VOLUME 8 |ISSUE 2 |2017 3735
the word of God. Our client feels incredibly disappointed that
HTB, which we must assume has the same ultimate aim, has
embarked on what appears to be a coordinated campaign
against it by using such an emotive and baseless slur.’ The
group was also asked at what point the link with SCJ was
made clear. It replied that it did not wish to ‘direct students
to … false allegations’ about SCJ but that students were
informed of the link if they asked. Pressed on two specific
cases involving people telling family elaborate lies to cover up
their involvement, Parachristo replied: ‘Our client’s members’
personal choices are personal to them and our client will not
comment upon personal matters regarding members’ private
lives.’” (The Telegraph, 12/10/16)
Cult of the child stealers
“Lying in her nursing home bed, robbed of her mind by
dementia, 96-year-old Anne Hamilton Byrne has her loyal
friends by her side. But this seemingly vulnerable old lady is ‘the
most evil person with the most evil set of crime,’ according to
one detective. As leader of The Family cult, she stole babies at
birth, drugged children with LSD, and oversaw a wicked regime
in which youngsters were beaten and starved. The ‘friends’ at
her bedside are the few remaining followers she has. Claiming
to be the reincarnation of Jesus, Byrne ‘collected’ 28 children
and would dress them in matching clothes and bleach their
hair white. … By recruiting Brit Raynor Johnson, a physicist
from Leeds who was based at Melbourne University, Anne
gained access to well-heeled, professional circles—and a veil
of respectability. Her followers were no hippies. They were
doctors, psychiatrists, lawyers, nurses, and social workers. Anne,
along with third husband Bill Byrne, was able to squeeze her
flock constantly for donations and membership fees, growing
fabulously rich. As well as sprawling property in Australia, she
had a mansion in Langton Green, Kent, and an estate in the
Catskills, US, all paid for by followers. Ex-member Fran Parker
said: ‘We hear about ancient enchantresses who could enslave
people with one glance. There was a glamour about Anne that
meant everyone was besotted. … Cult lawyers would then
draw up fake adoption papers. Most of the children, who were
dressed in identical, Von Trapp-style outfits, were told that Anne
was their birth mother. An army of ‘Aunties’—middle-aged
followers—kept the children in check by doling out vicious
beatings and limiting food supplies to two plates of vegetables
a day. Children who broke the rules, by committing such minor
offences as getting their clothes dirty or not screwing the
toothpaste cap back on, would be starved for several days.
… The children were deemed to be too traumatized to be
reliable witnesses to child abuse, and Anne’s Mafia-like hold
over her adult followers meant there were no willing witnesses.
She was eventually arrested in upstate New York in 1993 on
relatively minor fraud charges involving conspiracy to falsify
birth certificates. The court in Australia was only able to hand
her a £3,000 fine. Lex claims the system let the victims down.
He said: ‘That is going to be with me for the rest of my life.’ Bill
died in 2001, while Anne has advanced dementia. She has lived
in a Melbourne nursing home for the past 12 years, confined to
a wheelchair. … The Family, by Chris Johnston and Rosie Jones,
published by Scribe, is out now.” (The Scottish Sun, 12/18/16)
Judge in polygamous child-labor case orders $200K
payment
“A federal judge has ordered a company with ties to a
polygamous sect to pay at least $200,000 in back wages
to children who were sent to work picking pecans for long
hours in the cold. U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell handed
down the sharply worded order after deciding that Paragon
Contractors sent kids as young as 6 to the 2012 harvest,
sometimes with little food and few bathroom breaks. …The
company has deep connections to the sect led by Warren Jeffs,
who is serving a life sentence in Texas after being convicted of
sexually assaulting girls he considered brides. The company
was under pressure to make money for its leaders when it sent
children to the fields, she said. The Fundamentalist Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints [FLDS] doesn’t have a
spokesman or contact where it can be reached. Prosecutors
also asked for the independent overseer, arguing that there’s
one federal labor investigator in the region and he can’t keep
an eye on Paragon while completing his other responsibilities.
