The headlines read that the Christian sect ignored sexual abuse by its 'clergy'. After reading this article I'm convinced that the 'Christian sect' actually existed, in large part, to facilitate the sexual abuse of children.
abcnews.go.com
In a secretive Christian sect unknown to most Americans, a reckoning is underway. Allegations of abuse that have been insular for so long are now coming to light.
Sheri Autrey was 14 when she says she was abused by a 28-year-old man who was a minister in her church. She says her abuse happened every night for two months.
Autrey grew up in a secretive sect of Christianity known by outsiders as the 2x2 church. Within the church, members refer to it as "The Truth" or "The Way" or even call it the church that has no name. What makes this religion so unique is that the ministers, known as workers, live with the congregants, moving from one member home to another, sometimes living out of a single suitcase.
Autrey's story isn't unique within her former religion. ABC News has been conducting an investigation for over a year into this organization, and has spoken to dozens of alleged survivors, from at least 34 states in the nation. The alleged abuse within the church spans generations, with some victims accusing the same perpetrator decades apart. One alleged victim said she was abused by a worker when she was 7 years old in 1955.
ABC News has been investigating this secretive sect known as the Two by Two church for a year, speaking to dozens of alleged victims of child sexual abuse, across more than 30 states.
"The ministers stay in homes, they groom the family," Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney who represents child sexual abuse victims, including one ex-2x2 member, told ABC News. "The parents seem to have this enormous amount of trust, which is misplaced, in the religious person. And the parents are blind. Religion can be blind. Religion is great if it's used properly. But if it's not used properly, it's a disaster, it's evil."
While the FBI declined to give ABC News specifics into the ongoing investigation, Cynthia Liles, a private investigator who has been looking into the church and also runs an advocacy group, said over 900 alleged perpetrators have been named. She says she provided that information to the FBI.
Secretive Christian sect ignored sexual abuse for decades, congregants allege
In a secretive Christian sect unknown to most Americans, a reckoning is underway. Stories of abuse that have been insular for so long are now coming to light.
abcnews.go.com
In a secretive Christian sect unknown to most Americans, a reckoning is underway. Allegations of abuse that have been insular for so long are now coming to light.
Sheri Autrey was 14 when she says she was abused by a 28-year-old man who was a minister in her church. She says her abuse happened every night for two months.
Autrey grew up in a secretive sect of Christianity known by outsiders as the 2x2 church. Within the church, members refer to it as "The Truth" or "The Way" or even call it the church that has no name. What makes this religion so unique is that the ministers, known as workers, live with the congregants, moving from one member home to another, sometimes living out of a single suitcase.
Autrey's story isn't unique within her former religion. ABC News has been conducting an investigation for over a year into this organization, and has spoken to dozens of alleged survivors, from at least 34 states in the nation. The alleged abuse within the church spans generations, with some victims accusing the same perpetrator decades apart. One alleged victim said she was abused by a worker when she was 7 years old in 1955.
ABC News has been investigating this secretive sect known as the Two by Two church for a year, speaking to dozens of alleged victims of child sexual abuse, across more than 30 states.
"The ministers stay in homes, they groom the family," Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney who represents child sexual abuse victims, including one ex-2x2 member, told ABC News. "The parents seem to have this enormous amount of trust, which is misplaced, in the religious person. And the parents are blind. Religion can be blind. Religion is great if it's used properly. But if it's not used properly, it's a disaster, it's evil."
While the FBI declined to give ABC News specifics into the ongoing investigation, Cynthia Liles, a private investigator who has been looking into the church and also runs an advocacy group, said over 900 alleged perpetrators have been named. She says she provided that information to the FBI.
