David Berg’s Childhood and the Beginning of the Family International
Who was David Berg? What happened to make him a sex-crazed man disguised as a “prophet”?
David Brandt Berg was born in Oakland, California in 1919 to Virginia and Hjalmer Berg, who were both Christian evangelists. Virginia, a preacher’s kid, was called the “Miracle Woman” in her prime and she traveled the country as a Christian preacher. Hjalmer was a Swedish singer from a poor family. They had three kids, David being the youngest. His older brother turned away from the church and became an atheist, and his sister ran away when she was 16.
David says that he was a lonesome little boy and that he never had friends and was tortured in high school by other kids. His earliest memories were not of his mother’s large revival meetings in Miami, but rather of constantly being scolded by his mother for playing with himself. He recalls one memory when his mother caught him doing it:
“She thought she was going to make me so ashamed that I wouldn’t do it anymore. So she brought in the whole family (governess, brother, sister, etc.) . . . and scolded me before all! She brought a washbasin, a little bowl and a knife and she told me she was going to cut it off! I was petrified! I almost never forgave my mother for that. But that didn’t stop me [from playing with myself]” (Lattin 16).
I think this memory greatly impacted him and played a part in his future sexual preferences and teachings which are taboo to say the least (as you will see). Another thing that probably affected these things was the way his babysitter would get him to take a nap:
“Maria used to suck me to sleep for my nap every afternoon.” His mother found out about this later and “slapped the poor little Mexican girl out of the house” (Lattin 16).
One source states that Berg had written that his first sexual intercourse was at age 7 with his cousin who was of the same age. They got caught Berg’s uncle. Berg claims that the spankings and punishments for these acts only made them more interested in what their parents thought was so bad.
His father quit the evangelistic road and settled down to his own business in California when David was 19 or 20. So he and his mother were alone on the road. Another disturbing memory of Berg’s was when he and his mother had to share a bed in a rented room, because the man they were staying with couldn’t afford separate rooming. He recalls how on one cold night, he woke to find his mom basically spooning him:
“My first reaction was absolute terrified shock to think that my mother would get so close to me . . . in such an almost sexual embrace. Perhaps she meant nothing by it . . . but I think for the first time in my life I had sexual feelings about my mother!” Later he says that with her body wrapped around him he “got quite an electric sexual jolt that I had never expected . . . If I had not been so conservative and narrow-minded [in religion] I might have been a little bit more responsive.” (Lattin 18).
Berg drove his mother all around the country for several years. When WWII rolled around he not only obtained a disability discharge for a heart ailment but he was also told he could avoid war by getting ordained, which he did.
Berg drove his mother all around the country for several years. When WWII rolled around he not only obtained a disability discharge for a heart ailment but he was also told he could avoid war by getting ordained, which he did.
While on the road, Berg met and eloped with Jane Miller in 1944. Berg and his new wife had a disastrous honeymoon because of their inability to have sex. They even visited a doctor to see if she had a medical problem that contributed to her “sexual dysfunction”. Berg claims that “she was so inhibited with all that holiness background that she was all tied up”. He admits that he was “so bashful and so holy that [I] was afraid to touch her to loosen her up”.
Jane and David had their first child, Deborah, in 1945, followed by their first son, Aaron, in 1947. They ended up having a third child, Faithy, later.
In 1949, David and his family moved to Valley Farms, Arizona, where he was to be a pastor and step out of his mother’s shadow. After a couple years, something happened, like a sex scandal or political controversy or something, which caused Berg to be kicked out of the town. No one has been able to find out what exactly happened, but people claim Berg was never the same again. Berg later says he left because of racism against Indians in the church.
It was around this time that Berg had convinced himself that he was a prophet, not a pastor and he would be known as Moses David from then on.
Around 1967, Berg moved his family to Huntington Beach, CA where his mother had told him he could find many lost souls and hippies to convert to Christianity. This is where the Family International/Children of God would start. Berg’s kids (teens at the time) got jobs at a youth ministry club singing one night a week (Aaron being the star of the show). This lured young people in and Berg’s kids would talk to them about religion.
Berg was set free in 1968 by his mother’s death. He preached more confidently, and started to denounce “the system” (churches, governments, businesses, and parents). He grew his hair long and grew a beard and started to wear ragged clothes to gain the trust of his new followers. His young followers were spreading his word everywhere and protesting a lot.
Berg, in his early fifties now, was able to break the age barrier through his new look, and also with a new girl he met. Karen Zerby was 22 when she met Berg and his family. She had always been a religious person and was easily convinced to go on the road with them. Berg soon began to have an affair with Karen. Eventually he was caught, but he was never repentant. No one could question him or his actions because he was the “Endtime Prophet”. Karen certainly believed this, and would do anything for him. She also felt guilty for things she had done with Berg, and he used that against her.
He eventually announced a new declaration that justified his affair with Karen. It was called “Old Love, New Love”, where Jane was the old and Karen was the new (it was basically a “law” allowing polygamy).
This set the course for The Family. Berg and his queen, Karen, would spread their message and eventually destroy and damage the lives of their followers’ children.
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Life for Berg’s kids and Life in The Family
What was Berg’s relationship with his kids like? Did he treat them the same way he was treated as a child? What was life in The Family like for an average member?
The basis of Berg’s teachings was Christianity and the belief that Jesus died for our sins, and that the Bible is the word of God, etc. What I will discuss now are the tenets that Berg later adds to these beliefs that cause his group of followers to become a cult.
David Berg believed he was the “Endtime Prophet”, meaning that he thought the Second Coming of Jesus and the end of time was just around the corner and he would be the prophet at that time. One woman from Berg’s inner circle recalled that having to constantly be ready spiritually for the Endtime “keeps you in the hyper state of mind – kind of like the war on terror. The bad guys are everywhere, but you can’t really see them. It changes the way you think. Why worry about consequences when the whole world is about to end?” (Lattin 46).
Berg was not a man who concerned himself with consequences. For example, he showed little concern when he tried to begin an incestuous relationship with his eldest daughter Deborah, who was 7 at the time. She says that he continued these attempts for 5 years and she was afraid to be left alone with him. At age 12 she was more aware of the strangeness of his actions, but still had no understanding of what he was trying to do, so she continued to resist him determinedly.
Deborah says that her younger sister, Faithy, did not resist their father and did have an incestuous relationship with him. Faithy actually later defended her father’s endorsement of adults masturbating children to help them sleep (she claims her father started this with her when she was 3 or 4).
Berg’s followers and even his new wife, Karen, did not see this side of Berg until the early to mid 1970’s. They saw this guy whom they believed to have the truth. His kids would bring people into the circle and he would keep them there with his sermons that sounded like they were from a rebellious teenager.
Around 1970, a friend of Berg’s allowed him to use his Texas ranch for part of his hippie army and they eventually called it the Texas Soul Clinic (Berg was only there for one year). During this time Berg put out one of his *“Mo Letters” requiring women to be braless at all times. Berg himself enforced this prohibition by walking up to women on the street and grabbing their breasts to check if they were abiding by his orders. One woman mentions one time he did that to her, and she had her bra on. So as punishment she was called in front of the “leadership” at 2 a.m. and Berg called her every name in the book and yelled at her for 3 hours.
*Mo Letters = derived from his pseudonym, Moses David, they were a series of his publications and rules to live by
The Berg family fanned out across the U.S gaining more followers everywhere they went and starting new colonies. Those who joined The Family were encouraged to turn over all their worldly possessions for the collective good. People gave up cars, TV’s, stereos, and even bank accounts. One former member described a colony as a mixture of Christianity and communism. Proceeds from the material goods were used to support colonies and to scout out safe houses for Berg and his family, which continued to grow as he took on another teenage wife around 1971. His kids had also found significant others, but as far as we know, it was only the eldest son, Aaron’s wife that Berg wanted to sleep with, but she never let him. She eventually escaped, and the same thing happened to Aaron’s next wife.
Berg would often have “sharing parties” after a meeting with his inner circle, which consisted mainly of his wives, his children and their spouses. These “parties” were basically an orgy with everyone having sex. This occurred in Berg’s inner circle way before it was taught to the rank-and-file members.
A quote from Berg: "We have a sexy God and a sexy religion and a very sexy leader and an extremely sexy young following!"
Many people who joined around 1971, didn’t even know Berg existed and thought they were just joining Christian revolutionaries.
A quote from Berg: "We have a sexy God and a sexy religion and a very sexy leader and an extremely sexy young following!"
Many people who joined around 1971, didn’t even know Berg existed and thought they were just joining Christian revolutionaries.
Aaron had been battling depression for a long time and his wife said he was on a downward spiral despite the help they tried to give him. In 1973, according to The Family, he died in a climbing accident, but Aaron’s wife knew that “years of paternal abuse and cruel manipulation” caused Aaron to commit suicide (Lattin 63). She knows this not only because she was living with him and seeing the changes in him, but also because he gave her a letter that turned out to be a suicide note.
Berg lost another one of his kids in 1978 when Deborah left the cult.
By this time Berg had groups of followers all around the world, while he was constantly moving to avoid angry parents, and police investigations.
“Flirty Fishing” may be Berg’s most infamous revelation that also made him God’s pimp. His female disciples would bring men into The Family by “selfless acts of sexual sacrifice”. In other words, have sex with men to get them to join. It originated when Berg was in London, but he didn’t send out Mo Letters about it until 1976, a year later. The letters were titled “God’s Love Slave” and “The FF Explosion”. One reason for why followers went along with this was the time period. It was a time of free love, and people were already having sex with others in the group. Women were not supposed to sleep with someone on the first date and they had to write reports about who they saw and what they talked about. Sometimes Berg would tell them to focus on a certain guy because he either had money or was spiritually hungry.
David Berg has managed to take on more wives, molest his daughters, pimp out his female followers, lose a son to suicide and lose a daughter to a the chance of a life of sanity. There are other smaller things that he has done, but I just wanted to cover the major stuff. What else could this maniac possibly be capable of? Unfortunately, a lot more
Video Clips:
1. “First Tuesday: The Ultimate Trip.” NBC. 1971. Accessed 25 February 2012. < http://www.xfamily.org/index.php/NBC_First_Tuesday:_The_Ultimate_Trip>
This is a documentary on the Children of God/The Family International by NBC. It focuses on the Texas Soul Clinic and life at this place. It interviews a lot of people on how they got to be there and why they liked it so much. There are 3 key parts that relate to this post:
7:20 – Talks about how members had to turn everything over to the group. Also talks about their aim to become self-sufficient.
11:20 – Talks about the group traveling on the buses all around the country and converting people along the way.
16:29 – Discusses how Bible study is the major activity of the Soul Clinic every day. Also shows how they focus on the end of time.
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Sara Kelley was a devotee who would become Ricky’s most influential nanny, as she chronicled Ricky’s upbringing in a highly sexualized environment. Her tale would be called The Story of Davidito. This would become the child care bible. This book included advice on child nutrition, teaching toddlers to read, and other child raising techniques. It also included details about Ricky’s sexual education which began when he was just an infant. Sara describes how when she would bathe him, Davidito would get excited and she would kiss his penis.
In this sick and twisted book, children are encouraged to watch their parents make love and then try it themselves. Davidito will experience this as well when he gets his own playmate.
Sara gave birth to her own child, Davida Maria Kelley, who was fourteen months younger than the Prophet Prince. Nevertheless, she and Ricky engaged in simulated sex acts when he was 18 months old and she was 5 months old. He would climb on top and “hump away” according to Sara.
One chapter of The Story of Davidito includes nude photos of Ricky and his mother striking sensual poses in bed.
**Note: one thing you’ll notice about the family photos from this book is that all the heads of the family members are covered with cartoon drawings in order to conceal identity.
Berg was sure to mention in his theory and writings that the children’s sexual freedom should not be practiced openly or in front of visitors/outsiders (a.k.a “systemites”).
