‘Moonie cultist imprisoned family for years’

This 16 October 2019 British TV video says about itself:

Dutch family ‘waiting for end of time‘ found in secret room – BBC News

A family who spent nine years on a farm “waiting for the end of time” have been discovered by police in the Netherlands after one of them turned up at a local pub, reports say.

A man of 58

No, two men: the 67-year-old father, and the Austrian suspect.

and six young adults aged 18 to 25 were living at a farm in the province of Drenthe.

The mother had died years ago. The father, after a brain infarction three years ago, lay on a sickbed.

The family were found after the eldest of the children ordered beer at a bar in the nearby village of Ruinerwold.

He then told staff he needed help, broadcaster RTV Drenthe reported.

“We found six people living in a small space in the house which could be locked but wasn’t a basement“, police said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The older man [Josef B. from Austria, the suspect] has been arrested. It was not clear whether they had been there voluntarily, police added. The eldest son [who had escaped] was not there at the time, police told the BBC.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

The family that lived in isolation in Ruinerwold for years is said to be affiliated with the Moonie cult. The Austrian Josef B., who is accused of having imprisoned the family, was also a member of this sect. That is what sources say to RTV Drenthe regional broadcasting organisation. …

The cult leader was South Korean pastor Sun Myung Moon. …

Not just a ‘pastor’, also an arms trade millionaire (which did not stop him from starting a phoney ‘peace movement’).

This 12 November 2018 video from the USA says about itself:

Guns For God: The Church of the AR-15

In February 2018, a small church in Pennsylvania gained international attention when they held a blessing ceremony with AR-15’s just two weeks after the Parkland School shooting triggered mass gun reform debates across the US. But where did this small fringe sect of Christianity come from and why are they now taking up arms for God? In this episode of Believers, host Charlet Duboc meets Pastor Sean Moon and the believers of the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, a church that has origins in Korea, is based in the US, and has been accused of being a cult to understand why they believe they need guns to build God’s Kingdom on Earth.

The NOS article continues:

In the 1950s, he declared himself to be the messiah. In 1965 the movement came to the Netherlands. …

A large amount of cash is also said to have been found in the farmhouse.

What is the Moonie cult?

The Moonie cult, called the Unification Church by supporters, is a church founded in the 1950s by South Korean pastor Sun Myung Moon. He regarded himself as the messiah and became particularly known in the 1970s and 80s through marriage ceremonies where he sometimes married thousands of followers at the same time. Moon claimed he had millions of followers, but there are probably no more than 100,000.

In the past, the church was accused of brainwashing supporters and taking away their money. Moon and his wife, often accused of anti-Semitism and homophobia, were not welcome in many European countries for years. Moon died in 2012. In recent years, the movement has expanded into a business empire including the Washington Times newspaper

Far-right Donald Trump supporters. Like another cult, Falun Gong.

and the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan.

Followers of the cult have various rituals. RTV Drenthe writes that they have to move every half hour in a circle. …

The 25-year-old son, who eventually sought help [to escape] at a cafe in Ruinerwold on Sunday evening, is said be in a different location now.

Twins with Japanese woman

A brother of suspect Josef B. tells the Austrian daily newspaper Kronen Zeitung that B. came into contact with the cult during his military service in Linz. The brothers have not spoken to each other for ten years.

Brother Franz goes on to say that Josef had twins with a Japanese woman. He is said to have abandoned them and brought them to friends in the Netherlands. Two years ago the children reportedly have tried in vain to make contact with Josef. According to his brother, B. left Austria in 2009, where he led a reclusive life.

Josef B. is suspected of being involved in the deprivation of liberty of the father and six children on the farm in Ruinerwold. He is said to have held them against their will. Today, the examining magistrate will judge whether he will be detained for longer.

UPDATE: he will be detained for at least fourteen more days. He is also accused of harming the health of the imprisoned family.

The police are investigating again today at the house in Ruinerwold. In addition, all areas in the farm are recorded digitally.

Toys

Yesterday raids were made in two buildings in Zwartsluis, about fifteen minutes drive from Ruinerwold. The family is said to have had a shop there in wooden toys, which were often made by the father. The store is said to have been closed for years.

UPDATE: The 67-year-old father, who had been active first in the Dutch, then the German Unification Church, has been arrested now as well, suspected of complicity in imprisonment and money laundering. Three older children had bled the farm before. Contrary to their younger siblings, they had been allowed to go to school.