Current:Home > ScamsCult leaders convicted of forcing children to work 16-hour days without pay-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Cult leaders convicted of forcing children to work 16-hour days without pay
View Date:2024-12-23 16:16:22
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! (4574)
Related
- Who will be in the top 12? Our College Football Playoff ranking projection
- Credit Suisse faulted over probe of Nazi-linked bank accounts
- Zaya Wade Shares How Her Family's Support Impacted Her Journey of Self-Discovery
- Amazon faces another union vote, this time at a Staten Island warehouse
- Inspector general finds no fault in Park Police shooting of Virginia man in 2017
- A look at King Charles III's car collection, valued at $15 million
- Ukrainian girls' math team wins top European spot during olympiad
- How Salma Hayek's Daughter Valentina Turned Her Mom's 1997 Dress Into a 2023 Oscars Red Carpet Moment
- Powerball winning numbers for Nov. 13 drawing: Jackpot rises to $113 million
- 9 people trying to enter U.S. from Canada rescued from sub-freezing bog
Ranking
- Democrat George Whitesides wins election to US House, beating incumbent Mike Garcia
- AirTags are being used to track people and cars. Here's what is being done about it
- Next Bachelorette Revealed: Find Out the Leading Lady From Zach Shallcross' Bachelor Season
- Top global TikToks of 2021: Defiant Afghan singer, Kenya comic, walnut-cracking elbow
- Klay Thompson returns to Golden State in NBA Cup game. How to watch
- TikToker Abbie Herbert Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby Boy With Husband Josh Herbert
- Companies scramble to defend against newly discovered 'Log4j' digital flaw
- Have you used Buy Now Pay Later? Tell us how it went
Recommendation
-
Jennifer Lopez Turns Wicked Premiere Into Family Outing With 16-Year-Old Emme
-
Twitter boots a bot that revealed Wordle's upcoming words to the game's players
-
Bachelor Nation's Hannah Godwin Teases Secret Location for Wedding to Dylan Barbour
-
2023 Coachella & Stagecoach Packing Guide: Trendy Festival Tops to Help You Beat the Heat
-
Francesca Farago Details Health Complications That Led to Emergency C-Section of Twins
-
India's population set to surpass China's in summer 2023, U.N. says
-
Tesla disables video games on center touch screens in moving cars
-
Companies scramble to defend against newly discovered 'Log4j' digital flaw