Sara says “Daddy (Berg) told me he wants Davidito to have all the love he ever needed and wanted and didn’t get. And thank the Lord we can enjoy sharing real ‘loving up’ (sex) together. It all comes so sweet and naturally that it makes me wonder what all we must’ve missed in our own childhood” (Lattin 78).
It is unclear whether or not Berg ever tried to have sex with Ricky, but it is clear that he molested Davida. She says that he never had sexual intercourse with her because he believed girls weren’t of age until they were 12. Davida mentions that when growing up “there was absolutely nothing wrong with adults having sexual interaction with the children” (Lattin 78). She remembers being molested by Grandpa in the same bed with Ricky and Zerby who were having intercourse.
Berg loved to watch Davida dance sensually and topless at as young an age as 4 or 5. In fact he loved to watch any video tape of a young girl doing a sexy dance and he had these tapes sent to him from colonies all over the world.
Merry Berg (also called “Mene”) is the daughter of Aaron, David Berg’s eldest son, and his wife Shula. She was 14 when she was summoned to come live with “The Unit” (Berg’s closest devotees and family) because Berg thought it was time for her and Ricky to make a baby. Ricky, who was 12 at the time, remembers her arrival because it “raised the standard considerably for us. We were still kids, and we wanted to play with our toys and have fun, instead of worrying about watching all our actions and making a good impression” like Mene (Lattin 83). “She was always held up as the example for us to follow”.
Merry’s life of sexual abuse began at age 7. It started with some of her “superiors” at a music camp who abused her and videotaped her striptease for Grandpa. Later, it was Grandpa who was abusing her. She was called to Berg’s quarters and sexually molested on a number of occasions, sometimes even in the middle of the night. Like Davida, Berg didn’t have intercourse with Merry, but he sexually abused her. He even had a mock marriage ceremony with Merry, wedding ring and all.
When Berg tried to push Merry and Ricky together the adults suggested she put off interests in other boys, and she replied that if she couldn’t have sex with men that she chose that she’d get it from the devil. This was a mistake because over the next 2 months she was subjected to 5 exorcisms. In a court hearing much later she says during an exorcism “they took my head and beat it against the wall and bruised me. . . I fainted, throwing up. They said I was throwing up demons” (Lattin 84). Berg claims that due to anger, God did that to her, through him.
Berg sent out a letter to his followers warning them of rebellious teens and using Merry as an example, which actually worked to scare many teens straight. The letter contained the transcript of a recorded conversation during one of these horrible exorcisms where you read of Berg yelling at her, slapping her, beating her with a rod, telling her that her parents were insane, and he tells her the only way she’d make it in the real world is to be a drug-addled whore.
All of this abuse (sexual and physical) occurred in the presence of other members, usually Sara Kelley, and Zerby.
Merry was later sent to a “Victor Camp” in Macao, where she would spend the next 3 ½ years. The Family called these places “camps for Determined Teens” or “troublesome teens”. Merry, who was one of the first ones sent there, estimated that she saw about 15 teens go through the program, each kid with sentences varying from a couple months to a couple years. Merry claims to have been locked in a room for 6 months while there.
Davida was also sent to a Victor Camp in Japan and Brazil. She says “it was a way to reprogram their little heads”. She received public spankings for minor crimes.
The kids in Victor Camps were the second generation of disciples who never had a choice as to whether or not they wanted to follow Berg. Most of their parents had joined to get away from something (drugs, dysfunctional families, etc.) and had no idea how to be parents. So when they needed advice they turned to Sara Kelley. If my parents were raising me according to Sara, I’m confident in saying that I would rebel like in the same way.
The Macao center was the prototype for the other Victor camps, which were located around the world. Victor Camps are much like concentration camps and/or brainwashing centers. The Family tried to portray this place as a voluntary program with guidance and encouragement of teens in a small family atmosphere, with lots of love and prayer. A Judge later called this propaganda and stated the truth: kids were subjected to physical and psychological brutality:
Most parents didn’t know about this abuse and thought they were just sending their kids to be counseled. They couldn’t go home. No one would help them escape, so they were at the mercy of whoever Zerby put in charge. Many did not return to their parents when they “graduated” from the camp, but instead were sent to new homes to begin their adult proselytizing for The Family.