…Meanwhile, an Arizona jury found this spring that the twin
polygamous towns of Hillsdale, Utah, and Colorado City,
Arizona, violated the constitutional rights of nonbelievers by
denying them basic services such as police protection. Several
members have also been charged in Utah with conducting a
multimillion-dollar food-stamp fraud scheme, though leader
Lyle Jeffs escaped home confinement in that case and remains
on the run.” (ABC News, 12/08/16)
Six defendants take plea deals in polygamous food-stamp
case
“Six additional members of a polygamous group based on
the Utah-Arizona border took plea deals Wednesday to avoid
jail time in a multimillion-dollar food-stamp fraud case. The six
pleaded guilty to fraud Wednesday in St. George, Utah, leaving
only fugitive leader Lyle Jeffs and two others with charges still
pending in the case filed [in] February against 11 people. They
faced up to 25 years in prison. …The six who took the deals
worked in different roles managing the two convenience stores
where prosecutors say the fraudulent transactions occurred
or the community storehouse where food bought by food
stamps was brought, with leaders deciding how to distribute it.
They were: Kimball Dee Barlow, 52 Kristal Dutson, 55 Winford
Johnson Barlow, 51 Rulon Mormon Barlow, 46 Ruth Peine
Barlow, 42: and Hyrum Bygnal Dutson, who turns 61 this month.
…Known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints [FLDS], the group believes polygamy brings
exaltation in heaven—a legacy of the early Mormon church.
The mainstream Mormon church abandoned the practice in
1890 and strictly prohibits it today.” (KJZZ, Associated Press,
01/05/17)
No jail, no fine for FLDS member in food-stamp fraud case
“SALT LAKE CITY—One of the last members of the
Fundamentalist LDS [FLDS] Church facing food-stamp fraud
charges has struck a plea deal. Preston Barlow pleaded guilty
on Friday to a misdemeanor charge of aiding and abetting
the word of God. Our client feels incredibly disappointed that
HTB, which we must assume has the same ultimate aim, has
embarked on what appears to be a coordinated campaign
against it by using such an emotive and baseless slur.’ The
group was also asked at what point the link with SCJ was
made clear. It replied that it did not wish to ‘direct students
to … false allegations’ about SCJ but that students were
informed of the link if they asked. Pressed on two specific
cases involving people telling family elaborate lies to cover up
their involvement, Parachristo replied: ‘Our client’s members’
personal choices are personal to them and our client will not
comment upon personal matters regarding members’ private
lives.’” (The Telegraph, 12/10/16)
Cult of the child stealers
“Lying in her nursing home bed, robbed of her mind by
dementia, 96-year-old Anne Hamilton Byrne has her loyal
friends by her side. But this seemingly vulnerable old lady is ‘the
most evil person with the most evil set of crime,’ according to
one detective. As leader of The Family cult, she stole babies at
birth, drugged children with LSD, and oversaw a wicked regime
in which youngsters were beaten and starved. The ‘friends’ at
her bedside are the few remaining followers she has. Claiming
to be the reincarnation of Jesus, Byrne ‘collected’ 28 children
and would dress them in matching clothes and bleach their
hair white. … By recruiting Brit Raynor Johnson, a physicist
from Leeds who was based at Melbourne University, Anne
gained access to well-heeled, professional circles—and a veil
of respectability. Her followers were no hippies. They were
doctors, psychiatrists, lawyers, nurses, and social workers. Anne,
along with third husband Bill Byrne, was able to squeeze her
flock constantly for donations and membership fees, growing
fabulously rich. As well as sprawling property in Australia, she
had a mansion in Langton Green, Kent, and an estate in the
Catskills, US, all paid for by followers. Ex-member Fran Parker
said: ‘We hear about ancient enchantresses who could enslave
people with one glance. There was a glamour about Anne that
meant everyone was besotted. … Cult lawyers would then
draw up fake adoption papers. Most of the children, who were
dressed in identical, Von Trapp-style outfits, were told that Anne
was their birth mother. An army of ‘Aunties’—middle-aged
followers—kept the children in check by doling out vicious
beatings and limiting food supplies to two plates of vegetables
a day. Children who broke the rules, by committing such minor
offences as getting their clothes dirty or not screwing the
toothpaste cap back on, would be starved for several days.
