Czech police probe Christian sect with history of alleged child kidnapping and abuse

Czech police are investigating the activities of Twelve Tribes, a Christian sect with a history of alleged child kidnapping and abuse, which has established communities in the west of the country.

The first Twelve Tribes community was founded in the U.S. state of Tennessee in 1972. By the beginning of the 21st century, the group had spread to Europe.

Outwardly, the sect is family-oriented and emphasizes simple, rural living in harmony with nature.

But former members allege its teachings include racism, misogyny and homophobia, with followers, including children, exploited for labor. Allegations have also been made that children are beaten with canes.

In 2024 in the U.S., Nehemya Smith, a community elder, was sentenced to 20-40 years after he was found guilty of raping and sexually abusing two girls in Massachusetts. Authorities also investigated other communities for suspicious cases of infant deaths.

The sect also stirred up controversy in Germany, where it had established several communities, including in the Bavarian towns of Klosterzimmern and Wörnitz. The authorities eventually closed the private school operated by the community and removed 40 children from the custody of their parents in 2013.

The parents’ appeal to the court to have their children returned was denied. Some parents resorted to abducting their children from their legally appointed guardians, resulting in 11 kidnapping charges.

Some Twelve Tribes members relocated to the western Czech Republic, establishing communities in Karlovy Vary and western Central Bohemian regions. Wary of the group’s notoriety, the local authorities denied their petition to establish a private school.

The sect has now attracted the attention of the local police, who are investigating the group, without revealing what possible charges may be leveled against the sect.

Karlovy Vary police spokesman Jakub Kopřiva told CNN Prima NEWS, “The report, which concerns the Twelve Tribes sect, is currently being looked into by criminal investigators.”

‘Battle with Satan’

The sect has a reputation for pressing young children to perform hard physical labor.

According to Děti jsou taky lidi (Children Are People Too), a parenting blog with a focus on child abuse, “Children have been working since the age of 4 - at first small jobs, gradually several-hour shifts.

Older children have full-fledged working days [...] If a child resists work, physical punishment follows.”

As religion expert Michal Púchovský told CNN Prima NEWS the child labor practices stem directly from the sect’s fundamentalist millenarian teachings.

“Children and their ‘proper’ upbringing are important to the Twelve Tribes because the movement assumes that in the next five generations, there will be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and a great apocalyptic battle with Satan.

It is the children that will allow them to restore the sinlessness of humanity, thanks to which humanity will be able to win the battle with Satan,” Púchovský said.