Yesterday five more children were pulled away by court order from a church called a “cult” in Jefferson, Ohio led by Charles Keyes, a man many see as an “evil” influence over his followers.
The horrific abuse reported about this small Ohio congregation has led to more than 20 children being removed, by fleeing parents, child protective services and now five more have been rescued by a judge in Virginia reported the Virginian-Pilot.
Katie Lane, a caseworker for the Ashtabula County Children Services Board specifically assigned to handle cases concerning the Keyes church told the court this week, “I don’t believe any children should be there.”
After hearing sworn testimony about the gross abuses within the group the Judge was shocked.
“Evil is the only word that comes to my mind,” he told an open courtroom from the bench.
Keyes essentially inherited the church called the “Apostolic Faith Church” from his father Oree Keyes, a man who held the title of Bishop amongst a small denomination of Pentecostal black churches in several states. But since taking over his father’s church Charles Keyes has been thrown out of that denomination and banned from its meetings.
Keyes church has also received repeated bad press, including headlines about the horrific murder of a critic and repeated allegations of gross child abuse and Keyes sexual exploitation of women members.
Witnesses have told CultNews that Keyes sleeps with his wife and a cousin and other women lay strewn nightly around his bed on the floor.
Sources have said that Keyes rules over his followers like a dictator presiding over about 200 souls often living in what could be called group housing. And he is waited upon like a king within his home by church members acting as house servants.
Accusations of “brainwashing” and exploitation through excessive demands for money and child labor have been leveled against the leader again and again; whose followers have called him “Christ Charles.”
The Keyes church is also known for its “deliverance teams,” groups of adults that whip members for discipline, which has included minor children.
A 7-year-old boy was held underwater in a bathtub and later left tied up alone in the church overnight supposedly to break him of bad behavior. He was later removed by protective services.
Carolyn Clark, once a leader in the Keyes church was the first person to renounce “Christ Charles” publicly and in an open court.
The mother of 13 paid for that with her life.
When her husband Ralph lost custody of their eight minor children he murdered Carolyn Clark in a bloody beating that horrified Ohio and was reported by wire services across the US.
Some say Ralph Clark was driven to kill his wife by the “brainwashing” and pressures within the group many have called a “cult.”
But it is unlikely that he will ever discuss this, Clark remains devoted to the man his wife said demanded sex from her in the “Name of God.” And he has plea-bargained for a life sentence in prison reported News Channel 5.
The family Ralph Clark leaves behind is deeply divided and remains devastated by the murder and the continuing influence of Charles Keyes. Five adult children remain loyal to Keyes; while eight minor children have been removed by children services and placed in foster care.
Sources have told CultNews that abuse continues within the Keyes church where scores of minor children remain vulnerable to the daily whims of one man presiding over them much like a latter-day Jim Jones.
The so-called “Apostolic Faith Church” appears to be one of the most destructive groups called “cults” in the United States today and the children within it are its most vulnerable members.
What will Charles Keyes do next?
Authorities within Ohio have thus far not charged the man called “Christ” with any crime despite the many reports about his abuses. He remains intact like an absolute ruler seemingly beyond the law and/or immunized by some sort of “divine right.”
no comment untill now