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802 group profiles. Every score is BITE-derived from publicly available sources. Also browse A–Z, by category, or by country.

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Christian

Peoples Temple (Jim Jones / Jonestown)

Originally an integrationist Disciples of Christ congregation in Indianapolis, the Peoples Temple under Jim Jones evolved into a totalitarian movement that culminated in the 1978 mass murder-suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, killing 918 people.

Islam

ISIS / 'Islamic State' ideology (recruitment networks)

Salafist-jihadist ideology and recruitment network of the so-called 'Islamic State'. Documented patterns of extreme indoctrination, sexual slavery, mass execution, and total information control. Listed as a terrorist organisation by virtually all governments.

Buddhist

Aum Shinrikyo (Shoko Asahara)

Japanese new religious movement founded by Chizuo Matsumoto (Shoko Asahara) in 1984. Combined Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian apocalyptic elements with paramilitary training. Perpetrated the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack; Asahara and 12 others executed in 2018.

Pagan / Wiccan

Order of the Solar Temple

Esoteric Neo-Templar movement founded by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret (1984). Conducted mass murder-suicides in Switzerland, Quebec, and France between 1994 and 1997 killing 74 people including children.

New Religious Movement

Heaven's Gate

UFO-religion led by Marshall Applewhite ('Do') and Bonnie Nettles ('Ti'). On 26 March 1997, 39 members were found dead by coordinated suicide near San Diego, believing they would board a spacecraft trailing the Hale-Bopp comet.

Christian

Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God (MRTCG, Uganda)

Apocalyptic Marian-influenced Catholic-offshoot movement founded in 1989 in Kanungu, South-Western Uganda. The movement ended on 17 March 2000 with the Kanungu fire and subsequent mass-grave discoveries totalling approximately 778 deaths — one of the deadliest cult-related events on record.

Christian

Ant Hill Kids (Roch Thériault community)

Defunct Canadian apocalyptic Christian-derived communal-living movement led by Roch Thériault from around 1977 until his 1989 arrest in Ontario. Thériault was convicted of second-degree murder of community member Solange Boilard in 1993 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in custody in 2011. The case is one of the most extensively documented Canadian high-control-community cases on the public record.

Christian

Church of the Lamb of God (Ervil LeBaron)

Defunct Mormon-fundamentalist violent splinter founded in 1972 by Ervil Morrell LeBaron after a fratricidal split from the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times. The movement is one of the most extensively documented violent religious-splinter cases in the US public record, with multiple criminal convictions of Ervil LeBaron, members of the LeBaron family, and adherents for murders carried out under a 'blood atonement' / 'hit list' doctrine across the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 2000s.

New Religious Movement

Manson Family / Charles Manson

Apocalyptic commune led by Charles Manson (1967–early 1970s), based at Spahn and Barker Ranches near Los Angeles. Members surrendered names, possessions, and outside ties; Manson's 'Helter Skelter' race-war doctrine culminated in the August 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders. Manson and several members were convicted in People v. Manson (1971). The group is defunct; it remains one of the most exhaustively documented high-control groups in the public record.

Christian

Good News International Ministries / Paul Nthenge Mackenzie

Kenyan apocalyptic sect led by Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a former taxi driver turned televangelist. Members were told to starve themselves and their children to 'meet Jesus'; exhumations at Shakahola Forest from April 2023 recovered over 400 bodies. Mackenzie and co-defendants face murder, manslaughter, terrorism and child-torture charges; a Kenyan commission of inquiry documented the group's mechanics.

Christian

FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Polygamist sect that broke from the LDS Church after the 1890 Manifesto. Under Warren Jeffs (Prophet 2002–present, imprisoned 2011) the FLDS practised forced underage marriages, expulsion of teen 'lost boys', and total community control. Heavily documented in court records and federal raids.

