FBI launches sex abuse investigation into Christian cult after ex-members revealed harrowing assaults – with more than 1,500 victims reporting over 700 sexual predators

The FBI has launched an investigation into claims of historical sexual abuse within a Christian sect after former members spoke out about harrowing attacks.

The religious movement, which has no official name but is known to some as ‘Two By Twos’, is under investigation over years of alleged sexual abuse.

The FBI Omaha Field Office said they are seeking help identifying victims or individuals with knowledge of the religious group.

In a press release they said: ‘The group is often referred to by others outside the group as ‘2×2’, ‘The Way’, ‘The Truth’ and ‘The Church Without a Name’, among other names.’

The latest development comes after an investigation by the BBC last month into claims of child sexual abuse.

The newspaper caught up with an ex-minister, Robert Corfield, who admitted to sexually assaulting a boy, Michael Havet, in Canada in the 1980s.

Havet, now 54, told the newspaper that he was abused from the age of 12, saying: “People called me ‘Bob’s little companion’ – I just felt dirty and I still do.”

After abusing him, Havet said Corfield would force him to kneel next to him and pray.

He added, “I had to work hard to get past that and find my prayer life again.”

When confronted, Corfield admitted the child abuse allegations, telling the BBC: “I have to admit this is true.”

Corfield is one of more than 700 alleged perpetrators identified by a hotline, according to survivor group Advocates for the Truth (AFTT).

The group said more than 1,500 survivors have called its hotline and used its therapy resources.

The group was founded last year by Cynthia Liles, Lauren Rohs and Sheri Autrey, who plan to build cases against those on their list.

According to the group, the approximately 700 perpetrators are located in 21 countries around the world, including America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Russia.

The survivors group has welcomed the investigation, saying in a statement: “The FBI investigation brings validation and potential justice to survivors who have been silenced by their communities for generations.

“A community that should have been wrapped around the survivors with unconditional love, safety and communal care.”

The sect is believed to have around 100,000 members worldwide, with the majority in North America.

Originally founded in Ireland by William Irvine in the late 19th century, William claimed he had been chosen by God to bring a special revelation he called the ‘Alpha Message’.

He began to implement a set of very strict rules for his followers, which he said were told to him by God, and he used the rules to control almost every aspect of the members’ lives – including what they wore, how they acted and what music they listened to.

When Christian officials heard what he was up to, they announced that they wanted nothing to do with his ridiculous teachings and kicked him out of the church – but that didn’t deter William.

The group continued to hold meetings – but moved underground – and instead of doing so in public or in an actual church setting, they held their events in members’ homes.

For more than 100 years, the religious sect has continued to grow in secret – even after William died in 1947.

Tava Zahorka Nicholson previously shared how he grew up with parents who were part of the ‘cult’.

Speak with Daily dot Last year, she said she was abused as a child by four different male members, one of whom touched her inappropriately “more than 100 times.”

She claimed that her childhood was so traumatic that she blocked out most of it, and it wasn’t until she spoke to a therapist years later as an adult that she remembered what happened to her.

“I didn’t remember my childhood to this day and still don’t, I remember bits and pieces,” she said.

She also claimed that none of the men who touched her inappropriately were investigated by police or the group’s leaders – despite “several people” speaking out against them.

A former member named Heather, who also spoke to the outlet, explained that each state has something known as an “overseer” – who assigns a pair of preachers, known as “workers,” to each area of ​​that state.

Because they are not allowed to own their own homes, the workers usually stay in the homes of the members. And because two people always travel together, the organization is often called Two by Twos.

Once a year, “conventions” are held where thousands of members gather for several days to “worship together.”

In 2013, a supervisor named Jerome Frandle advocated “conscious failure to report suspected child abuse or neglect.”

He was sentenced to four days in jail and 100 hours of community service in Michigan, where he worked for the church.

One man named Jason Lennox, who was an active member of the organization from 2012 to 2015, was convicted in 2018 of second-degree sexual conduct with a minor and sexual abuse of a child in Pima County, Arizona.

He admitted to raping a very young child at least three times between 2007 and 2011, a local Arizona news channel reported at the time.

Another former supervisor named Richard Schober told Daily Dot that he voluntarily cut ties with the group in the 1960s because he “knew he had a problem.”

“I knew I had a problem and I got out because being in children’s homes wasn’t the place for me,” he said.

He was later convicted of indecent liberties and admitted abusing his daughter.

Last year, a letter written by a supervisor named Doyle Smith was leaked, confirming that he had discovered that another supervisor named Dean Bruer, who died in June 2022, had been a “sexual predator.”

Daily Dot reported that no criminal charges have been filed against Dean, but said police confirmed there was a file for him. They have not disclosed any other information.