CultNEWS101 Articles: 8/14/2025

Mr Brain, Lycra Nuns, Abuse of Women, Trafficking, Australia, Book, Jonestown, Australia, The Saints

Telegraph: 'Abuse cult' priest received sexual massages 'to relieve tension headaches

"A former priest accused of running an abusive cult received sexual massages to relieve "terrible tension headaches", a court has heard.

Chris Brain, 68, led a group in the 1980s and 1990s in Sheffield called the Nine O'Clock Service (NOS), and was viewed by his alleged victims as a God-like "prophet" whom they "worshipped".

The evangelical church movement drew crowds of hundreds of young people enticed by its "visually stunning" multimedia services featuring acid house rave music every Sunday at 9pm.

Mr Brain, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, is standing trial accused of committing sexual offences against 13 women. He denies one count of rape and 36 counts of indecent assault between 1981 and 1995.

At the opening of the trial in July, Tim Clark KC, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Brain ran "a cult", surrounded by beautiful, lingerie-wearing women known as the "Lycra Nuns", or "Lycra Lovelies".

He said that Mr Brain used his position to abuse a "staggering number of women".

Many of his victims were part of a "homebase team" tasked with cooking and cleaning for Mr Brain, as well as "putting him to bed" and giving him massages, which the court heard would often end in unsolicited groping."

Paradise Undone: A Novel of Jonestown Paperback by Annie Dawid

"Imagine a community full of rainbow families where everyone comes together in the spirit of equality and fraternal love.

Shy pastor's daughter Marceline and her new husband Jim Jones found Peoples Temple in the face of rampant hostility and aggression in 1950s segregated AmeriKKKa.

They give hope to the poor, the miserable, the alienated and disenfranchised of all colors, and build a commune in the jungle of British Guyana.

But this Eden too has its serpent. One who is also jealous of God, and where he goes, everyone must follow, even to the grave."

Sydney Morning Herald: 'They're so fired up': The flagship ABC show taking on a deadly cult

"Six-time Walkley award-winning ABC journalist Suzanne Smith – author of The Altar Boys, about child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in Newcastle – is no stranger to crimes against children.

Her investigations helped instigate the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Yet, she approached with trepidation a brief from Compass to follow up on the Toowoomba sect known as the Saints, of which 14 members were sentenced in February for the 2022 death of eight-year-old diabetic Elizabeth Struhs, whose insulin was substituted for prayer. This time, Smith wanted to achieve the seemingly impossible: offer a glimmer of hope amid the inconceivable cruelty.

"If I was just doing another, 'Isn't this shocking?' story, I think it might have broken me," Smith says. "But because there's such a groundswell of action going on [within the wider church community in the south-east Queensland city], and they're determined to expose coercive control in all their churches, it gave me a bit of hope … I think having that positive angle is really important."

Interviewed about this push for change in the Compass report are three local pastors of varying denominations: Wesleyan counsellor Cecilia Anderson, psychologist and survivor of the US Children of God cult Maria Esguerra, and Paul Reid, a former friend of the Saints' leader, Brendan Stevens. None of the jailed cult members agreed to speak.

Most confronting are the responses of Cameron Schoenfisch, whose son Lachlan is serving time in jail for manslaughter.

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/23/2024 (The Saints, Medical Abuse, Australia, Legal, Lev Taho Conspiracy Theories)

The Saints, Medical Abuse, Australia, Legal, Lev Tahor Conspiracy Theories

News AU: 'Already on the other side of death': Flurry of texts from cult-like religious group as diabetic girl lay dying

Alleged texts sent by members of a cult-like religious group as a young girl lay dying from insulin withdrawal have been revealed.

"Texts sent by members of a cult-like religious circle on trial over the death of a young diabetic girl have been revealed in court, including one from her father to the group's leader.

Elizabeth Rose Struhs, 8, allegedly suffered for days after members of the circle – which included her parents and older brother – withheld her lifesaving insulin for days in January 2022.

She spent days vomiting, struggling to use the toilet, and eventually falling into unconsciousness before she died between January 6-7 that year.

Elizabeth's father Jason Richard Struhs, 57, and 62-year-old Brendan Luke Stevens – the leader of the religious group known as The Saints – are both charged with her murder."

JNS: Three leaders of Lev Tahor cult sentenced to more than a dozen years each

"The three brothers Yakov, 34, Shmiel, 28, and Yoil Weingarten, 36—all leaders of the Guatemala-based Lev Tahor cult—were sentenced to 14, 14 and a dozen years, respectively, on Tuesday for "child sexual exploitation and kidnapping offenses," the U.S. Justice Department stated. Each will also have five subsequent years of supervised release.

"The sentencing of the Weingarten brothers holds them accountable for kidnapping children from their mother in the middle of the night, including for the purpose of coercing a child into a sexual relationship with an adult," said Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York."

ABC Australia: These former conspiracy theory believers were deep down the rabbit hole. Here's what pulled them out

" ... When Joel Hill's friend and sister were both seriously ill and needed medical intervention to stay alive, it threw his world of conspiracy theory beliefs into chaos.