Anyways, Davida and Merry eventually got out of The Family and are both still alive. I wouldn’t say they are doing well, but they are surviving and doing better than expected. Now, what about Ricky?
Davidito never went to Victor Camp, but he did spend a short time in a school associated with The Family, until Berg pulled him out for hanging with the cool kids and getting adventurous. He moved to different countries and different jobs within The Family but just couldn’t escape his past that continued to haunt him.
Ricky tried to get/keep jobs and start a life with Elixcia, but had so much trouble shaking his past. He left Elixcia and moved around a little. He spent some time living in Tucson with Zerby’s parents, his grandparents. Then he ended up renting his own apartment nearby.
Berg died around 1994, leaving Karen Zerby in charge with her new boy-toy Peter Amsterdam. By this time, Merry had gone public with stories of her emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. As a result, Zerby had to make a public statement saying it was wrong and wouldn’t happen again. Many homes were raided and many children put in foster care while their parents were charged with abuse. This is good, but there are still a lot of people out there that have committed horrific crimes against children and they go unpunished
Zerby and The Family disavowed Flirty Fishing, and cracked down on sex between adults and minors, but they never renounced the “Law of Love” (the doctrine stating that incest, sex with minors, etc. is ok).
Video Clips:
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David Berg’s Experiments: Davidito
Who is Ricky Rodrieguez and how is he related to David Berg? Who played a part in Ricky’s upbringing? What was it like for the second generation disciples?
Ricky was born January 25, 1975 in the Canary Islands to his biological mother, Karen Zerby, and his spiritual father, David Berg. His biological father was a “fish” that Zerby had slept with one night when she was “flirty fishing”. Berg christened the baby “Davidito”. Davidito had a destiny to be the “Prophet Prince”, who would usher in the apocalypse alongside his mother. Berg also saw Davidito as an experiment for his theories on child sexuality.
Sara Kelley was a devotee who would become Ricky’s most influential nanny, as she chronicled Ricky’s upbringing in a highly sexualized environment. Her tale would be called The Story of Davidito. This would become the child care bible. This book included advice on child nutrition, teaching toddlers to read, and other child raising techniques. It also included details about Ricky’s sexual education which began when he was just an infant. Sara describes how when she would bathe him, Davidito would get excited and she would kiss his penis.
In this sick and twisted book, children are encouraged to watch their parents make love and then try it themselves. Davidito will experience this as well when he gets his own playmate.
Sara gave birth to her own child, Davida Maria Kelley, who was fourteen months younger than the Prophet Prince. Nevertheless, she and Ricky engaged in simulated sex acts when he was 18 months old and she was 5 months old. He would climb on top and “hump away” according to Sara.
Berg said “Children should be taught that their sexual parts are just as good as the rest of their bodies and that sexual activities, feelings, pleasure are no more evil than eating or other physical functions or exercise” (Lattin 74).
He also said “I don’t know what the hell age has got to do with it when God made’m able to enjoy it practically from the time they’re born!”
One chapter of The Story of Davidito includes nude photos of Ricky and his mother striking sensual poses in bed.
**Note: one thing you’ll notice about the family photos from this book is that all the heads of the family members are covered with cartoon drawings in order to conceal identity.
Berg was sure to mention in his theory and writings that the children’s sexual freedom should not be practiced openly or in front of visitors/outsiders (a.k.a “systemites”).
Sara says “Daddy (Berg) told me he wants Davidito to have all the love he ever needed and wanted and didn’t get. And thank the Lord we can enjoy sharing real ‘loving up’ (sex) together. It all comes so sweet and naturally that it makes me wonder what all we must’ve missed in our own childhood” (Lattin 78).
It is unclear whether or not Berg ever tried to have sex with Ricky, but it is clear that he molested Davida. She says that he never had sexual intercourse with her because he believed girls weren’t of age until they were 12. Davida mentions that when growing up “there was absolutely nothing wrong with adults having sexual interaction with the children” (Lattin 78). She remembers being molested by Grandpa in the same bed with Ricky and Zerby who were having intercourse.
