Kansas cult leaders forced children to work 16 hours a day: 'Heinous atrocities'

High-ranking members of a cult were convicted in a Kansas federal court on Monday for forcing dozens of people, including minors as young as 8, to work for up to 16 hours a day in factories and other businesses, prosecutors said.

Kaaba Majeed, 50, Yunus Rassoul, 39, James Staton, 62, Randolph Rodney Hadley, 49, Daniel Aubrey Jenkins, 43, and Dana Peach, 60, were all convicted of conspiracy to commit forced labor, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The men and women were either members of the United Nation of Islam (UNOI) or wives of the cult's founder, Royall Jenkins, according to a Justice Department news release.

”The bravery shown by victims of the United Nation of Islam is inspiring, because they spoke up about heinous atrocities committed against them as vulnerable children,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas Kate E. Brubacher said in the release. “In childhood, they suffered physical and emotional abuse, were denied a proper education, and were subject to forced labor. As adults, these victims found the strength and courage to pursue justice and face their abusers.”

In the former leadership roles, the convicted members forced the labor of the victims between October 2000 and November 2012, prosecutors said. The victims worked long hours in UNOI-owned and operated restaurants, bakeries, gas stations, a laboratory, and a clothing and sewing factory, according to the release. Victims also looked after the cult members' children and took care of their homes.

None of the victims were paid for the years of work they did for the UNOI members and businesses, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. While the convicted members lived comfortably, the victims worked for the cult while living in "deplorable conditions," and in "overcrowded facilities often overrun with mold, mice and rats," according to the Justice Department.

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How did the UNOI cult members recruit victims?

To get the victims to work for them, the cult members manipulated the UNOI rules created by the founder, including separating the minors from their parents and support network, prosecutors said. UNOI persuaded parents to send their children to Kansas by promising them that they would receive an education and life skills by working at the cult-operated businesses, according to the release.

In reality, the minors did not receive an education from an accredited and licensed school but instead worked inordinate hours for UNOI's financial benefit, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

"UNOI’s unlicensed and unaccredited school or 'university' was little more than a vehicle for extracting unpaid labor and publicly humiliating victims who violated one of UNOI’s many rules," according to prosecutors.

UNOI cult members created a 'climate of fear and intimidation'

The cult members controlled what the victims viewed and read, how they dressed, who they spoke to, where they went and what they ate, particularly girls so they could maintain a certain weight, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The members also monitored and restricted how often the victims spoke with families, members of the opposite sex, and others, according to the Justice Department news release.

Some of the victims had to undergo colonics despite the cult's leadership rarely allowing them to receive outside medical attention for illnesses or injuries, prosecutors said.

Cruel punishment was another way the cult controlled the victims, including withholding food, prohibiting human contact for up to two weeks, locking them in a dark basement, giving them work and beating them in front of others to "create a climate of fear and intimidation," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In one instance, the members held a male victim upside down over train tracks because he would not confess to stealing food when he was hungry, prosecutors said. Another punishment involved the members making a victim drink water from a toilet because she was thirsty, according to the Justice Department.

The convicted cult members also told victims that they would burn in “eternal hellfire” if they left, prosecutors said. Family members who remained at UNOI were told to shun “detractors,” or any victim who left the cult. UNOI also claimed credit for any negative consequence that happened to members who left the organization, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

UNOI 'held themselves out as a beacon of hope'

Majeed, who was additionally convicted of five counts of forced labor, is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The remaining members each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The sentencing hearings are scheduled for Feb. 18, 2025.

“The United Nation of Islam and these defendants held themselves out as a beacon of hope for the community, promising to educate and teach important life skills to members, particularly children,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in the release. “Instead, the defendants betrayed this trust, exploiting young children in the organization by callously compelling their labor."

Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected].