Following a 26-day trial, six members of a Kansas-based cult were found guilty in a scheme to house children in overcrowded, rodent-infested facilities and force them to work up to 16-hours a day without pay while also subjecting those children to beatings and other abuse.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the defendants were eight high-ranking members of the organization formerly known as the United Nation of Islam (UNOI) and the Value Creators, or were wives of the late founder, Royall Jenkins. A jury has convicted Kaaba Majeed, 50, Yunus Rassoul, 39, James Staton, 62, Randolph Rodney Hadley, 49, Daniel Aubrey Jenkins, 43, and Dana Peach, 60, of conspiracy to commit forced labor.
The jury also convicted Majeed of five counts of forced labor. Two other co-defendants, Etenia Kinard, 48, and Jacelyn Greenwell, 45, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit forced labor. Prosecutors said that the children were told they would burn in "eternal hellfire" if they tried to leave.
In a written statement, FBI Special Agent Stephen Cryus said, "Under the guise of false pretenses and coercion, these victims, some of whom were as young as eight-years-old, endured inhumane and abhorrent conditions." Prosecutors said that the group, which was labeled a cult by a federal judge back in 2018, beat children and imposed severe dietary restrictions.
Prosecutors said that one of the victims was held upside down over train tracks because he would not admit to stealing food when he was hungry, while another victim resorted to drinking water from a toilet because she was so thirsty. Jenkins, who died in 2021, had been a member of the Nation of Islam until 1978, when he founded the separate United Nation of Islam.
According to the indictment, he persuaded his followers that he was shown the proper way to rule the Earth after being "taken through the galaxy by aliens on a spaceship." At one point in time, the cult had hundreds of followers. Prosecutors said that beginning in October 2000, the organization ran businesses such as gas stations, bakeries, and restaurants in several states using unpaid labor from group members and their children.
Parents were encouraged to send their children to an unlicensed school in Kansas City, Kansas, called the University of Arts and Logistics of Civilization, which did not provide appropriate instruction in most subjects it taught. Instead, some of the child victims worked in businesses in Kansas City, while others were trafficked to businesses in other states, including New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Georgia, and North Carolina, per the indictment.
Prosecutors said in a statement, "The victims all lived in deplorable conditions, in overcrowded facilities often overrun with mold, mice, and rats." They said that there were strict rules about what the children could read, how they dressed, and what they ate. Some were even forced to undergo colonics. When disobeying any of the rules, punishment included being locked in a dark, frightening basement. Prosecutors said, "In contrast, the defendants and their immediate families lived comfortably."
The defendants also told victims that they would burn in "eternal hellfire" if they left and family members who remained in UNOI were required to shun as "detractors" any victim who left. UNOI also claimed credit for any negative consequences that occurred to members who left the organization.
In May of 2018, U.S. Judge Daniel Crabtree called the group a cult and ordered it to pay $8 million to a woman who said she spent 10 years performing unpaid labor. According to the DOJ press release, sentencing hearings for the child labor case have been set for February 2025. The convictions carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison for Majeed and up to five years in prison for the other defendants.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement, "The United Nation of Islam and these defendants held themselves out as a beacon of hope for the community, promising to educate and teach important life skills to members, particularly children. Instead, the defendants betrayed this trust, exploiting young children in the organization by callously compelling their labor."
According to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the defendants were eight high-ranking members of the organization formerly known as the United Nation of Islam (UNOI) and the Value Creators, or were wives of the late founder, Royall Jenkins. A jury has convicted Kaaba Majeed, 50, Yunus Rassoul, 39, James Staton, 62, Randolph Rodney Hadley, 49, Daniel Aubrey Jenkins, 43, and Dana Peach, 60, of conspiracy to commit forced labor.
The jury also convicted Majeed of five counts of forced labor. Two other co-defendants, Etenia Kinard, 48, and Jacelyn Greenwell, 45, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit forced labor. Prosecutors said that the children were told they would burn in "eternal hellfire" if they tried to leave.
In a written statement, FBI Special Agent Stephen Cryus said, "Under the guise of false pretenses and coercion, these victims, some of whom were as young as eight-years-old, endured inhumane and abhorrent conditions." Prosecutors said that the group, which was labeled a cult by a federal judge back in 2018, beat children and imposed severe dietary restrictions.
Prosecutors said that one of the victims was held upside down over train tracks because he would not admit to stealing food when he was hungry, while another victim resorted to drinking water from a toilet because she was so thirsty. Jenkins, who died in 2021, had been a member of the Nation of Islam until 1978, when he founded the separate United Nation of Islam.
According to the indictment, he persuaded his followers that he was shown the proper way to rule the Earth after being "taken through the galaxy by aliens on a spaceship." At one point in time, the cult had hundreds of followers. Prosecutors said that beginning in October 2000, the organization ran businesses such as gas stations, bakeries, and restaurants in several states using unpaid labor from group members and their children.
Parents were encouraged to send their children to an unlicensed school in Kansas City, Kansas, called the University of Arts and Logistics of Civilization, which did not provide appropriate instruction in most subjects it taught. Instead, some of the child victims worked in businesses in Kansas City, while others were trafficked to businesses in other states, including New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Georgia, and North Carolina, per the indictment.
Prosecutors said in a statement, "The victims all lived in deplorable conditions, in overcrowded facilities often overrun with mold, mice, and rats." They said that there were strict rules about what the children could read, how they dressed, and what they ate. Some were even forced to undergo colonics. When disobeying any of the rules, punishment included being locked in a dark, frightening basement. Prosecutors said, "In contrast, the defendants and their immediate families lived comfortably."
The defendants also told victims that they would burn in "eternal hellfire" if they left and family members who remained in UNOI were required to shun as "detractors" any victim who left. UNOI also claimed credit for any negative consequences that occurred to members who left the organization.
In May of 2018, U.S. Judge Daniel Crabtree called the group a cult and ordered it to pay $8 million to a woman who said she spent 10 years performing unpaid labor. According to the DOJ press release, sentencing hearings for the child labor case have been set for February 2025. The convictions carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison for Majeed and up to five years in prison for the other defendants.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement, "The United Nation of Islam and these defendants held themselves out as a beacon of hope for the community, promising to educate and teach important life skills to members, particularly children. Instead, the defendants betrayed this trust, exploiting young children in the organization by callously compelling their labor."
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