A senior member of the ‘Twelve Trees’ group, based at Stentwood farm in Devon, Jonathan Stagg told the Independent: ‘As a Christian community we take the Bible seriously and believe it’s the word of God. It’s a fundamental right [to use the willow cane]; it’s what we all believe. We who live here believe the same thing.’
The sect started in Tennessee in the 1970s and has 2,000 - 3,000 members worldwide. The Independent’s story followed an undercover report into the sect in Germany which led to around 40 children being taken from the community and put into care. The German journalist filmed six children being beaten with 83 strokes of the cane and over 50 beatings in total. Vicki, a former member of the community told the Independent: ‘There wasn’t a day that went by while I was there that children weren’t beaten with the rod. I beat my own son because that is what the group taught me to do,’ adding that children were left ‘black and blue,’ and now that she considers the group a ‘cult’. She said: ‘Twelve Tribes aren’t really Christian at all.’
The NSPCC said, ‘Caning of children or the threat of caning is a completely unacceptable method of disciplinary action to take with any child.’ Devon and Cornwall police are beginning investigations into the group.
