Bexy Cameron was born into a sect that was notorious for exploitation and sexual abuse. Now she’s written a memoir about what it was like to grow up in a movement founded by a predator. thetimes.co.uk/article/inside…
Cameron was born into the Children of God, the notorious cult that, at its peak, had more than 10,000 members in 130 countries. 
By the time she escaped at 15 there had been “experiences”, she says, alluding darkly to the sexual abuse of children for which the cult became infamous.
It was founded in California in 1968 by a self-styled prophet called David Berg, who was referred to as Moses and sent weekly letters dictating exactly how his followers should live their lives.
Cameron would like to think the cult was born from a Sixties desire to change the world.
“But I also think that a group that is led by a sexually deviant predator paedophile is going to attract people who want to harm kids,” she adds.
“But I also think that a group that is led by a sexually deviant predator paedophile is going to attract people who want to harm kids,” she adds.
“What I find so hard to believe is how he tricked that many people into thinking it was OK to raise their kids in this environment: being shown sexual imagery and child pornography I wish I’d never seen.”
Families like hers would roam between communes across the world, existing on handouts begged from shops and cafés.
Cameron was nine when she was subjected to her first exorcism. She vividly remembers the feel of the carpet pressing into her face as the adults held her down.
Cameron was nine when she was subjected to her first exorcism. She vividly remembers the feel of the carpet pressing into her face as the adults held her down.
Television and pop culture were banned. Punishment beatings were common. She was told to fight her best friend until one of them couldn’t get up any more.
And yet Cameron believes that unlike some in the cult, she was lucky.
“I didn’t have to marry my dad,” she says. “Some girls that we grew up with did.”
“I didn’t have to marry my dad,” she says. “Some girls that we grew up with did.”
Her childhood environment was one of promiscuity and sexual desensitisation. The late actor River Phoenix, who was brought up in the cult, said that his first sexual encounter was at the age of four.
While still a child, Cameron was taught that it would be her duty to have sex with men, ostensibly in order to turn them into followers. Women were sent out to perform what was known as “flirty fishing” in bars and nightclubs.
Read the full interview with Bexy Cameron and an extract from her memoir: thetimes.co.uk/article/inside…
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