Current:Home > ContactCult leaders convicted of forcing children to work 16-hour days without pay -Blueprint Money Mastery
Cult leaders convicted of forcing children to work 16-hour days without pay
View
Date:2025-04-12 22:36:59
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Six members of a Kansas-based cult have been convicted in a scheme to house children in overcrowded, rodent-infested facilities and force them to work up to 16 hours a day without pay while subjecting them to beatings and other abuse.
The defendants were either high-ranking members of the organization formerly known as the United Nation of Islam and the Value Creators, or were wives of the late founder, Royall Jenkins, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday in announcing the verdict.
After a 26-day trial, jurors convicted all six defendants of conspiracy to commit forced labor. One of the six, Kaaba Majeed, 50, also was convicted of five counts of forced labor.
“Under the guise of false pretenses and coercion, these victims, some of whom were as young as eight years old, endured inhumane and abhorrent conditions,” FBI Special Agent Stephen Cyrus said in a written statement.
Prosecutors said the group, which was labeled a cult by a federal judge in 2018, beat children and imposed severe dietary restrictions. One of the victims was held upside down over train tracks because he would not admit to stealing food when he was hungry, prosecutors said. Another victim resorted to drinking water from a toilet because she was so thirsty.
Jenkins, who died in 2021, had been a member of the Nation of Islam until 1978, when he founded the separate United Nation of Islam. He persuaded his followers that he was shown the proper way to rule the Earth after being “taken through the galaxy by aliens on a spaceship,” according to the indictment. At one point, the group had hundreds of followers.
Prosecutors said that beginning in October 2000, the organization ran businesses such as gas stations, bakeries and restaurants in several states using unpaid labor from group members and their children.
Parents were encouraged to send their children to an unlicensed school in Kansas City, Kansas, called the University of Arts and Logistics of Civilization, which did not provide appropriate instruction in most subjects.
Instead, some of the child victims worked in businesses in Kansas City, while others were trafficked to businesses in other states, including New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Georgia and North Carolina, the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors said the children lived in overcrowded facilities often overrun with mold, mice and rats. There were strict rules about what they could read, how they dressed and what they ate. Some were forced to undergo colonics. Punishments included being locked in a dark, frightening basement, prosecutors said.
They were told they would burn in “eternal hellfire” if they left.
In May 2018, U.S. Judge Daniel Crabtree called the group a cult and ordered it to pay $8 million to a woman who said she spent 10 years performing unpaid labor.
Sentencing hearings are set for February in the child labor case. The convictions carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison for Majeed and up to five years for the other defendants: Yunus Rassoul, 39; James Staton, 62; Randolph Rodney Hadley, 49; Daniel Aubrey Jenkins, 43; and Dana Peach, 60.
Emails seeking comment were sent Tuesday to attorneys for all six defendants.
Two other co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit forced labor.
veryGood! (11)
Related
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Taylor Swift sings with 'producer of the century' Jack Antonoff in London
- Meg Ryan Looks Glowing at Rare Red Carpet Appearance in Bosnia
- Democrats get a third-party hopeful knocked off Pennsylvania ballot, as Cornel West tries to get on
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- Democrats get a third-party hopeful knocked off Pennsylvania ballot, as Cornel West tries to get on
- Here's What Jennifer Lopez Is Seeking in Ben Affleck Breakup
- ESPN tabs Mike Greenberg as Sam Ponder's replacement for 'NFL Sunday Countdown' show
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- UPS driver suffering from heat exhaustion 'passed out,' got into crash, Teamsters say
Ranking
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- Propane blast levels Pennsylvania home, kills woman and injures man
- The 10 college football coaches with the hottest hot seat entering this season
- Taylor Swift sings with 'producer of the century' Jack Antonoff in London
- New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
- Kill Bill Star Michael Madsen Arrested on Domestic Battery Charge
- Committee says lack of communication, training led to thousands of dropped cases by Houston police
- Bachelor Nation's Rachel Lindsay Shares Biggest Lesson Amid Bryan Abasolo Divorce
Recommendation
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
Georgia lawmaker urges panel to consider better firearms safety rules to deter child gun deaths
Michael Strahan's Daughter Isabella Strahan Takes Major Life Step After Finishing Cancer Treatments
Ian McKellen on life after falling off London stage: 'I don’t go out'
House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
What Jennifer Lopez Was Doing the Day of Ben Affleck Breakup
Questions remain as tech company takes blame for glitch in Florida county election websites
Kelly Stafford Reveals What Husband Matthew Stafford Really Thinks About Her Baring All on Her Podcast