International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation Volume 3 2022 12
TO DO WITH IT” (Berg, 1980, p. 7697).22
1
Some publications on sex—for example, the comic
series, “Life With Grandpa,” were written specifically
for children. This series relates how “Grandpa Berg”
(note the familial term) taught children about sex
(Williams Boeri, 2005, p. 171). Both “The Little Girl
Dream” (Berg, 1976) and Heaven’s Girl (Berg 1987)
include images of Berg with children. In the former
publication, he described being in bed with a “dark
haired little girl of about 10 or 11” (Berg, 1976, p. 391)
who he claims seduced him (Berg, 1976). He alludes
also to the grooming of young girls to become Flirty
Fishers23 (Berg, 1976, p. 396). Heaven’s Girl tells the
story of a young girl who fights the end-time armies
of the antichrist and in the process allows them to
rape her so that she might share God’s love with them.
Following her gang-rape, instead of killing her, the
soldiers keep her because as one of them states, “SHE
WAS FANTASTIC!—Why not keep her in one of the
empty cages for our own use!” (Berg, 1987, pp. 70-71).
Former COG members identify that this story paved
the way (i.e. was a grooming tool) for the role of teenage
girls as Flirty Fishers (CounterCOG, 1999, p. 9).
Berg (1982a) published The Story of Davidito, a
collection of letters about Maria’s son. The publication
depicts Davidito in mock sexual encounters with other
children, and several of the images show him in bed
with an adult woman. A British court found that The
Story of Davidito contains countless, often explicit,
examples of Berg’s promotion of adult-child and child-
child sex, and that the movement’s leadership knew
that this book was a guidebook for members (Lord
Justice Ward, 1995). Then, in the mid-1980s, the group
made videos of women and children dancing nude in
a sexually suggestive manner. The British court agreed
with a child psychiatrist that the numerous erotic
videos were “part of the process of grooming children
for sexual exploitation by adults. The effect of the open
acceptance of this kind of video was gradually to erode
the sense of taboo about the sexuality of children ...”
(Lord Justice Ward, 1995, p. 60).
22 All capitalizations, underlining, and other emphases are in the
original Berg publications.
23 Flirty Fishing was a recruitment practice whereby many women
of the group were expected (and in many cases, required) to engage in,
various levels of intimacy and sexual contact with men as a means of
converting them to the movement and/or acquiring resources from them
(see Raine, 2007 Williams, 1998 and Williams Boeri, 2005).
Evidentially, using written and video materials,
Berg institutionalized the grooming process for
dissemination to his followers.24
1
Berg used his theology
to frame sex with children as a divine right bestowed
upon him by God. He groomed the community not
only to legitimate his own sexual abuse of children, but
also to re-socialize (groom) adult members so that they
would engage in it themselves with their own and other
children. James Chancellor notes that, “sexual activity
between adults and children was an accepted practice in
a number of [COG] communities” (Chancellor, 2000,
p. 223). Not all members, however, became abusers:
some reported not witnessing abuses in their locations,
whilst others left because of it (Williams Boeri, 2005).
Often, religions offer legitimations for practices that
may either justify or challenge the normative social
order. As the leader of a religious sub-culture, Berg
challenged normative sexual and familial practices,
grooming his followers with religious rhetoric and
justifications. The effective grooming of the community
resulted in adult-child sex losing its taboo status.
Moreover, a common motif of millenarian movements
such as COG (and the Branch Davidians) “is the
frequent abolition of conventional morality.... Believers
set themselves above and outside of society’s laws ....
When the normal constraints that some millenarian
groups ignore include sexual taboos and laws, then
children and teens often become predatory targets”
(Kent, 2012, p. 57). Clearly, however, the grooming
of the COG communities around the globe was not
entirely effective, since not all members subscribed to
Berg’s theology.
24 This institutional level of legitimation exists also in the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) where
(in very insular, isolated communities) young girls are taught from an
early age that the world outside of their communities is evil. Consequently,
when underage daughters are married off to (often much) older men in
polygamous marriages, they have no choice in the matter and few options
for recourse (Guiora, 2010 Kent, 2006 &2011). Moreover, even when
such crimes become known, there is usually “difficulty to convince child
brides” to “testify against their parents and community” (Guiora, 2010 p.
406). Following the raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas, officials found that the
young boys there “were at risk of being groomed to be future sexual abuse
perpetrators” (Lukefahr et al., 2011, p. 575).
In southern India, the Devadasi (servants of god) are young, pre-
pubescent girls whose parents sell them to be temple prostitutes for wealthy
upper-caste men. The girls are forbidden to marry and their virginities
are auctioned off. The Goddess Yellemma is used as a justification for the
practice—the girls are doing ‘service’ for her. The girls have no say in the
matter, and, once their roles as Devadasis are over, they usually end up
becoming street prostitutes (Barry, 1995 Shingal, 2015).