… The children were deemed to be too traumatized to be
reliable witnesses to child abuse, and Anne’s Mafia-like hold
over her adult followers meant there were no willing witnesses.
She was eventually arrested in upstate New York in 1993 on
relatively minor fraud charges involving conspiracy to falsify
birth certificates. The court in Australia was only able to hand
her a £3,000 fine. Lex claims the system let the victims down.
He said: ‘That is going to be with me for the rest of my life.’ Bill
died in 2001, while Anne has advanced dementia. She has lived
in a Melbourne nursing home for the past 12 years, confined to
a wheelchair. … The Family, by Chris Johnston and Rosie Jones,
published by Scribe, is out now.” (The Scottish Sun, 12/18/16)
Judge in polygamous child-labor case orders $200K
payment
“A federal judge has ordered a company with ties to a
polygamous sect to pay at least $200,000 in back wages
to children who were sent to work picking pecans for long
hours in the cold. U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell handed
down the sharply worded order after deciding that Paragon
Contractors sent kids as young as 6 to the 2012 harvest,
sometimes with little food and few bathroom breaks. …The
company has deep connections to the sect led by Warren Jeffs,
who is serving a life sentence in Texas after being convicted of
sexually assaulting girls he considered brides. The company
was under pressure to make money for its leaders when it sent
children to the fields, she said. The Fundamentalist Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints [FLDS] doesn’t have a
spokesman or contact where it can be reached. Prosecutors
also asked for the independent overseer, arguing that there’s
one federal labor investigator in the region and he can’t keep
an eye on Paragon while completing his other responsibilities.
…Meanwhile, an Arizona jury found this spring that the twin
polygamous towns of Hillsdale, Utah, and Colorado City,
Arizona, violated the constitutional rights of nonbelievers by
denying them basic services such as police protection. Several
members have also been charged in Utah with conducting a
multimillion-dollar food-stamp fraud scheme, though leader
Lyle Jeffs escaped home confinement in that case and remains
on the run.” (ABC News, 12/08/16)
Six defendants take plea deals in polygamous food-stamp
case
“Six additional members of a polygamous group based on
the Utah-Arizona border took plea deals Wednesday to avoid
jail time in a multimillion-dollar food-stamp fraud case. The six
pleaded guilty to fraud Wednesday in St. George, Utah, leaving
only fugitive leader Lyle Jeffs and two others with charges still
pending in the case filed [in] February against 11 people. They
faced up to 25 years in prison. …The six who took the deals
worked in different roles managing the two convenience stores
where prosecutors say the fraudulent transactions occurred
or the community storehouse where food bought by food
stamps was brought, with leaders deciding how to distribute it.
They were: Kimball Dee Barlow, 52 Kristal Dutson, 55 Winford
Johnson Barlow, 51 Rulon Mormon Barlow, 46 Ruth Peine
Barlow, 42: and Hyrum Bygnal Dutson, who turns 61 this month.
…Known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints [FLDS], the group believes polygamy brings
exaltation in heaven—a legacy of the early Mormon church.
The mainstream Mormon church abandoned the practice in
1890 and strictly prohibits it today.” (KJZZ, Associated Press,
01/05/17)
No jail, no fine for FLDS member in food-stamp fraud case
“SALT LAKE CITY—One of the last members of the
Fundamentalist LDS [FLDS] Church facing food-stamp fraud
charges has struck a plea deal. Preston Barlow pleaded guilty
on Friday to a misdemeanor charge of aiding and abetting
