The 10 former cult members featured below share their harrowing journeys, proving that escaping such darkness takes immense courage.
10. The Children Of God (Now Known As The Family International)
10 Former Cult Survivor Story
Natacha Tormey entered the world under the banner of The Children of God, an evangelical group that insisted followers emulate the first disciples of Christ. Its charismatic leader, David Berg, allegedly urged members to engage in “share‑sex” practices, even promoting the idea that women should use sexual activity as a recruitment weapon.
She vividly recalls a night when, as a child, she watched a cult member brutally “discipline” her brother by strangling him until his face turned blue and he could no longer breathe. The helplessness she felt during that ordeal has haunted her ever since.
At the age of 18, Natacha fled the cult, seeking refuge with a boyfriend from the outside world. Although the transition was rocky, she eventually found peace. Tragically, a total of 50 members from her former community have taken their own lives.
9. Fundamentalist Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑Day Saints (FLDS) ranks among the largest Mormon fundamentalist groups, notorious for its homophobic, racist, sexist, and totalitarian doctrines, as well as its ongoing practice of polygamy. Brielle Decker was one of the wives of Warren Jeffs, the self‑styled “prophet” now serving a life sentence for child sexual assault.
Following a police raid in Texas after Jeffs’ arrest, FLDS members were shuffled into a network of “safe houses” to evade authorities. Brielle and several others were dispatched to a remote safe house in Wyoming, an experience she describes as deeply traumatic.
Jeffs allegedly ordered followers to stalk and harass Brielle, telling her that she should drown herself in a nearby reservoir. He warned that refusal would result in her death, staged to look like suicide.
Determined to test the threat, Brielle asked whether she truly should jump. The answer was a chilling “Yes.” She waded into the water, remaining neck‑deep for an hour, yet nobody came to rescue her.
The ordeal left her stunned that the group would abandon a member to die for the sake of the church. At 26, she managed to escape a locked room by unscrewing a window and breaking through. Since then, she has been adopted and rebuilt her life.
8. Christian Assemblies International
A religious group and registered charity, Christian Assemblies International (CAI) presents itself as a Pentecostal church grounded in innocent Christian values. Former member Emily Wassmann, however, paints a far darker picture.
Born into CAI, Emily witnessed a litany of horrors throughout her upbringing. She alleges that women were treated like slaves, enduring both physical and verbal abuse at the hands of male members.
The leader, Pastor Scott Williams, claimed divine authorization to override biblical prohibitions against homosexuality and instituted bizarre sexual‑obedience rituals for his male followers. After a massive exodus in 2006, Williams retreated to Coffs Harbour, where he now resides with his wife in a house purchased with church donations.
7. Word Of Life Christian Church
Nathan Ames recounts a horrifying October 11, 2015 incident in which nine members of the Word of Life Christian Church beat 17‑year‑old Christopher Leonard and his 19‑year‑old brother Lucas for a relentless twelve‑hour assault. The savage beating ultimately claimed Lucas’s life.
Ames labels the congregation a “house of torment,” noting that mental abuse and urban isolation were rampant. The church even silenced televisions whenever a commercial aired, ensuring members were cut off from any external influence.
According to Ames, the group relied heavily on manipulation and mind games to keep members under control. He departed the church once its moral decay became unmistakable.
6. The Family
Molly Hollenbach, a free‑spirited soul of the 1960s, sought self‑discovery and stumbled upon “The Family,” a New Mexico commune rooted in Gestalt therapy. After pleading for acceptance, she was placed in a cramped five‑room adobe alongside 55 other residents.
Members were forced to relinquish their names and personal belongings, adhering to a belief that they must transform themselves to revolutionize the world. The communal doctrine quickly revealed a sexist, warped underbelly.
The elder leader, Lord Byron, demanded sexual access to every female member and proclaimed himself a messianic figure. Women were relegated to kitchen duties, required to wear skirts, and subjected to oppressive gender norms. Molly eventually fled and sought psychiatric care.
5. Commonwealth Covenant Church
Two former members of the Commonwealth Covenant Church (CCC) remain anonymous but reveal the sect’s cult‑like nature, citing multiple layers of abuse. One woman recounts filing sexual‑abuse allegations in the 1990s, after which the church bullied both her and her mother out of the congregation.
The investigating detective described the case as one of the most disturbing he’d ever handled, noting the church’s secrecy and patriarchal structure shielded the abuser for years. The community imposed strict gender segregation, forbade girls from cutting their hair, and taught women that their sole purpose was childbearing. Media such as radio and television were banned outright.
Abuser Jonathan John Edward Belcher, now residing in Masterton, New Zealand, was convicted on ten counts of sexual offenses against a girl who was between eight and sixteen years old at the time.
4. Westboro Baptist Church
Lauren Drain quickly became the black sheep of her family after being ostracized from the Westboro Baptist Church. Her banishment stemmed from questioning core elements of the church’s doctrine.
In a Reddit AMA, Lauren disclosed that when she raised doubts, she was labeled a divisive liar. She also revealed that the church employed fear‑based tactics, threatening members that God would kill them if they attempted to leave.
3. River Road Fellowship
In the 1990s, Victor Barnard founded the River Road Fellowship, a quirky Christian sect that attracted 150 followers who abandoned their homes to settle on an 85‑acre campground in Minnesota. Barnard, donning robes and a staff, claimed to represent Jesus himself.
By the year 2000, he designated ten first‑born young women as “exemplar virgins” to serve him exclusively. These girls endured a regimented schedule of “sex days” where Barnard would assault them, each victim marking an “X” on her calendar after each incident.
The mounting evidence led to Barnard facing 59 counts of sexual assault. When confronted, he fled to Brazil, only to be captured a year later. He now serves a 30‑year prison sentence in Minnesota.
2. The Peoples Temple
Jim Jones made infamy as the leader of the Peoples Temple, orchestrating a mass murder‑suicide of nearly 1,000 Americans in Guyana on November 18, 1978. Decades later, survivor Leslie Wagner‑Wilson, now residing in Duluth, continues to share her harrowing experience.
Leslie recounts hearing a voice urging her to flee, warning that staying would mean losing her child forever. Guided by that warning, she escaped alongside ten others, witnessing firsthand how Jones forced family separations and demanded absolute devotion to himself and the cause.
Members endured grueling labor, starvation, and beatings. Those who threatened to leave were confined to Jones’s “care unit” and administered Thorazine to suppress dissent.
Unaware of the impending mass suicide plan, Leslie fled the cult. Today she grapples with survivor’s guilt, mourning the tragedy while striving to ensure the world never forgets the horror of that day.
1. The Family (2)
Indeed, there exists a second cult simply called “The Family,” notorious as Australia’s most insidious sect. Operating from the 1960s through the 1990s, the group was founded by Anne Hamilton‑Byrne, who, alongside her husband and a renowned physicist, forged a polytheistic community rife with abuse.
Anne orchestrated child theft via adoption scams, compelling children to undergo hair‑bleaching and uniform dressing to create a “master race.” She convinced followers she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Survivor Anouree Treena‑Byrne recalls being forced to ingest drugs such as Mogadon and Valium to remain docile.
The abuse escalated dramatically: children were administered LSD during “clearings” and confined to dark rooms. Anouree also notes that punishments sometimes involved prolonged fasting.
Physical torment was routine—heads were submerged in buckets of water until victims feared death. The cult’s property finally faced a police raid in 1987 after two members alerted authorities.
Following the raid, all members received psychiatric treatment; many continue to battle PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Several former members have taken their own lives.
Due to extradition loopholes, Anne and her husband were fined merely $5,000 for minor fraud, allowing them to live freely thereafter.