Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2005, Page 110
professor who has been monitoring the group at the school, Opus Dei is now operating ―by
the rules.‖ (Neil Eshel, Daily Princetonian, Internet, 3/22/05)
Order of St. Charbel (Little Pebble)
Accused of Welfare Fraud
Authorities are investigating 130 cases of alleged welfare fraud by members of the Victoria,
Australia-based Order of St. Charbel, who allegedly gained benefits, such as the single
parent payment, to which they were not entitled. Commune leader William Kamm, also
known as The Little Pebble, has frequently predicted the end of the world. (Jason
Frendkel, Herald Sun, Internet, 3/30/05)
Polygamy
Legislative Study Group
Responding to reports that a polygamous religious group is moving from Canada into
Boundary County, the Idaho legislature has constituted a committee to study ―human
trafficking‖ in the state. They hear rumors that wives brought in from other countries are
used as prostitutes and slave labor. (AP on KOLD Channel 13 News, Internet, 3/31/05)
Queen Shahmia
“Servant” Rehabilitating
Lawrence Ansaroff, judged a paranoid schizophrenic and sentenced in late 1999 to a mental
hospital in the Sarasota, FL, area following his participation in a series of robberies directed
by Queen Shahmia (Richelle Denise Bradshaw), is asking to be released to a less-
restrictive setting so he can resume a normal life. He and two others became servants of
the now imprisoned Bradshaw, waiting on her hand and foot as if she were a goddess, and
collaborating with her in the robberies. (Michael A. Scarcella, Sarasota Herald-Tribune,
Internet, 4/1/05)
Redeemer Baptist Church
Brainwashing to Change Family Relationships Alleged
Former Redeemer Baptist Church elder Alan Nut says the church, with residences in
several Sydney, Australia, neighborhoods, has a policy of changing members‘ sense of
family. ―It‘s very deliberate brainwashing to change people‘s mindset about personal
relationships, family relationships. To be told constantly that your parents are no good,
ultimately the young person believes that, and therefore if I‘m going to make it in this life, I
need to be in another household, where I‘m going to be properly cared for.‖ Former
members, 28 of whom left in 2004, say that they are now completely cut off from family
members they left behind.
A former teacher for the church was paid $11,000 a year for the kind of job that on the
outside paid $61,500. Another, who had spent her whole life in the group, had no idea she
was underpaid: ―Having always been told, ‗Never talk about finances, never ask any
questions about finances,‘ I had no idea what I could have been earning.‖ Teachers who quit
the school last year, and some other former members, now seek $6 million in lost wages.
The church says the members signed documents ―accepting the lifestyle and conditions of
the church,‖ and were paid a small amount and given housing and transport in return.
(Daniel Street, ninemsn [sic], Internet, 3/20/05 AAP in ninemsn, Internet, 3/20/05)
professor who has been monitoring the group at the school, Opus Dei is now operating ―by
the rules.‖ (Neil Eshel, Daily Princetonian, Internet, 3/22/05)
Order of St. Charbel (Little Pebble)
Accused of Welfare Fraud
Authorities are investigating 130 cases of alleged welfare fraud by members of the Victoria,
Australia-based Order of St. Charbel, who allegedly gained benefits, such as the single
parent payment, to which they were not entitled. Commune leader William Kamm, also
known as The Little Pebble, has frequently predicted the end of the world. (Jason
Frendkel, Herald Sun, Internet, 3/30/05)
Polygamy
Legislative Study Group
Responding to reports that a polygamous religious group is moving from Canada into
Boundary County, the Idaho legislature has constituted a committee to study ―human
trafficking‖ in the state. They hear rumors that wives brought in from other countries are
used as prostitutes and slave labor. (AP on KOLD Channel 13 News, Internet, 3/31/05)
Queen Shahmia
“Servant” Rehabilitating
Lawrence Ansaroff, judged a paranoid schizophrenic and sentenced in late 1999 to a mental
hospital in the Sarasota, FL, area following his participation in a series of robberies directed
by Queen Shahmia (Richelle Denise Bradshaw), is asking to be released to a less-
restrictive setting so he can resume a normal life. He and two others became servants of
the now imprisoned Bradshaw, waiting on her hand and foot as if she were a goddess, and
collaborating with her in the robberies. (Michael A. Scarcella, Sarasota Herald-Tribune,
Internet, 4/1/05)
Redeemer Baptist Church
Brainwashing to Change Family Relationships Alleged
Former Redeemer Baptist Church elder Alan Nut says the church, with residences in
several Sydney, Australia, neighborhoods, has a policy of changing members‘ sense of
family. ―It‘s very deliberate brainwashing to change people‘s mindset about personal
relationships, family relationships. To be told constantly that your parents are no good,
ultimately the young person believes that, and therefore if I‘m going to make it in this life, I
need to be in another household, where I‘m going to be properly cared for.‖ Former
members, 28 of whom left in 2004, say that they are now completely cut off from family
members they left behind.
A former teacher for the church was paid $11,000 a year for the kind of job that on the
outside paid $61,500. Another, who had spent her whole life in the group, had no idea she
was underpaid: ―Having always been told, ‗Never talk about finances, never ask any
questions about finances,‘ I had no idea what I could have been earning.‖ Teachers who quit
the school last year, and some other former members, now seek $6 million in lost wages.
The church says the members signed documents ―accepting the lifestyle and conditions of
the church,‖ and were paid a small amount and given housing and transport in return.
(Daniel Street, ninemsn [sic], Internet, 3/20/05 AAP in ninemsn, Internet, 3/20/05)