Berg loved to watch Davida dance sensually and topless at as young an age as 4 or 5. In fact he loved to watch any video tape of a young girl doing a sexy dance and he had these tapes sent to him from colonies all over the world.
Merry Berg (also called “Mene”) is the daughter of Aaron, David Berg’s eldest son, and his wife Shula. She was 14 when she was summoned to come live with “The Unit” (Berg’s closest devotees and family) because Berg thought it was time for her and Ricky to make a baby. Ricky, who was 12 at the time, remembers her arrival because it “raised the standard considerably for us. We were still kids, and we wanted to play with our toys and have fun, instead of worrying about watching all our actions and making a good impression” like Mene (Lattin 83). “She was always held up as the example for us to follow”.
Merry’s life of sexual abuse began at age 7. It started with some of her “superiors” at a music camp who abused her and videotaped her striptease for Grandpa. Later, it was Grandpa who was abusing her. She was called to Berg’s quarters and sexually molested on a number of occasions, sometimes even in the middle of the night. Like Davida, Berg didn’t have intercourse with Merry, but he sexually abused her. He even had a mock marriage ceremony with Merry, wedding ring and all.
When Berg tried to push Merry and Ricky together the adults suggested she put off interests in other boys, and she replied that if she couldn’t have sex with men that she chose that she’d get it from the devil. This was a mistake because over the next 2 months she was subjected to 5 exorcisms. In a court hearing much later she says during an exorcism “they took my head and beat it against the wall and bruised me. . . I fainted, throwing up. They said I was throwing up demons” (Lattin 84). Berg claims that due to anger, God did that to her, through him.
Berg sent out a letter to his followers warning them of rebellious teens and using Merry as an example, which actually worked to scare many teens straight. The letter contained the transcript of a recorded conversation during one of these horrible exorcisms where you read of Berg yelling at her, slapping her, beating her with a rod, telling her that her parents were insane, and he tells her the only way she’d make it in the real world is to be a drug-addled whore.
All of this abuse (sexual and physical) occurred in the presence of other members, usually Sara Kelley, and Zerby.
Merry was later sent to a “Victor Camp” in Macao, where she would spend the next 3 ½ years. The Family called these places “camps for Determined Teens” or “troublesome teens”. Merry, who was one of the first ones sent there, estimated that she saw about 15 teens go through the program, each kid with sentences varying from a couple months to a couple years. Merry claims to have been locked in a room for 6 months while there.
Davida was also sent to a Victor Camp in Japan and Brazil. She says “it was a way to reprogram their little heads”. She received public spankings for minor crimes.
The kids in Victor Camps were the second generation of disciples who never had a choice as to whether or not they wanted to follow Berg. Most of their parents had joined to get away from something (drugs, dysfunctional families, etc.) and had no idea how to be parents. So when they needed advice they turned to Sara Kelley. If my parents were raising me according to Sara, I’m confident in saying that I would rebel like in the same way.
The Macao center was the prototype for the other Victor camps, which were located around the world. Victor Camps are much like concentration camps and/or brainwashing centers. The Family tried to portray this place as a voluntary program with guidance and encouragement of teens in a small family atmosphere, with lots of love and prayer. A Judge later called this propaganda and stated the truth: kids were subjected to physical and psychological brutality:
- worked 7 days a week doing physical labor, like breaking up cement, or digging up rocks and putting them back in the same hole, and they weren’t allowed to wear gloves during this work so their hands would become bloody and swollen.
- upon entering the camp, all personal belongings were confiscated.
- forced to wear clothes aimed at humiliation.
- there was food and sleep deprivation.
- kids often put on silence restriction where they were forbidden to speak to anyone unless responding to a superior. They would usually have their mouths taped over, headphones on (playing scripture), and have a sign around their neck saying not to talk to them.
- sometimes locked in small attics or rooms for days or weeks or longer.
- public beatings with whatever they could find: steel coat hangers, flyswatters, shoe horns, 2 by 4s, PCP pipes, etc.
