Embarrassing revelation: Robert Redford discovered that he has been profiting from exploited children.
Activist actor Robert Redford has been shocked by the discovery that he has been profiting from exploited children.
A mail-order firm owned by Redford has been unwittingly selling items made by a company using unpaid child labourers.
Redford was stunned to discover that his eco-friendly Sundance catalogue company had been advertising wares made by controversial cult Twelve Tribes, which is a blend of extreme Christianity and Judaism.
The racist, isolationist sect, which is based in upstate New York, preaches corporal punishment for children and forces youngsters to work alongside their parents in its various cottage industries.
The sect produces Common Wealth wood furniture, some of which has been sold through the Sundance catalogue, which Redford launched in 1989. It also sells clothing, organic products, other hand-crafted furniture and jewellery.
Redford was embarrassed by the revelations which appeared in American newspapers that he has profited from exploited youngsters. A Sundance spokesman said that the products accounted for ''a very small fraction'' of the firm's overall business, which is believed to total less than US$5 million (HK$39 million). Products made by Common Wealth have been pulled from the next edition of the catalogue.
The spokesman said: ''We are [as] surprised and distressed as everyone else to learn about this and are taking steps to immediately address the issue and sever ties with this group.''
Twelve Tribes, which was founded by former schoolteacher Elbert Eugene Spriggs, believes in spanking its young members with resin-dipped rods and using small balloon sticks to swat them ''to teach them responsibility and obedience''. The sect follows the notion that to spare the rod is to spoil the child.
The group requires its members to give up all their worldly possessions and work in the cottage industries in return for board and lodging. There are an estimated 2,500 members worldwide. It has also caused a storm of protest over Spriggs' teachings that homosexuals ''die of a bad conscience'' and that black people ''are somehow given natural endowment to be a servant''.
In 1984, 112 children were taken from the cult's community in Vermont amid allegations of child abuse. The state later dropped its case after a judge ruled the raid by 90 state troopers and 50 social workers was unconstitutional.
Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder recently stopped doing business with another Twelve Tribes business, over speculation about the age of its workers.
Twelve Tribes denies that it has violated US labour laws. Cult member Brian Fenster said: ''We in the Twelve Tribes make no apology for our way of life. Our children are not oppressed by child labour.''
And spokeswoman Jean Swantko said: ''Yes, our children help their parents, but [are not] in there doing a backbone of industry or working in a factory or anything like that.''
New York state labour officials have announced they have launched an investigation into the cult's activities.