After spending most of her life in a controvesial cult, Juliana Buhring, 27, finally escaped years of brainwashing and abuse. This is her story.

Sipping a cappucchino in a cafe last week, I thought back over my day. I'd spent the morning in the local library, before meeting a friend for lunch. To most people, it probably sounds like a normal day, but to me, every moment felt like an indulgence. Just four years ago such 'normal' things were forbidden to me because I was a prisoner in a religious cult. It stripped me of my freedom, my family and my innocence and abused me in every way - physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually.

I was born into the infamous 'Children Of God' religious cult, founded by a man called David Berg, who claimed he was the voice of God. As children of the cult, we were taught it was our destiny to give our lives and become martyrs when the world would end in 1993.

My parents were hippies and were recruited by the Children Of God in their early twenties. Back in the 70s, the cult was far less extreme, advertising itself as a utopian society breaking away from the establishment. But by the time I was born, in 1981, The Family International, as it is now called, had degenerated. Adults were encouraged to sleep with each other.

My father had 15 children by seven different women, three of them with my mother. She, in turn, had two children by two men other than my father. I was largely raised without my parents. Berg insisted that all the children live in 'training camps' around the world, and I was cared for by 'foster parents' who we called 'aunty' and 'uncle'.

In his eyes, we were all family, so it didnt matter whether we saw our blood relations or not. I was just three years old when I left Greece, where I was born, and was sent to The Phillippines.

I can't remember the first time I saw grown-ups having sex, because there were orgies taking place all around me from the day I was born. One of my earliest memories is of other women filming themselves doing striptease shows. I was about two years old. From this age, children were also forced to simulate sex together...

( An exerpt from Cleo Magazine - July, 2008)

See an earlier article in 'The Independent' (UK) here.

Juliana Buhring has also written a book about her childhood...
Now the three sisters have finally come together to reveal in full and horrific detail their existence within a group that has destroyed the lives of so many.