Hindu

Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj movement (Satlok Ashram)

Indian guru-led devotional movement founded in 1999 by Rampal Singh Jatin, who broke from established Kabir Panth tradition and built a personal-following organisation centred on his own claim to be the 'tatvadarshi sant' prophesied in Bhagavad Gita 4.34. Rampal is currently serving life imprisonment following separate murder convictions arising from the November 2014 Barwala ashram standoff in which six people died.

Christian

Branch Davidians (Mount Carmel, David Koresh)

Adventist offshoot led by Vernon Howell (David Koresh) at Mount Carmel near Waco, Texas, where Koresh claimed exclusive sexual access to all female members including minors. The 1993 ATF/FBI siege ended in fire killing 76 inside the compound.

Christian

Children of God / The Family International

Founded by David 'Moses' Berg in 1968. From 1976 to 1987 practised 'Flirty Fishing' (using sex for evangelism and recruitment) and published 'Mo Letters' explicitly endorsing sexual contact between adults and children. Reorganised as 'The Family International' in 2004.

Judaism

Lev Tahor

Extreme isolationist Haredi-fringe sect founded by Shlomo Helbrans (1980s, d. 2017). Practises full-body covering for women, child marriages, and total community control. Leadership convicted in multiple jurisdictions; community has fled across borders to evade child-welfare investigations.

Christian

Skoptsy (historical Russian self-castration sect)

Russian sect (1772+) that broke from the Khlysty over the requirement of literal self-castration ('the seal of fire', 'the small seal' / 'the great seal'). Founder Kondratii Selivanov claimed to be the resurrected Tsar Peter III and the second Christ. Criminalised throughout the Tsarist period; effectively extinct by mid-20th c.

Islam

Salafi-jihadist movement (broader, post-ISIS)

Broader Salafi-jihadist ideological movement encompassing al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, and successor cells. Designated terrorist by virtually every government; rejected by mainstream Sunni and Shia scholarship.

New Religious Movement

Antares de la Luz (Ramon Castillo Gaete doomsday sect)

Antares de la Luz was the religious identity adopted by Ramon Gustavo Castillo Gaete, leader of a 12-member Chilean doomsday sect active from around 2009 to 2013 that relocated repeatedly through the Valparaiso region before settling near Colliguay/Mantagua. Believing himself God and expecting the world to end on 21 December 2012, Castillo declared the newborn son of member Natalia Guerra -- his own child -- to be the Antichrist, and in November 2012 the group bound the two-day-old infant, gagged him, and burned him alive. Castillo fled to Peru and hanged himself in Cusco in May 2013 before facing trial. Chilean courts subsequently convicted Guerra of parricide and Pablo Undurraga of qualified homicide (five years' effective imprisonment each, per Chilean press reporting), with five further members convicted as accomplices (three years each); several other members were found not criminally responsible by reason of insanity. Guerra was a fugitive for two years before her 2019 capture and 2021 conditional release. The case was the subject of a 2024 Netflix documentary.

New Religious Movement

Church of Scientology

One of the most heavily documented high-control religious organisations in the modern era, with court records and ex-member testimony spanning five decades. Practices include Disconnection from family, billion-year Sea Org contracts, the 'Suppressive Person' designation, and the auditing-confessional system used as organisational leverage. Substantially more publicity in 2022–2026 driven by the Danny Masterson 2023 conviction, Leah Remini's August 2023 lawsuit against Scientology and David Miscavige, and Mike Rinder's *A Billion Years* memoir.

New Religious Movement

Synanon (defunct, 1958–1991)

Founded as a drug-rehabilitation programme by Charles Dederich (1958) in Santa Monica. Evolved into the 'Synanon Religion' practising 'The Game' (mass attack therapy), forced head-shavings, abortions, marriages, and the 1978 attempted-murder rattlesnake-in-the-mailbox attack on attorney Paul Morantz.

New Religious Movement

The Family / Santiniketan Park Association (Anne Hamilton-Byrne)

Australian sect led by Anne Hamilton-Byrne (1921–2019), centred on properties near Lake Eildon, Victoria. Acquired ≈14 children illegally in the 1970s, dyed their hair identical blonde, dressed them identically, and dosed them with LSD. Subject of the 2016 documentary 'The Family'.

