Moving On - Children of the Children of God

A San Diego judge has ordered a site inspection of an Escondido commune that some say is home to a sex cult. The order comes as part of a bitter custody battle over a four-year-old boy being raised in the religious sect known as The Family.

Four-year-old Kyle Staughton is a little boy caught in the middle of a bitter divorce and custody battle. His mother, 28-year-old Angie Staughton is a member of a notorious religious sect called The Family that advocates open sexuality as an expression of God’s love. Kyle’s father calls the group a sex cult.

“Yeah, they sleep around a lot,” Paul Staughton said.

Paul Staughton, 32, was born and raised in The Family. He left the group two years ago because he doesn’t believe that loving Jesus has anything to do with sex.

“They believe that Jesus would like it very much that you would include him in the sex act that you were having,” he said.

Formerly called The Children of God, members of The Family live in communes like the one on Calmin Drive in Fallbrook. The group has close ties to two local charities – The Family Care Foundation in Dulzura, and Activated Ministries in Escondido.

Angie and her son Kyle live in a family compound on Alps Way northeast of Escondido with 25 other members of the sect, according to court records.

“You gotta understand when you’ve got 25 to 30 people living in one house, the children see a lot,” Paul Staughton said. “You can’t hide everything from the children.”

Many ex-members say the free love philosophy of The Family led to widespread sexual abuse of children in the 1970s and 80s. But that was 20 years ago, and in court documents, Kyle’s mother writes, “The Family has zero-tolerance towards abuse… I would never expose our son to such things.”

The Family claims it officially outlawed sex with minors in 1986.

“They banned sexual contact with children 20 years ago, yes, but all these people who had sexual contact with kids are still in The Family. How would you like to have your son raised in the community full of sex offenders?” Paul Staughton said.

News 8 tried to contact Angie Staughton at the Escondido commune. Sources say she’s in Rosarito Beach at a family-sponsored retreat. Family members at the commune declined to be interviewed.

Another point of contention is Kyle’s education. His mother wants the boy home schooled.

"I believe that the one on one education I can provide through home schooling is far superior than putting Kyle in a public classroom..." Angie Staughton wrote to the court.

Kyle’s father disagrees.

“The Family wants to home school the children because they can indoctrinate them,” he said.

And while the court battle over Kyle is getting very expensive for Paul, he’s not giving up.

“I want my son to be safe,” he said. “I love my son dearly, and any father in this situation would do the same thing.”

Last week, a San Diego judge ordered a site inspection of the Escondido commune to determine if it’s a safe environment for the boy. The investigation will look at the education the boy is getting.

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17.

Reader's comments on this article
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from Fox News
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 - 13:32
(Agree/Disagree?)
The father in this case and his attorney will be on the O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News channel today.

blurb from
http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/

"Wednesday, October 11:
It's a bitter custody battle: Should a mother be allowed to raise her son in a 'free love community'? The boy's angry father 'Factors' in"

Here are broadcast times for various timezones. Check your local listings for exact channel.

Eastern Time
8pm and 11pm
Central Time
7pm and 10 pm
Pacific Timezone
5pm and 8 pm
Mountain Timezone
6pm and 9pm
Alaskan Timezone
4pm and 9pm
Hawaiian Timezone
2pm and 5pm
(reply to this comment)
from weegirlie
Monday, October 02, 2006 - 08:12
(Agree/Disagree?)
All I can say is the very, very best of luck to the father. I can't imagine how horrific it must be for a loving parent to have the thought of their child growing up in that cult! Hopefully the judge will do the right thing and make sure he's given a proper chance in life.
(reply to this comment)
from Nick
Monday, October 02, 2006 - 07:59
(Agree/Disagree?)
Well good luck to this Paul guy! Unfortunately the court systems are usually a little biased to the mother, but hopefully the judge will see that this is not a healthy environment for a child to be raised!

I think about all the benefits that my own son has now over what I went through as a kid. I don't care how they slice it the family education is substantially inferior and really doesn’t go past 5th grade. Not to mention that there is no way of getting any degree or formal acknowledgement that you need later on in life.

And don't even get me stated on the social aspect of this all...

(reply to this comment)

From NWO
Monday, October 02, 2006, 18:47
(Agree/Disagree?)

You need to pray against the spirit of murmuring!

"The Family has done everything possible to implement stringent safeguards to protect children and not only that but, for example, Don and Sarah have talked about children in The Family not receiving an education. Well, I find that prejudicial. Our children are home schooled. Learning three or four languages is an education. Participating in humanitarian efforts such as tsunami relief, helping victims in Africa, building orphanages, schools, working with the deaf, that is an education and that is training."

http://www.xfamily.org/index.php/BBC_Outlook:_Abuse_within_The_Family(reply to this comment)

From sarafina
Wednesday, October 11, 2006, 17:54
(Agree/Disagree?)
Ha! loved that statement of Claire’s . They act as if all the above are special traits that no one else learns or does, well,all of those things mention are considered “additional” to education. Many students do similar things like working with charities, the elderly, volunteering for red cross..ect to earn extra merits or points for their class resumes. None of those activities are considered an acceptable and sole course of education. Notice, there is no mention of basic academic studies, reading, writing, arithmetic, science or history ect.

Oh, and she fails to mention that although I lived in so many different countries the only thing I was taught how to say in all those languages was how to ask for donations, sell posters or tapes or how to pray with someone…and lets not for get the singing..most of us had no idea what we were saying..we just memorized the lines. That does not constitute “knowing” a language and they esp. NEVER taught me the proper grammar or how to read and write in any language.(reply to this comment)