful, 6 Charged,” Miami Herald, 1b, 4b.
109 Laura Hatfield and William Outlaw, 1983 (February 21), “The
Cult (Out of the Wilderness), Beacon Journal [Akron, OH], 4ff.
110 Hoffman, 1983, 4B.
111 Hoffman, 1983, 4B Josh Meyer, 1985 (June 28), “Minister
Forced Sex on Her, Woman Testifies,” Philadelphia Inquirer, E2.
112 Joel Siegel, 1986 (December 26), “N.J. Cleric Gets Prison for
Assaults,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 1-B, 8-B.
113 Haferd &Outlaw, 1983, pp. 9–10, 14.
114 Clayton Sandell and Christina Caron, 2014 (January 24),
“Polygamist Warren Jeffs Guilty of Child Rape,” ABC News.
The Impact of Trials on Leaders,
Founders, and Members of Alternative
Religions
When alternative religious leaders face child-
abuse allegations, they and their groups face
difficult decisions. By pleading guilty, they will
have admitted that they had been involved in
inappropriate if not illegal activities with minors
over which they now acknowledge a court’s
(rather than God’s) jurisdiction. Even out-of-
court settlements imply that courts have
authority over actions that members may have
considered to have been godly. By fighting the
allegations through a trial, the leaders and their
groups risk widespread negative publicity, the
possibility of a harmful decision by a judicial
entity, and the resultant condemnation of their
religious practices and ways of life.
Sometimes, however, the risks of trial provide
the best if not only options for leaders and their
groups, and they will fight allegations and
charges through an array of legal and extralegal
actions. If courts convict them, then groups may
portray their fallen leaders as martyrs,
denouncing the legal institutions that
prosecuted/persecuted them. Perhaps these
denunciations will be enough to maintain
sufficient legitimacy for the groups to continue,
sometimes with convicted leaders still in charge
from prisons.
Leader Controls From Prison
A remarkable example of a convicted and
imprisoned leader still directing followers from
prison involved an African-American preacher,
Reverend (sometimes called Bishop) Wilbert
Thomas, Sr. (b. 1929) from Trenton, New
Jersey.
105F
106 Thomas, his wife, and 11 other
church members were indicted in 1983 for
having perpetrated “sexual assaults, coercion,
aggravated and atrocious assault and battery and
criminal restraint.”
106F
107 His ministry had begun in
1969, attracting members through his musical
talents, oratorical skills, and ecumenical
106 Kent, 2012, pp. 52–53.
107 Indictment, quoted in Lee Pasternack and Tom Torok, 1983
(February 18), “Pastor, Family, Church Members Charged with
Sexual Abuse,” Philadelphia Inquirer, W5-B.
teachings.
107F
108 Within a decade, however,
Thomas had taken over people’s private lives
and made himself the subject of worship.
108F
109
Racial hatred frequently appeared in his
sermons, as did sexual comments, often directed
at female members.
109F
110 Court testimony
indicated that he required some female
congregants to give him what he called “spiritual
nourishment,” which was code for sex. All the
while he worked members mercilessly in
church-owned businesses, and directed severe
beatings against those who displeased him.
110F
111
For these crimes Thomas received a 20-year
sentence, while his wife received only a year’s
probation for lewdness.
111F
112
Over the prison telephone, and through
directives sent back to the congregation through
members who visited him, Thomas directed and
maintained a unique sex-education program,
which involved eroticized instructions about
women sexually expressing themselves, partly to
further please their men. Often the group ended
the telephone conversations by members putting
down the phone (but not having hung up) so that
Thomas could hear congregants’ sexual
responses to his instructions. The instructions
covered a range of topics, often using underage
girls in demonstrations in front of others.
112F
113
The best-known example of a cult leader still
controlling his flock while serving prison time
for crimes related to child sexual abuse is the
Fundamentalist Later-day Saints “prophet,”
Warren Jeffs (b. 1955). Serving a life sentence
for forcing two teenage girls into “spiritual
marriages” and impregnating one of them while
she was 15 years old,
113F
114 Jeffs still maintains
108 Lisa Hoffman, 1983 (February 27), “Beatings, Sex Inflicted on
Faithful, 6 Charged,” Miami Herald, 1b, 4b.
109 Laura Hatfield and William Outlaw, 1983 (February 21), “The
Cult (Out of the Wilderness), Beacon Journal [Akron, OH], 4ff.
110 Hoffman, 1983, 4B.
111 Hoffman, 1983, 4B Josh Meyer, 1985 (June 28), “Minister
Forced Sex on Her, Woman Testifies,” Philadelphia Inquirer, E2.
112 Joel Siegel, 1986 (December 26), “N.J. Cleric Gets Prison for
Assaults,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 1-B, 8-B.
113 Haferd &Outlaw, 1983, pp. 9–10, 14.
114 Clayton Sandell and Christina Caron, 2014 (January 24),
“Polygamist Warren Jeffs Guilty of Child Rape,” ABC News.