Christian

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) / Warren Jeffs

Polygamist Mormon-fundamentalist breakaway centred in the twin towns of Hildale UT and Colorado City AZ (formerly Short Creek) plus the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado TX. Founded 1929–1935 as a polygamy-continuing breakaway from mainstream LDS Church (which had formally ended plural marriage in 1890). Warren Jeffs assumed leadership 2002 after his father Rulon Jeffs's death; convicted 2011 in Texas of two counts of child sexual assault (life+20). FLDS continues under Jeffs's smuggled-from-prison directives; estimated 6,000–10,000 members remain.

Other

Il Forteto community (Tuscany)

Italian closed agricultural cooperative community founded in 1977 near Vicchio in the Mugello region of Tuscany, internationally known both for its pecorino cheese production and for a sustained scandal in which its founder Rodolfo Fiesoli and other members were convicted in 2017 of sexual offences and ill-treatment, including offences against minors who had been placed at the community by Italian state social services. The European Court of Human Rights has also found Italy in violation of European Convention obligations in connection with those placements.

Christian

Word of Faith Fellowship (Jane Whaley)

Spindale, North Carolina-based Christian sect led by Jane Whaley. The 2017–18 Associated Press investigation documented corporal punishment of children, forced labour at member-owned businesses, and 'blasting' prayer sessions to expel demons.

Christian

Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (Apollo Quiboloy)

Philippines-based restorationist Christian movement founded in 1985 by Apollo Quiboloy, who identifies himself in the organisation's own publications as 'the Appointed Son of God'. Subject of an active US Department of Justice federal indictment including sex-trafficking charges, an FBI Most Wanted listing, a Philippine Senate inquiry, and a September 2024 Philippine criminal arrest. All charges remain pending.

New Religious Movement

Larry Ray (Sarah Lawrence sex-trafficking case)

Lawrence Ray ('Larry Ray', 1959–) — convicted federal sex-trafficker who, beginning 2010, lived among his daughter's college roommates at Sarah Lawrence College and over a decade subjected several to coercive psychiatric 'confessions', forced labour, sex trafficking, and extortion. Convicted April 2022 on 15 federal counts; sentenced January 2023 to 60 years; $20M restitution. The S2 'Stolen Youth' Hulu docuseries (2023) is the canonical record.

Other

Nation of Yahweh (Yahweh ben Yahweh, defunct)

Black Hebrew Israelite organisation founded by Yahweh ben Yahweh (Hulon Mitchell Jr.) in Miami (1979). Mitchell convicted in 1992 of federal racketeering including conspiracy in 14 murders. Functionally defunct.

Political / Ideological

The Order / Brüder Schweigen (Robert Mathews, 1983–84)

White-supremacist Christian Identity terror group founded by Robert Mathews (1983). Conducted multiple armoured-car robberies and the 1984 Alan Berg murder. Mathews killed in FBI siege December 1984. Subject of Steve Earle's song and many academic studies.

Christian

Tony Alamo Christian Ministries (defunct, founder convicted)

Founded by Tony Alamo (Bernie Lazar Hoffman) and his wife Susan in 1969. Tony Alamo was convicted in 2009 of multiple federal counts of transporting underage girls across state lines for sexual purposes; sentenced to 175 years.

Islam

Soldiers of Heaven / Jund as-Samaa (historical)

Iraqi Shia messianic movement led by Dia Abdul-Zahra Kadim, who claimed Mahdist status. The group armed and fortified a camp near Najaf and, per Iraqi and coalition accounts, planned an attack on Ashura clergy in 2007; the resulting battle killed the leader and scores of members. Remnant cells staged follow-on attacks in 2008 before the movement dissipated.

