"THE FAMILY" Twenty years of horrors of the evil lady
The famous tabloid Herald Sun, after more than 30 years, managed to acquire the secret diary of the sect "The Family".
Written by Raynor Johnson, an academic who lived at Melbourne University's Queen College for decades before joining the cult, it shows the world in what web of fear and addiction his followers were trapped. Johnson was convinced that he was the reincarnation of John the Baptist; A qualified physicist by profession, he left his job to follow Hamilton-Byrne in the sect.
In a statement he affirmed: "I imagine how some of those early disciples must have been when they were called to face the incredible reality that the long-awaited Messiah of the Jews was among them at that time" and then "The first disciples must have experienced the same thing I had felt. They were right, the others were wrong ”.
The diary was jealously hidden in a National Bank vault, only to be given to one of the cult members for the purpose of digitizing the handwritten notes.
47 pages of horror testify how the leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne was able to convince followers that she was the female reincarnation of Jesus Christ, and that she was on earth with the express purpose of saving the world.
His cult retained very little of the original Christianity, the dogma was deformed and tainted with Eastern mysticism and threats of imminent alien invasions.
Hamilton, thanks to her manipulative skills, managed to ensnare most of the adepts from all over Melbourne during her Yoga seminars, while another important part of the public was sent to her by consenting and corrupt psychiatrists who recommended her to their patients as spiritual point of reference.
The children, brought into the cult through forced adoptions managed by operators in the medical and social fields, also members of the sect, were isolated in rural properties, raised and educated in the idolatry of the leader; their hair was cut in a bob and dyed blond, they were also forced to abuse massive doses of LSD, Valium, physical beatings and psychological violence. Each child was made to believe that Hamilton-Byrne was their biological mother and was severely indoctrinated into following the rules.
In the numerous group photos, the alleged children of the diabolical woman appear innocent and happy, yet they are prisoners of the insane design of their step-mother, with the aim of forging an army prepared to fight in an imminent apocalyptic war against alien forces. The ability to steal children from their parents came from the promise of the creation of a superior race and from the meticulous choice of subjects: mainly drug addicts easily plagiable to whom he gave acids, LSD and drugs of various kinds, propertyless, homeless parents or got into trouble with the law.
Following the kidnappings, children were taken to an isolated property on Lake Eildon in the state of Victoria. And despite the apparent caring and servile behavior towards these boys, she was accused of subjecting them to beatings, psychological torture, food deprivation, brainwashing.
She herself claims to have worked hard to create generations of identical children, capable of behaving like brothers and sisters and responding to the allegations of kidnapping of 28 imprisoned minors, in a completely disarming way, with the phrase "I love children, I loved them all with their matching dresses, little aprons and jeans, long hair and ribbons. It was beautiful and so beautiful to see “.
The ascendancy of Mrs. Hamilton-Byrne was total and her every folly took hold of the community, which immediately followed her obediently, Her motto was "not seen, not heard, not known”.
In 1987, one of the "daughters", Sarah Hamilton-Brybe, was expelled for her rebellious behavior and it was the girl who had the merit and the courage to report the sect's events to the authorities, recounting years of brutal mental and physical torments. initiations under the banner of psychological torture and LSD.
One of the former children saved from the madness of Hamilton-Byrne tells with these words the atrocities suffered by Sarah herself "I watched her being beaten with a belt buckle in a completely inhuman way"
Six of the cult's children were rescued after a police raid and property dismantling in 1987, while Hamilton-Byrne and her husband Bill fled Australia. Six years later they were found by the FBI in Hurleyville, near New York, and were extradited back to Australia, where they were put on trial.
Quite unexpectedly, Anne and the other members were found guilty only of the crime of extortion and the woman was never sentenced to prison but only to pay a fine of $ 5,000.
Hamilton-Byrne has lived her last years in the throes of senile dementia in a nursing home, while the sect seems to still exist and would be shaken by a power struggle between different internal factions. The police who dealt with the case said they had never met a woman who could reincarnate evil in the true sense of the term Byrne and can be considered one of the rare women to have created a cult around her person.
Dr. Valeria Rossi, Criminologist,
Criminal Profiler and Behavior Analyst
Member of the Board of Directors
IPO Section Italy