The group recruits minors to sexual practices with a supposed holy purpose.
TEMUCO (Ivan Fredes) The police are investigating the possible presence
in the area of the banned religious cult, The Children of God or The Family, as
it is indiscriminately called. The group recruits young people for sexual
practices, supposedly related to their worship of the divine.
The investigations were initiated when pamphlets and leaflets of the cult were
distributed in the proximity of a school in the Padre de Las Casas district.
Even though no complaint was lodged before the District Attorney's office, or
the police departments, the Chief of Police for the 19th Police Zone, General
Mauricio Catalan, stated that they had not ruled out the possibility that
pseudo-religious groups operate in the region. As such, they are taking
steps to confirm their presence.
The public complaint arose from declarations made by Member of Parliament
Felipe Letelier, member of the Parliamentary Commission investigating the
presence of cults in the country. He indicated that there is a history of
this group settling down in this city, where they are taking steps to acquire
their legal status.
The MP indicated that the aforementioned commission will submit a report next
month in which they will identify at least 12 movements, groups or cults, of a
destructive nature, that promote what constitutes an attempt on morals and
decency.
The commission collected background on these groups for over a year, following
the public complaint against the so-called Tibetan cult, which had its
headquarters in Vina del Mar, and induced minors to abandon their homes.
The sub-prefect of the services of the Prefecture of Cautin, Lt. Coronel
Alejandro Salinas, said that at this point no formal complaint has been filed
against the Children of God cult, but in any case, they are collecting
information to verify its existence.
The sub-prefect ruled out the possibility that the disappearance of at least
two minors in the region within the last several months is related to the
presence of this cult and said that most cases involve minors who have run away
from their homes due to family problems.
The Regional Public Prosecutor, Esmirna Vidal, also pointed out that at this
point there are no complaints filed related to this group. Neither has
any paperwork been submitted requesting legal status to the Ministry of
Justice, which is the government office where this legal paperwork would be carried
out.
The only presence of the Children of God cult is related to a group that until
1987 operated at the resort village of Lican Ray and left the area after a
public accusatrion was made for the sexual abuse of a minor.
The aforementioned cult was founded in 1969 by a Pentecostal pastor, David
Brandt Berg, in California. In 1974, he was accused of pedophilia due to
promoting the sexual indulgence of its members, particularly minors, as a
demonstration of love to the religious family that he founded.