Christian

Colonia Dignidad (Paul Schäfer)

Colonia Dignidad was a sealed German colony in southern Chile founded in 1961 by Paul Schäfer, a lay preacher who fled child-abuse charges in West Germany with some 300 followers. Behind fences, floodlights, and watchtowers, the colony ran on total control for four decades: families deliberately separated, marriage and contact between the sexes suppressed, unpaid labour from childhood, informing institutionalised, and systematic sexual abuse of the colony's children by Schäfer — established in Chilean courts, which convicted him in absentia contexts and, after his 2005 capture, sentenced him for the abuse of 25 children. Under the Pinochet dictatorship the enclave served the DINA secret police as a detention and torture site where political prisoners were interrogated, tortured, and in documented cases disappeared. Schäfer died in prison in 2010; the settlement, renamed Villa Baviera, persists as an ordinary village whose reckoning — German-Chilean commissions, memorials, compensation — remains contested.

New Religious Movement

NXIVM-style Wellness Cults

NXIVM (1998–2018) and its imitators dressed coercive control as 'executive success programmes' or 'women's empowerment'. Founder Keith Raniere was convicted in 2019 of racketeering, sex trafficking, and forced labour.

Christian

Shincheonji Church of Jesus

Korean apocalyptic Christian movement founded by Lee Man-hee (1984) claiming to be the promised pastor of Revelation. Notorious for deceptive 'gospel-fishing' recruitment via front churches and the 2020 COVID-19 super-spreading event in Daegu.

New Religious Movement

The Sullivanians (Sullivan Institute / Fourth Wall)

Manhattan psychotherapy collective and theatre group (1957–1991) led by Saul Newton. Required members to break with their families of origin, assigned sexual partners, and removed children from biological parents to communal apartments.

Christian

Kingston Order / Davis County Cooperative (Latter-Day Church of Christ)

Polygamist sect of fundamentalist Mormons headquartered in Davis County, Utah. Distinctive teaching of 'pure blood' that has produced documented systematic incest. Multiple federal and state investigations including the 2020 federal $511M tax-fraud sentence of leader Jacob Kingston for biofuel tax-credit fraud.

Christian

Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps (Jim & Lila Reidhead)

New Mexico-based para-church group founded by James (Jim) and Deborah (Lila) Green-Reidhead in the 1980s with quasi-military uniforms, ranks ('Generals'), and a Sacramento-then-Berino fortified residential compound. Multiple 2018 New Mexico convictions for child abuse, sexual servitude, and human trafficking; founder Deborah Green sentenced to 72 years; multiple co-defendants serving sentences. Active in residual form post-prosecution.

Christian

Shincheonji Church of Jesus / Lee Man-hee

South Korean apocalyptic Christian movement founded 1984 in Anyang by Lee Man-hee (born 1931). Approximately 300,000 baptised members and millions of associated 'Bible students' globally. Centred on Lee's claim to be the 'promised pastor' who uniquely interprets the Book of Revelation. Globally notorious after the February 2020 Daegu COVID-19 super-spreader event that produced South Korea's first major outbreak. Lee convicted 2020 of obstruction of disease-control investigations; acquitted of embezzlement charges on appeal 2021.

Islam

AROPL / Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq)

Small Mahdi-claimant Islamic-derived new religious movement founded ~2015 by Egyptian-American Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq (b. 1983). Hashem teaches he is the awaited Mahdi (Islamic eschatological end-times figure), Christ returned, and 'Riser of the House of Muhammad'. Distinct from — and rejected by — the mainstream Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Multi-jurisdiction asylum-claim trail (Egypt → Turkey → UK → Switzerland → US Texas) and documented coercive-control patterns including group-marriage rituals, communal child-rearing, surrendered passports, and shunning of departing members.

Hindu

Dera Sacha Sauda / Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

North Indian Sikh-Hindu syncretic religious organisation headquartered in Sirsa, Haryana. Founded 1948 by Mastana Balochistani; led 1990-2017 by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan (born 1967), who claims to be the third Guru. Estimated 50+ million followers concentrated in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Ram Rahim convicted 2017 for raping two female followers (20 years total); 2019 for the 2002 murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati; 2021 for the 2002 murder of dera manager Ranjit Singh. Mass violence by followers during 2017 arrest produced 38 deaths.

