Charges of racism, abuse have Plymouth abuzz

Source: Post bulletin

16 July 2016

By DENISE LAVOIE

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Just up the hill from Plymouth Rock, the Blue Blinds Bakery has been a favorite among locals in “America’s hometown” since it opened eight years ago. But lately, this usually serene cafe has been abuzz with talk of accusations made by an anonymous poster on its Facebook page.

The Christian sect that owns the bakery — The Twelve Tribes — has been forced to defend itself against allegations of racism and child abuse from the poster, who identifies himself as a former sect member and bakery worker.

About three weeks ago, messages began to appear accusing the sect of disciplining children with a cane or a wooden stick — on the open palm or bare buttocks — sometimes dozens of times each day. The messages also implied the sect was racist and endorsed slavery.

The poster identified himself to The Associated Press as Kayam Mathias, 21, a former bakery worker who says he left the sect five years ago.

“I saw many kids beaten as ‘discipline,’ many times out of anger. The idea is to drive out the evil one from as early as possible,” he told the AP.

The postings have bewildered some Facebook followers and prompted others to denounce the sect and the people who run the bakery. Still others pledge allegiance to a business they say they’ll continue to trust.

Lev Bryant, 41, a sect member who manages the bakery, denied the allegations of child abuse and racism.

“There’s no child abuse here — period,” he said. “We’re trying to deal with this fraudulent issue.”

Bryant confirmed that Mathias was a member of the sect and worked at the bakery.

A Twelve Tribes commune in Island Pond, Vermont, was raided by police in 1984 after allegations of child abuse. More than 100 children were removed but were returned hours later after a judge said the raid was illegal.

Last year, an elder from the sect in southern Germany was convicted in Noerdlingen state court in Bavaria of causing bodily harm by hitting a child in his care with a 4-foot switch.

Plymouth police Capt. John Rogers said police have never received any reports of child abuse by sect members and are not investigating. He said that he called the bakery after hearing about the postings, but that workers indicated they did not want to file a complaint.

Twelve Tribes was founded in the 1970s in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The group later moved to Vermont, then expanded to locations around the world.

Members live and work together and home-school their children. In Plymouth, the group also runs a grocery store and has a compound-style property in the historic district, where the Pilgrims first settled.

On its website, Twelve Tribes says it has 2,000 to 3,000 members who live a “tribal life” in different geographical areas of the world, “so as to be a demonstration of how God has always wanted His people to live.”

The regulars who go to the bakery for apple cinnamon scones, cranberry almond biscotti and other homemade pastries say the controversy won’t drive them away.

Mike Coleman, a retiree who meets a group of friends there a couple of times a week, said sect members are friendly and visible in the community.

“From everything I have seen from these people, they’ve been good neighbors and good community people,” he said.

Comments from readers:

Jo Hawkins

Kayam Mathias is a hero and the author of this Post Bulletin has not done their research , Mrs, DENISE LAVOIE. Can we all wake up in Boston like they have in Germany. Are you aware the German National government met over the 12 Tribes. All their children were taken they were caught by a real Journalist doing real journalism under cover, and showed them hitting a 6 month old child many times. They hit children non stop 1-100 times a day. Why not look at the 17 professional media pieces exposing this full blown cult at question12tribes.com. Better yet read the child training manuals also linked on the front page of that web site. The horror stories out of this organization know no bounds, it is far far worse then just illegally hitting children. They have been sued for sex abuse, and they are known to disappear children, and they have ‘safe houses’ like criminal gangs or the cia. Don’t believe me watch Canadian national news piece where the RCMP rescue a child that was basically kidnapped. linked here.http://question12tribes.com/12-tribes-us-tv-news/O Denise Lavoie did you know about the dead baby graves that are shown in the link above. When a victim goes public you should support them not the abuser. Its not ‘controversy’ its a cover up and it is well orchestrated, but the German and French government have made a long list of arrests, but the people of Boston you just keep eating their illegal child labour food and pat your self on the head about how good of a customer you are. Denise Lavoie please contact this doctor of 20 years at this email or anyone else that would like to discuss the obvious, drjohawkins@gmx.com . Please don’t do surface research and call your self informed. Listen to Kayam Mathias talk to him directly he has information for you and Boston. Thank you with respect and a voice for the children who are not being heard.

 

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