Sordid shame of sex sect

The Daily Telegraph, Australia/July 1, 2007
By Lisa Davies

The Kenja cult first came under the spotlight up to three years ago after women came foward to claim they were sexually assaulted during its rituals - and when its links to high-profile "refugee" Cornelia Rau were revealed.

Ms Rau, the Australian permanent resident wrongly incarcerated in Baxter detention centre, joined Kenja in the 1990s - shortly before she began suffering schizophrenia.

She was diagnosed with mental health problems shortly after being expelled from the group in 1998.

Former Kenja members have confirmed humiliation tactics were common, as were naked "energy conversion" sessions.

One former follower has told The Daily Telegraph how she was stripped naked and touched all over in a "cleansing ceremony" before she moved away from Sydney with her family.

The woman, named only as Suzanne, said Kenja leader Ken Dyers, who has been found dead, touched her naked body during a sordid "energy" session.

"His hands were almost on my genitals when I pulled away very uncomfortable, and put my clothes on," she said.

"I left then and it wasn't long after that I was taken home by my family.' Suzanne's father Max said his daughter had a mental breakdown when she left Kenja.

"She was so mixed up, you couldn't get a straight word out of her," he said.

Suzanne said only now, more than 10 years after she left, can she see the dangers of the cult.

"They're so reckless with how they treat people. Ken Dyers is a law unto himself," she said.

Her claims have been strongly backed by dozens of calls to The Daily Telegraph.

A cult members' lobby organisation - the Cult Information & Family Support (CIFS) group - has urged State Parliament to look into the practices of cults in NSW, including Kenja.