TO DO WITH IT” (Berg, 1980, p. 7697).22
1
Some publications on sex—for example, the comic
series, “Life With Grandpa,” were written specifically
for children. This series relates how “Grandpa Berg”
(note the familial term) taught children about sex
(Williams Boeri, 2005, p. 171). Both “The Little Girl
Dream” (Berg, 1976) and Heaven’s Girl (Berg 1987)
include images of Berg with children. In the former
publication, he described being in bed with a “dark
haired little girl of about 10 or 11” (Berg, 1976, p. 391)
who he claims seduced him (Berg, 1976). He alludes
also to the grooming of young girls to become Flirty
Fishers23 (Berg, 1976, p. 396). Heaven’s Girl tells the
story of a young girl who fights the end-time armies
of the antichrist and in the process allows them to
rape her so that she might share God’s love with them.
Following her gang-rape, instead of killing her, the
soldiers keep her because as one of them states, “SHE
WAS FANTASTIC!—Why not keep her in one of the
empty cages for our own use!” (Berg, 1987, pp. 70-71).
Former COG members identify that this story paved
the way (i.e. was a grooming tool) for the role of teenage
girls as Flirty Fishers (CounterCOG, 1999, p. 9).
Berg (1982a) published The Story of Davidito, a
collection of letters about Maria’s son. The publication
depicts Davidito in mock sexual encounters with other
children, and several of the images show him in bed
with an adult woman. A British court found that The
Story of Davidito contains countless, often explicit,
examples of Berg’s promotion of adult-child and child-
child sex, and that the movement’s leadership knew
that this book was a guidebook for members (Lord
Justice Ward, 1995). Then, in the mid-1980s, the group
made videos of women and children dancing nude in
a sexually suggestive manner. The British court agreed
with a child psychiatrist that the numerous erotic
videos were “part of the process of grooming children
for sexual exploitation by adults. The effect of the open
acceptance of this kind of video was gradually to erode
the sense of taboo about the sexuality of children ...”
(Lord Justice Ward, 1995, p. 60).
22 All capitalizations, underlining, and other emphases are in the
original Berg publications.
23 Flirty Fishing was a recruitment practice whereby many women
of the group were expected (and in many cases, required) to engage in,
various levels of intimacy and sexual contact with men as a means of
converting them to the movement and/or acquiring resources from them
(see Raine, 2007 Williams, 1998 and Williams Boeri, 2005).
Evidentially, using written and video materials,
Berg institutionalized the grooming process for
dissemination to his followers.24
1
Berg used his theology
to frame sex with children as a divine right bestowed
upon him by God. He groomed the community not
only to legitimate his own sexual abuse of children, but
also to re-socialize (groom) adult members so that they
would engage in it themselves with their own and other
children. James Chancellor notes that, “sexual activity
between adults and children was an accepted practice in
a number of [COG] communities” (Chancellor, 2000,
p. 223). Not all members, however, became abusers:
some reported not witnessing abuses in their locations,
whilst others left because of it (Williams Boeri, 2005).
Often, religions offer legitimations for practices that
may either justify or challenge the normative social
order. As the leader of a religious sub-culture, Berg
challenged normative sexual and familial practices,
grooming his followers with religious rhetoric and
justifications. The effective grooming of the community
resulted in adult-child sex losing its taboo status.
Moreover, a common motif of millenarian movements
such as COG (and the Branch Davidians) “is the
frequent abolition of conventional morality.... Believers
set themselves above and outside of society’s laws ....
When the normal constraints that some millenarian
groups ignore include sexual taboos and laws, then
children and teens often become predatory targets”
(Kent, 2012, p. 57). Clearly, however, the grooming
of the COG communities around the globe was not
entirely effective, since not all members subscribed to
Berg’s theology.
24 This institutional level of legitimation exists also in the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) where
(in very insular, isolated communities) young girls are taught from an
early age that the world outside of their communities is evil. Consequently,
when underage daughters are married off to (often much) older men in
polygamous marriages, they have no choice in the matter and few options
for recourse (Guiora, 2010 Kent, 2006 &2011). Moreover, even when
such crimes become known, there is usually “difficulty to convince child
brides” to “testify against their parents and community” (Guiora, 2010 p.
406). Following the raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas, officials found that the
young boys there “were at risk of being groomed to be future sexual abuse
perpetrators” (Lukefahr et al., 2011, p. 575).
In southern India, the Devadasi (servants of god) are young, pre-
pubescent girls whose parents sell them to be temple prostitutes for wealthy
upper-caste men. The girls are forbidden to marry and their virginities
are auctioned off. The Goddess Yellemma is used as a justification for the
practice—the girls are doing ‘service’ for her. The girls have no say in the
matter, and, once their roles as Devadasis are over, they usually end up
becoming street prostitutes (Barry, 1995 Shingal, 2015).