Joel, who lives in Sydney, was born into conspiracy theories, in a family where alternative beliefs were shared. He grew up being congratulated by adults around him for his knowledge about conspiracies.

They included theories like the government is "trying to dumb us down with fluoride in the water … to make sure that you don't revolt and overthrow the government because they're inherently evil" — and that modern medicine is "the enemy".

He believed vaccines were poison designed to make people more sick so they had to buy more medicine.

It wasn't always a very positive existence."

Vice: Where Conspiracy Theorists Steal Their Ideas From

Hollywood and pulp fiction have unwittingly—and sometimes intentionally—spawned real-world conspiracy theories, from lizard people to the #Illuminati.

"In The Truth Hurts, a series of VICE documentaries, Bupé Bhima explored the roots and spread of modern conspiracy theories: why they're dangerous and how they become violent. After conducting extensive research into where conspiracy theories come from, the results were surprisingly out in the open. In fact, they're right in front of our very eyes.

"Here's an unfortunate red pill for the conspiracy community: Whole sections of your worldview have been ripped off from random bits of pop culture trash. Hollywood blockbusters, daytime TV, pulp novels, and kids' comic books," Bhima said.

One of the most well-known conspiracy theorists is David Icke, a former professional soccer player who declared he was the son of God on a British talk show around 30 years ago. Since then, he's developed countless theories, claiming a race of shapeshifting, pan-dimensional lizard men were set to take over the world. He publicly claimed the coronavirus was a hoax—a narrative that got Icke banned from traveling to much of Europe."

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Cult Members Let Girl Die Because They Thought God Would Save Her-Police

CHLOE MAYER

Newsweek
July 5, 2022

Twelve members of a religious cult known as "The Saints" have been arrested in connection with the death of an 8-year-old girl who die after being refused life-saving medication in the belief that God would heal her instead.

Elizabeth Struhs, who suffered from Type 1 diabetes, died on January 7 at her family's home in Rangeville, in the Australian state of Queensland. Her mother and father, who have since been charged with murder, did not give her any insulin in the six days leading up to her death, police said.

The couple and other church members held back on calling paramedics until 5:30 p.m. the day after the child had died, it's alleged, because they believed she would be resurrected, according the Courier-Mail newspaper.

Earlier this year, the parents, Kerrie and Jason Struhs, were charged with a string of offenses including murder, torture and failing to provide the necessities of life for their daughter, The Guardian reported. The couple has not yet revealed how they intend to plea.

Investigators on Tuesday arrested other members of their church group in connection with the girl's death, alleging that seven women and five men were aware of the situation. They were often present and did nothing to save the child; instead, police claim, they gathered around the child to sing to her and prayed to God to intervene as she died.

Elizabeth's older sister, Jayde Struhs, who at 23 is the eldest of eight children, told Australia's Channel 9 program A Current Affair earlier this year that The Saints had broken away from a mainstream Christian church several years ago, and had gradually become more hard line.

Their strict doctrine included rejecting medicine and Christmas celebrations, she said, describing the group as "extreme."

Jayde said she was rejected by her parents after revealing she was gay, but always stayed in touch with her beloved brother and sisters. She has vowed to look after her other siblings and has launched a fundraising appeal for help.
She posted a picture of herself with Elizabeth on GoFundMe and said she was "shattered and heartbroken" at her loss. She branded her parents' religion as "a cult" and added: "We have faced the brutal reality that the people who should have protected her did not, and we may never know the full extent of what took place…

"Elizabeth was one of 8 children, two now of adult age, including myself and five remaining siblings under 18 ranging from 3 to 16. With much ahead of us yet to be determined, I am resolute that my number one priority is the children. I am in the process of having them live with myself and with my loving partner by my side... We also have the support of my extended family including grandparents, aunts, uncles and close friends.

"My partner Emma and I will dedicate all money raised to providing the ongoing care for my five youngest family members to ensure they are welcomed into a safe, secure and loving home."

So far, she has raised around 17,000 Australian dollars ($11,700) of her AU$100,000 ($68,650) target.

Detective Acting Superintendent Garry Watts, of the Queensland Police Service, said the 12 arrested church members came from three different families. Most were in their 20s and 30s, he said, with the oldest being a man and woman in their 60s, and the youngest a 19-year-old man.

All were arrested together in a Harristown home.

Watts said he had never encountered a similar case in Australia in his near 40-year career. He described the six-month investigation as "very complex" and noted it had been carried out in conjunction with a number of other agencies, including child protection, and involved specialized child trauma and homicide investigators.

The 12 suspects were due in court on Wednesday.

Newsweek contacted Queensland police for further information.
Small cults are known to exist throughout the United States, with some coming to the attention of authorities.

Last month, shocking footage went viral online when one alleged cult member from Tonasket, Washington, repeatedly referred to his daughter as his "property" during his arrest.

In another case, a 31-year-old cult survivor told Newsweek how she was forced to live under harsh conditions for eight years in Michigan.

Last year, a cult leader was found mummified in her Colorado home. Amy Carlson, who was known to her followers as "Mother God," was wrapped in Christmas lights, according to reports.
https://www.newsweek.com/girl-death-cult-diabetes-medicine-crime-police-1721790