Political / Ideological

Boko Haram / Jama'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihad

Boko Haram (officially Jama'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihad, 'Group of the People of Sunnah for Preaching and Jihad') is a Salafi-jihadist terror organisation founded in 2002 in Maiduguri, Nigeria by Mohammed Yusuf. The popular name 'Boko Haram' translates as 'Western education is forbidden'. Mohammed Yusuf was killed in police custody in 2009; Abubakar Shekau took leadership and turned the organisation toward terrorism, producing an estimated 40,000+ deaths and 2 million displaced 2009–2024 across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. April 2014 Chibok mass-kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls is the highest-profile incident. The 2016 splinter ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) and Shekau's 2021 suicide produced organisational fragmentation; both factions continue operations.

Christian

Kenyan Christian doomsday cults (umbrella, Mackenzie tragedy)

Umbrella entry for Kenyan Christian doomsday cults; the centrepiece is Paul Mackenzie's Good News International Ministry, whose 2023 Shakahola Forest fast-to-death produced at least 429 confirmed exhumed bodies — the largest cult mass-death event in modern African history and one of the deadliest globally since Jonestown (1978).

New Religious Movement

Centrepoint Community (Bert Potter, New Zealand, historical)

Personal-growth commune (1977–2000) at Albany on Auckland's North Shore, New Zealand. Founded by Herbert 'Bert' Potter (1925–2012) on a Werner-Erhard-EST + sexual-revolution + drug-experimentation foundation. Multiple criminal convictions (Potter 1990, 1992; multiple lieutenants) for systemic sexual abuse of minors and drug supply. The canonical Australasian historical case in the cult-studies literature.

Christian

Grace Road Church / Kwon Shin-chan (Fiji)

Korean apocalyptic Christian sect founded 2003 by Shin Ok-ju (born 1962) in South Korea, with subsequent global expansion. From 2014 Shin and approximately 400 followers relocated to rural Fiji on the basis of a 'flood prophecy' that South Korea would be inundated. Documented forced labour at Fijian agricultural and industrial sites, beatings of disobedient members, and exit prevention via passport confiscation. Shin extradited from Fiji to South Korea 2018; convicted October 2019 of multiple offences including child abuse and false imprisonment (6-year sentence; extended on appeal).

Christian

La Luz del Mundo (Naasón Joaquín García)

Mexico-based Christian Restorationist movement founded by Eusebio Joaquín González (1926). Current leader Naasón Joaquín García was convicted in California in 2022 on multiple counts of child sexual abuse and sentenced to 16 years.

Christian

Providence / Christian Gospel Mission (JMS, Jeong Myeong-seok)

Korean Christian-derived movement founded by Jeong Myeong-seok (1980). Leader convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault in 2009 (10y) and again in 2024 (23y). Subject of Netflix's 'In the Name of God' (2023).

Christian

God Worshipping Society / Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (historical)

Hong Xiuquan's God Worshipping Society, born of his visions identifying himself as Jesus's younger brother, grew into the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom — a millenarian theocracy that held Nanjing for a decade and administered totalist control over tens of millions: sex-segregated camps, communal treasuries, destruction of rival religion, and death penalties for doctrinal violations. The vast historiography makes it the canonical pre-modern case of doctrinal totalism at scale.

Christian

Seven Angels Ministries (Mancoba Seven Angels Ministries)

Seven Angels Ministries (Mancoba Seven Angels Ministries) was a closed compound congregation at Nyanga village near Ngcobo in South Africa's Eastern Cape, formed in 2015 by the sons of the late Siphiwo Mancoba after breaking from his 1986-founded Angel Ministry. Congregants who had surrendered property and been barred from outside work and education under the group's doctrine were convicted over a 21 February 2018 armed attack that killed five police officers and a soldier; a police raid on the compound two days later killed seven members, including three Mancoba brothers, and removed dozens of women and children from a group the CRL Rights Commission's chairperson, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, later told News24 (20 March 2018) had already been flagged in the Commission's October 2017 report to Parliament as a 'ticking time bomb'.

