garnered the attention of the provincial press,
and many newspaper articles were published
about the affair. The regional director of DPJE,
who had been interviewed for the news report,
later told the press that about twenty cases
would be presented to Youth Court, stating that
“We are investigating cases of excessive
violence. Beating a child for half an hour on
account of a minor slip-up is not reasonable!”
(Dallaire, 1985).
Issues relating to the school, which was
operating without a permit, qualified teachers, or
approved curriculum, were reported to the
province’s educational board. As well, the
Office Regulating Day-Care Facilities (OSGE6)
was notified concerning the irregular situation of
the group’s day-care facility. Inspectors from the
OSGE attempted to visit the day-care center, but
were denied access. The center ceased its
operations several days later, at which point the
OSGE closed its file.
If the pastor had appeared calm in the face of the
police and of the DPJE investigations, he was
less so in the wake of the television and
newspaper coverage. He ordered that the church
door remain locked at all times, even during
services, so that reporters could not film his
sermons. Furthermore, he left the region,
returning to the church only to lead services
during which he would insult his followers and
call them police informants. Although he had
ordered the suspension of corporal punishment
at the beginning of the investigations, he himself
corrected a few children very severely during
this time. For example, a 6-year-old boy was
beaten three times during religious services in
the course of the same week.
At the beginning of the investigation by Child
Protection Services, BCW members repeated the
accepted church discourse concerning corporal
punishment. However, as the meetings with
social workers progressed and as the evaluation
of their children proceeded, a few distinctive
voices were heard amongst the members. It
seems that, as the DPJE’s general investigation
progressed, the fear of losing custody of their
6 In French, Office des services de garde à l’enfance.
children became real for some parents, leading
them to express different views than those
decreed by Pastor X. Thus, a certain distancing
from the pastor’s teachings began to take place
on the part of some of the BCW members. A
few of them went as far as to leave the church to
show their disaproval of the child-raising
practices they themselves had used until
recently. Other members expressed difficulty in
dealing with the representation of themselves
reflected by the media—that is, as individuals
cut off from society and blindly following their
leader in a subservient manner. Such
confrontations, once the individuals were away
from the influence of the group and of the
leader, led many to question their affiliation with
the BCW. For other members, seeing themselves
through the eyes of others, as they were
portrayed through the media coverage of their
group, brought them to the realization that they
had been under the control of their pastor for a
long time.
Institutional Responses
By December 1985, the DPJE reported 84 cases
of physical abuse. These mainly involved
situations of corporal punishment that were
considered sufficiently severe to compromise the
children’s safety in accordance with Section
38 (e) of the Youth Protection Act. The children
were also deemed to be exposed to extreme
isolation, which compromised their
development, and hence justified that they be
put under the protection of the law. Social
workers were mandated to work with their
parents with the aim of avoiding legal action,
which would have meant deferring their file to
Youth Court. In such cases, both child and
parent are allowed legal representation, as is the
social worker the judge rules according to the
evidence brought before him in accordance with
the Youth Protection Act. An alternative course
consists of parents agreeing to respect measures
aimed at redressing the situation that
compromises the child’s safety or development.
In the case of the BCW children, this meant that
parents had to agree to abandon the use of
corporal punishment and to adopt measures that
favored the social integration of their children.
Such agreements are formalized in what are
called voluntary measures, which are followed
International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015 91
and many newspaper articles were published
about the affair. The regional director of DPJE,
who had been interviewed for the news report,
later told the press that about twenty cases
would be presented to Youth Court, stating that
“We are investigating cases of excessive
violence. Beating a child for half an hour on
account of a minor slip-up is not reasonable!”
(Dallaire, 1985).
Issues relating to the school, which was
operating without a permit, qualified teachers, or
approved curriculum, were reported to the
province’s educational board. As well, the
Office Regulating Day-Care Facilities (OSGE6)
was notified concerning the irregular situation of
the group’s day-care facility. Inspectors from the
OSGE attempted to visit the day-care center, but
were denied access. The center ceased its
operations several days later, at which point the
OSGE closed its file.
If the pastor had appeared calm in the face of the
police and of the DPJE investigations, he was
less so in the wake of the television and
newspaper coverage. He ordered that the church
door remain locked at all times, even during
services, so that reporters could not film his
sermons. Furthermore, he left the region,
returning to the church only to lead services
during which he would insult his followers and
call them police informants. Although he had
ordered the suspension of corporal punishment
at the beginning of the investigations, he himself
corrected a few children very severely during
this time. For example, a 6-year-old boy was
beaten three times during religious services in
the course of the same week.
At the beginning of the investigation by Child
Protection Services, BCW members repeated the
accepted church discourse concerning corporal
punishment. However, as the meetings with
social workers progressed and as the evaluation
of their children proceeded, a few distinctive
voices were heard amongst the members. It
seems that, as the DPJE’s general investigation
progressed, the fear of losing custody of their
6 In French, Office des services de garde à l’enfance.
children became real for some parents, leading
them to express different views than those
decreed by Pastor X. Thus, a certain distancing
from the pastor’s teachings began to take place
on the part of some of the BCW members. A
few of them went as far as to leave the church to
show their disaproval of the child-raising
practices they themselves had used until
recently. Other members expressed difficulty in
dealing with the representation of themselves
reflected by the media—that is, as individuals
cut off from society and blindly following their
leader in a subservient manner. Such
confrontations, once the individuals were away
from the influence of the group and of the
leader, led many to question their affiliation with
the BCW. For other members, seeing themselves
through the eyes of others, as they were
portrayed through the media coverage of their
group, brought them to the realization that they
had been under the control of their pastor for a
long time.
Institutional Responses
By December 1985, the DPJE reported 84 cases
of physical abuse. These mainly involved
situations of corporal punishment that were
considered sufficiently severe to compromise the
children’s safety in accordance with Section
38 (e) of the Youth Protection Act. The children
were also deemed to be exposed to extreme
isolation, which compromised their
development, and hence justified that they be
put under the protection of the law. Social
workers were mandated to work with their
parents with the aim of avoiding legal action,
which would have meant deferring their file to
Youth Court. In such cases, both child and
parent are allowed legal representation, as is the
social worker the judge rules according to the
evidence brought before him in accordance with
the Youth Protection Act. An alternative course
consists of parents agreeing to respect measures
aimed at redressing the situation that
compromises the child’s safety or development.
In the case of the BCW children, this meant that
parents had to agree to abandon the use of
corporal punishment and to adopt measures that
favored the social integration of their children.
Such agreements are formalized in what are
called voluntary measures, which are followed
International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015 91