There are some horrific accounts from kids that experienced the camps, a few are listed below:
- 15 year old (yo) girl forced to do the labor previously mentioned (digging up rocks) for 14 hours a day, while on silence restriction. She tried to drink bleach to kill herself and the camp leader beat her instead of taking her to the hospital.
- 15 yo boy forced to fast for 2 weeks while on hard labor
- one girl recalls the last time she saw her brother at a camp in Costa Rica: he was 9 months old and covered in bruises all over his back and legs.
- one girl saw a 2 yo boy held upside down, naked, and beat with a guitar wire by his father.
- some kids were exorcised, which meant they were tied to the bed and a group of people tried to exorcize them which could include raping the devil out of them.
Most parents didn’t know about this abuse and thought they were just sending their kids to be counseled. They couldn’t go home. No one would help them escape, so they were at the mercy of whoever Zerby put in charge. Many did not return to their parents when they “graduated” from the camp, but instead were sent to new homes to begin their adult proselytizing for The Family.
Anyways, Davida and Merry eventually got out of The Family and are both still alive. I wouldn’t say they are doing well, but they are surviving and doing better than expected. Now, what about Ricky?
Davidito never went to Victor Camp, but he did spend a short time in a school associated with The Family, until Berg pulled him out for hanging with the cool kids and getting adventurous. He moved to different countries and different jobs within The Family but just couldn’t escape his past that continued to haunt him.
Ricky ended up meeting a girl, Elixcia, and around 2001 they made their final break from The Family. Zerby gave Ricky money, which he’d asked for, in order to keep him quiet. When the money stopped a year later, he broke his silence and wrote numerous articles for the internet. He was more enraged at the abuse he saw Merry and Davida endure than he was upset with what he went through.
Ricky tried to get/keep jobs and start a life with Elixcia, but had so much trouble shaking his past. He left Elixcia and moved around a little. He spent some time living in Tucson with Zerby’s parents, his grandparents. Then he ended up renting his own apartment nearby.
Pressures from other second generation defectors were starting to build for Ricky. He knew what he wanted to do. He had been trying to find his mother’s whereabouts for a while, and had finally set up a meeting with Sue Kauten, Zerby’s personal secretary, one of Berg’s mistresses, and one of Ricky’s nannies (though not a significant one). She of all people would know how to find Zerby. Ricky wanted revenge. He wanted his mother dead.
Ricky picked Sue up for dinner, and took her to his apartment, where he proceeded to stab her 5 times and slit her throat. No one knows exactly what Sue told Ricky about his mother. His knife assault was vicious, but there was no evidence of torture.
Ricky got in his car and drove towards California. He called Elixcia in the car and told her he missed her, he was sorry he failed as a husband, and told her he was afraid to die. They talked a lot before hanging up. Ricky then drove off the highway a short distance and shot himself in the head.
Berg died around 1994, leaving Karen Zerby in charge with her new boy-toy Peter Amsterdam. By this time, Merry had gone public with stories of her emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. As a result, Zerby had to make a public statement saying it was wrong and wouldn’t happen again. Many homes were raided and many children put in foster care while their parents were charged with abuse. This is good, but there are still a lot of people out there that have committed horrific crimes against children and they go unpunished
Zerby and The Family disavowed Flirty Fishing, and cracked down on sex between adults and minors, but they never renounced the “Law of Love” (the doctrine stating that incest, sex with minors, etc. is ok).
The Family continues to operate to this day, still led by Zerby.
Video Clips:
1. This is Ricky Rodriguez’s suicide video, that he made this right before he went to go meet Sue Kauten. He talks about what he is doing and why and how he plans to do it. Unfortunately it is broken up into parts, but I have listed significant sections of each part below.
2:35 – Ricky talks about Merry (sometimes called Mene) and how she was better at pleasing the adults and how she set the bar high for the rest of them. He also talks about the bruises he used to see on her.
2:22 – He talks about the need for revenge.
1:50 – Talks about how Davida has nightmares of being dragged out of bed to go to Berg in the middle of the night.
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