Christian

Gloriavale Christian Community (New Zealand)

Isolated Christian community of ≈600 in Haupiri, West Coast, New Zealand. Founded 1969 by Hopeful Christian (Neville Cooper). Multiple 2022–24 NZ Employment Court rulings have found that members were illegally treated as unpaid labour from age 6, awarding back-wages.

Christian

LeBaron clan polygamist groups

Network of fundamentalist Mormon polygamist groups descended from the LeBaron family. Notable for the 1972 Joel LeBaron assassination ordered by his brother Ervil; the 1977 'Lambs of God' assassinations across the US; and the 2019 Mexico cartel-related massacre of nine LeBaron family members.

Christian

Jehovah's Witnesses

Christian restorationist movement governed by the Watchtower Society's 'Governing Body'. Independently assessed as high-control by Steven Hassan and Kimmy O'Donnell, with documented practices around shunning, blood-transfusion refusal, and information restriction.

Christian

Twelve Tribes

Communal Messianic-Jewish-influenced movement founded by Elbert Eugene Spriggs (1972). Members surrender all property, work in community businesses (Yellow Deli cafés, construction), and follow strict child-discipline teachings repeatedly investigated by child welfare authorities.

Christian

Maranatha Campus Ministries (defunct, 1972–89)

Authoritarian campus ministry founded by Bob Weiner (1972). Distinctive shepherding/discipling, dating control, and aggressive recruitment. Dissolved in 1989 under pressure from the broader evangelical community after extensive abuse allegations.

Sikh

Dera Sacha Sauda (Gurmeet Ram Rahim)

Sectarian organisation centred at Sirsa, India, led by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Officially considered non-Sikh by most mainstream Sikh authorities. Ram Rahim was convicted of rape (2017) and the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati (2019).

New Religious Movement

Love Has Won (Amy Carlson)

Online new-age movement led by Amy Carlson ('Mother God'), who claimed to be the reincarnation of multiple historical and pop-cultural figures. Carlson died in 2021; members continued to display her mummified body. Subject of HBO's 'Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God' (2023).

Christian

7M Films / Shekinah Church (Robert Shinn)

Los Angeles-based Shekinah Church and its 7M Films talent management business, led by Robert Shinn. Subject of Netflix's 'Dancing for the Devil' (2024) documenting how TikTok dancers under 7M contracts were severed from family.

Christian

Followers of Christ (Oregon)

Pentecostal-derived faith-healing church concentrated in Oregon City, OR. Multiple parents convicted of homicide or criminal mistreatment after children died of treatable conditions because the family refused medical care.

Pagan / Wiccan

Order of Nine Angles (O9A)

Esoteric occult-political network associated with David Myatt. Texts explicitly endorse human sacrifice ('culling'), terrorism, and infiltration of mainstream institutions. Multiple O9A-associated members have been convicted of terrorism and violent crimes.

Christian

The Brethren / Jim Roberts Group

Itinerant Christian movement led by Jim Roberts ('Brother Evangelist', d. 2015). Members live communally, dress identically (modest 1800s-style), travel by foot and bicycle, and are completely severed from family of origin. Subject of multiple disappeared-college-student investigations.

Christian

Khlysty (Khristovshchina, historical Russian flagellants)

Russian underground sect (17th c.–early 20th c.) believing the Holy Spirit re-incarnated in successive 'living Christs' and 'living Mothers of God'. Distinctive ecstatic spinning rite (radenie) and ascetic celibacy paired with sexual antinomian variants.

Christian

Manmin Central Church (Lee Jae-rock)

Seoul-based Korean Pentecostal sect founded in 1982 by Lee Jae-rock, who claimed to be sinless and capable of healing miracles. The Christian Council of Korea declared Manmin a heretical group in 1999. Lee was convicted in 2018 of raping eight female members and sentenced to 15 years.

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