NCJ Number
143359
Journal
Social Work Today Dated: (June 11, 1992) Pages: 10-11
Date Published
1992
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article examines issues involved in the detection and investigation of child abuse in a communal cult in Australia.
Abstract
In May 1992, the police and social workers coordinated raids on six homes occupied by members of a sect known as the Children of God. The raids followed extensive police investigations in Victoria and New South Wales, which were prompted by information from ex-cult members regarding the neglect, psychological abuse, and sexual abuse of some 130 children housed in cult facilities. Less than a week after the raids, the children were returned to the sect, and their future is to be determined in court later in 1992. The children were returned under the conditions that they live at specific addresses, that their parents surrender their passports, and that the children be brought to children's court on request. The courts have also ordered that social workers be given access to the homes. The case will come before courts in New South Wales and Victoria; with the amount of documentation of abuse held by the authorities, the community service departments are hoping the children will be returned to state care.