NEW YORK (CNN) — The suicide of a young man and the murder he committed before he killed himself are being blamed on a cult led by his mother.Ricky Rodriguez made this video before killing his former nanny and then taking his own life. Also disturbing, former members who spoke to CNN say they witnessed Ricky Rodriguez having sex with his mother, Karen Zerby, the leader of the sect now known as “The Family International.”The sect’s activities and history are detailed in a newly released book, “Jesus Freaks.” The sect was founded in California in the 1960s by David Berg, who referred to himself as “Mo,” short for Moses. Berg was a self-proclaimed prophet. Former sect members tell CNN Berg encouraged adult-child sex. More often than not, they say, the chosen child was Rodriguez, the son of Karen Zerby, who Berg called his queen. Zerby became the leader of the sect when Berg died in 1994.”Jesus Freaks” author Don Lattin says Berg “wanted his child to embrace sexuality, to be a sexual being as an infant and growing up.”Former members say Berg and Zerby wrote about their beliefs in papers distributed to members. It was Berg’s how-to guide for raising sexual children. The Family International now says all “questionable publications were officially renounced and expunged between the late 1980s and early 1990s.”In Berg and Zerby’s manifesto, Rodriguez was the main character.Former member Davida Kelley told CNN, “I actually witnessed Karen Zerby having intercourse with her own son, Rick Rodriguez, at age 11.” Kelley says she, too, had been abused by Berg, starting at age 5. “You were only required to have actual intimate intercourse with David Berg once you were, like, the mature age of, like, 12,” she says sarcastically.
Dave’s opinion: People WITNESSED the sex!!! Aren’t these people all accomplices to the rape, and ultimately the murder and suicide? Don’t the adults who watched this heinous act bear some responsibility here? Are we so afraid to expose religious child abuse that we let onlookers go free while Jack Kervorkian (sp) goes to jail?BULL! If you stand idly by while a child gets raped, YOU should go to jail. Priest, Mullah, Rabbi, cult leader, or bystander.