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Brainwashed, Sexually Abused from the Age of Four — Growing Up in the Children of God Cult

Alex Constantine - August 10, 2014

The international Children of God sect was directed by an inner-circle of Satanists. Sex with children was standard religious practice, women were reduced to the status of sexual slaves, and recruits were drawn to the cult with a lure known as "flirty fishing." The CoG had ties to some of the world's most powerful political figures, including Muommar Ghaddafi and GHW Bush -- somehow Fox News has neglected to ever mention it, but children from the cult sang at the White House at Christmas on two occasions for the Bush clan. -- AC

  • Natacha Tormey told of her ordeal on ITV's This Morning
  • She was part of The Children of God cult, until she escaped at age 18
  • Revealed she was abused and made to witness sexual acts
  • Told how women were made to use their body to 'win men to God'
  • She's now happily married and has been living in the UK for five years

By NAOMI GREENAWAY

Growing up inside The Children of God cult, Natacha Tormey was sexually abused, made to live in a compound and taught to fear the outside world. At the age of 18 she escaped and now, eleven years later, she feels strong enough to tell her story.

'I was sexually abused from the age of four - on several occasions,' the cult survivor revealed as she poured her heart out to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on ITV's This Morning'It was a very sexualised environment. It started out innocently with the idea that anything done in love is OK, but it became more bizarre where husband and wives were expected to share their partners with others.

'Then it went one step further with flirty fishing - where women were told to use their bodies to win men (converts) to God, often in return for a donation.'

article 2708458 2010DF9900000578 581 634x420 - Brainwashed, Sexually Abused from the Age of Four -- Growing Up in the Children of God CultNatacha Tormey with Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on ITV's This Morning

'I often saw adults doing things in the same room as me,' she revealed. 'I have very few happy childhood memories. The brief moments spent with my family, were few and far between,' said Natacha, who was forced to live in a compound with 150 other members in a variety of communes across South East Asia, East Africa and Europe.

'I have 12 siblings but we certainly weren't at the beach every day -- we were behind high walls in a compound,' she recalled.

To make money, the cult would send the children out to beg. 'We'd go out fundraising and do shows. But we were taught to fear outside world,' said Natacha, whose parents are French-born. 'We were told there were two types of people -- the nasty people were goats and nice people were sheep.

'But they told us that the majority had turned away from God and that we were the army of the end time.'

Natacha Tormey talks about sexual abuse during time in cult

Natacha was sexually abused from the age of four and made to witness sexual acts by other adults

The cult's leader, David Berg, predicted that the world would come to an end at the end of the millennium, but died in 1994 before witnessing his prediction fail.

'They trained us to be elite soldiers who would be fighting the anti-christ. They told us we'd be blessed with lightning bolts from our eyes and have the ability to knock people dead with the touch of our hand. These were all the gifts we were meant to receive,' she said.

It's been 11 years since Natacha managed to escape from the cult and she's now happily married and been living in the UK for five years.

'I'm in contact with my parents and siblings,' she said. 'My parents left a couple of years ago.'

How does she have a normal relationship with them, given so much of her suffering was due to their decisions, she was asked.

'It's difficult - I went through many years of bitterness and hatred,' she admitted. 'But it's the understanding that they were victims in some sort of way too.

'That doesn't excuse everything but my main opinion now is that to hate and to be bitter would only make me unhappy and I'm not going to let the cult do that to me anymore so at some point for your own sanity you have to let go.'

The cult, which has now changed its name to The Family International, has denied any allegations of institutionalised abuse.

article 2708458 2010E02E00000578 929 634x412 - Brainwashed, Sexually Abused from the Age of Four -- Growing Up in the Children of God CultIn her new book the cult survivor tells of her disturbing childhood and her escape

In a statement, read by This Morning's Eamonn Holmes, the cult said it had apolologised on a number of occasions to anyone who felt they were a victim of abuse. The statement also expressed a 'zero tolerance' for abuse and said the cult permanently expelled any members who violated the policy.

Natacha did not comment, but responded to the statement with a wry smile. The cult survivor has now documented the full story of her childhood in a book 'Born into the Children of God: My life in a religious sex cult and my struggle for survival on the outside'.

'It's been amazing and cathartic,' said Natacha. 'It's the final step in my healing process, to not feel I have to hide or feel shame about my past and trying to turn it into something good and encouraging for other people.'

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