International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation ■ Vol. 1, No. 1, 2020 81
a single victim ($28 million). Molested at age
9 years in 1995 by a fellow congregant, Conti
decided to come forward to break the silence.
Unfortunately, an appeals court in 2015
reduced the award, stating that the leadership
had “no duty to warn” that there was a child
molester among them (Bundy, 2015).
Alamo Christian Ministries
Susan and Tony Alamo married in 1966 and
established the Alamo Foundation. Susan’s
death in 1982 seems to have unraveled Tony,
who began to acquire young female members
as “wives.” Alamo’s public persona was as a
celebrity promoter he enjoyed being part of
the Hollywood scene. The cult largely
supported itself by manufacturing Tony’s
trademark jackets, which were sold in the
poshest shops. Under “sweatshop”-like
conditions, cult members would put the bling
on the bedazzled jackets that were all the rage
in the 1980s and that netted Tony a small
fortune. He died in jail in 2017 at age 82
years.
In the United States, attorney Marci Hamilton
(2012) addresses the church–state conflict.
She advocates for abolishment of the statute
of limitations on child abuse. She claims that
the existing limits on how long a crime is
open to prosecution essentially protect
offenders (who can continue to abuse) and
compound the harm inflicted on victims.
Laws in different countries approach child
abuse differently but such abuse is a problem
worldwide, and cults create an environment
in which crimes such as CSA often have
added protection from the law.
Current Conditions
High demand groups have been noted to exist
throughout the world, but they usually only
come to the attention of the public when
something sensational happens. Thus it was
with the Jonestown massacre in 1978 when
more than 900 people drank Kool-Aid laced
with cyanide, the Waco conflagration in 1993
that claimed 80 lives, the Solar Temple
suicides in Switzerland a year later, the saran
gas subway attacks by the Aum Shinrikyo
cult in 1995 in Japan, and the Heaven’s Gate
suicides in 1997 when the 38 “away team”
members shed their earthly bodies to catch a
ride on a spacecraft behind the Hale–Bopp
comet that would take them to the Kingdom
of Heaven. The most recent sensation is the
NXIVM cult involving a self-proclaimed
genius, an actress, and sex slaves who have
been branded like cattle without anesthesia
(see “NXIVM”).
Sarah’s former cult, The Twelve Tribes, is
still very much intact and flourishing on four
continents. It recently appeared in the news
after authorities in Cambridge, New York,
discovered child labor law infractions at one
of its communities. This has also happened in
Germany, where the court recently held up
the removal of children from a large Twelve
Tribes community in Bavaria. In the US case,
the Twelve Tribes issued a statement saying
that the children were not working but, rather,
visiting their parents at work on the day
authorities inspected the property. Former
members spoke to the media about the
outrageousness of that statement, noting that
children are taught to lie about the work they
do and to line up and file out the back door
when outsiders appear.
Stories about HDGs reported in the news break
through our denial that cults are not around
anymore. On the contrary, they are very much
present and continue to perpetrate abuses against
thousands of people throughout the world on a
daily basis.
Transnational Feminism
There is a growing awareness in the cult field
that the dynamics of HDGs describe similar
phenomena that exploit women and girls
(e.g., sex trafficking, gangs, battered women,
and radical terrorist groups). Indoctrination
techniques are a common thread among
them, and they retain their membership
a single victim ($28 million). Molested at age
9 years in 1995 by a fellow congregant, Conti
decided to come forward to break the silence.
Unfortunately, an appeals court in 2015
reduced the award, stating that the leadership
had “no duty to warn” that there was a child
molester among them (Bundy, 2015).
Alamo Christian Ministries
Susan and Tony Alamo married in 1966 and
established the Alamo Foundation. Susan’s
death in 1982 seems to have unraveled Tony,
who began to acquire young female members
as “wives.” Alamo’s public persona was as a
celebrity promoter he enjoyed being part of
the Hollywood scene. The cult largely
supported itself by manufacturing Tony’s
trademark jackets, which were sold in the
poshest shops. Under “sweatshop”-like
conditions, cult members would put the bling
on the bedazzled jackets that were all the rage
in the 1980s and that netted Tony a small
fortune. He died in jail in 2017 at age 82
years.
In the United States, attorney Marci Hamilton
(2012) addresses the church–state conflict.
She advocates for abolishment of the statute
of limitations on child abuse. She claims that
the existing limits on how long a crime is
open to prosecution essentially protect
offenders (who can continue to abuse) and
compound the harm inflicted on victims.
Laws in different countries approach child
abuse differently but such abuse is a problem
worldwide, and cults create an environment
in which crimes such as CSA often have
added protection from the law.
Current Conditions
High demand groups have been noted to exist
throughout the world, but they usually only
come to the attention of the public when
something sensational happens. Thus it was
with the Jonestown massacre in 1978 when
more than 900 people drank Kool-Aid laced
with cyanide, the Waco conflagration in 1993
that claimed 80 lives, the Solar Temple
suicides in Switzerland a year later, the saran
gas subway attacks by the Aum Shinrikyo
cult in 1995 in Japan, and the Heaven’s Gate
suicides in 1997 when the 38 “away team”
members shed their earthly bodies to catch a
ride on a spacecraft behind the Hale–Bopp
comet that would take them to the Kingdom
of Heaven. The most recent sensation is the
NXIVM cult involving a self-proclaimed
genius, an actress, and sex slaves who have
been branded like cattle without anesthesia
(see “NXIVM”).
Sarah’s former cult, The Twelve Tribes, is
still very much intact and flourishing on four
continents. It recently appeared in the news
after authorities in Cambridge, New York,
discovered child labor law infractions at one
of its communities. This has also happened in
Germany, where the court recently held up
the removal of children from a large Twelve
Tribes community in Bavaria. In the US case,
the Twelve Tribes issued a statement saying
that the children were not working but, rather,
visiting their parents at work on the day
authorities inspected the property. Former
members spoke to the media about the
outrageousness of that statement, noting that
children are taught to lie about the work they
do and to line up and file out the back door
when outsiders appear.
Stories about HDGs reported in the news break
through our denial that cults are not around
anymore. On the contrary, they are very much
present and continue to perpetrate abuses against
thousands of people throughout the world on a
daily basis.
Transnational Feminism
There is a growing awareness in the cult field
that the dynamics of HDGs describe similar
phenomena that exploit women and girls
(e.g., sex trafficking, gangs, battered women,
and radical terrorist groups). Indoctrination
techniques are a common thread among
them, and they retain their membership
