Kansas Cult Members Convicted of Child Labor Abuse

Six members of a Kansas-based cult have been convicted for forcing children to work up to 16 hours a day without pay, subjecting them to severe abuse and living in overcrowded, rodent-infested conditions. The group, previously known as the United Nation of Islam and the Value Creators, was led by high-ranking members and the wives of its late founder, Royall Jenkins. After a 26-day trial, all six defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to commit forced labor, with one, Kaaba Majeed, also convicted on five counts of forced labor. Victims, some as young as eight, faced inhumane treatment, including beatings and starvation, with one child being held upside down over train tracks for alleged theft of food. Jenkins, who died in 2021, claimed to have been shown the true way to govern by aliens, which attracted hundreds of followers to his organization. The cult operated businesses in several states that exploited both adult and child labor, and parents sent their children to an unlicensed school that provided inadequate education.