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CNN Live Today
Police Say Seedy Mix of Religion and Sex Has Taken Root in Georgia
Aired May 17, 2002 - 10:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: In other news today, pyramids about the landscape and opulence abounds, but the setting is not the sands of Egypt. It's actually the red clay of Georgia. And police say a seedy mix of religion and sex has taken root there.
Our John Vause has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dwight York, leader of a bizarre religious community in central Georgia, and now accused child molester, behind bars and refused bail because a judge says is he too dangerous to walk free. The case stems from the testimony of five children, aged between 5 and 16, but authorities say as many as 20 victims have come forward, many of them now adults.
At York's compound, an hour southeast of Atlanta, his followers have closed ranks.
(on camera): We are with CNN. We were wondering if we could come in and speak with someone about (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not giving any interviews.
VAUSE: Sorry, what was that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not giving any interviews.
VAUSE (voice-over): The place is now for sale, including two 40- foot high pyramids and replica Sphinx. Prosecutors allege as many as 75 children lived with their parents on this property at one time. Some of the children forced to have sex with York and with each other while he watched. According to court records, some, they say, were sodomized.
When federal and state officials moved in, they seized a large number of weapons. They say men slept on mattresses in a barn; women and children in the houses.
SHERIFF HOWARD SILLS, PUTNAM COUNTY, GEORGIA: Mostly, I went from room it room in a house that was just full of bunk beds. There was no air conditioning in there. It was extremely hot, and it was certainly not the cleanest place I have ever been in. VAUSE (on camera): The group moved here from New York in 1993, and they call this, Tamari or Egypt of the west. And the Nuwaubians claim to have both Egyptian and Native American heritage, because their ancestors, they say, came to Georgia from Egypt's Nile Valley long before the two countries were separated by continental drift.
(voice-over): As for Dwight York, he was first a Muslim, then he claimed to be from another planet called Rizq, then just Dr. Malachi York, then Chief Black Eagle of the Yamassee tribe, a retired Baptist minister, imperial grand potentate of the International Supreme Council of Shriners (ph), and most recently a Jewish rabbi.
York and his few hundred followers first clashed with local officials years ago over building permits. A bitter feud followed with accusations from both sides of racially motivated harassment with York's lawyer now claiming that sexual abuse charges are a setup.
LEROY JOHNSON, YORK'S ATTORNEY: There are those folks, those persons who are disenchanted with him or has some reason to dislike him or to believe that -- and he also believes that these charges are being aided and assisted by others from Putman county that particularly want to get rid of him.
SILLS: Well, my response to that is real simple, and that's a lie.
VAUSE: And with their leader in jail, York's followers were back out on the streets of Eatonton handing out flyers claiming they are the victims of a conspiracy, that the raid on their property was partly the work of the devil. And once again, they were refusing to talk.
(on camera): Do you truly believe that Mr. York is being crucified? Do you also believe that is he god and he is the savior of the Nuwaubian people, and that he will come down in a space ship in 2003?
SILLS: And I could care less whether they worship Malachi York or believe a space ship -- that's not my role. My role is to enforce the law and protect the people in this community, and that includes protecting children.
VAUSE: No trial date has been set, but York has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer says he plans to stand and fight.
John Vause, CNN, Eatonton, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And we're having a chance to talk more about this with a newspaper reporter who has been following the Nuwaubians for the past five years. Joining us to discuss that, Bill Osinski. He is a reporter for "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" -- good morning -- welcome (UNINTELLIGIBLE) here at CNN.
Now, this is a story that a lot of people are just kind of cluing into. You have been following Dwight York and these people for a number of years.
BILL OSINKSI, "THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION": Yes, I have been sort of on the story for about four years. I came across them on my travels in central Georgia, and I went back...
KAGAN: You saw some pyramids or...
OSINSKI: Yes. What are these doing in the middle of a cow pasture, you know? And it took me back to New York where they were in Brooklyn where they had been for about 20 years.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: Well, they are part of the Muslim community.
OSINSKI: Well, they called themselves Muslims, and they may have been pretty strict Muslims when they started, but it evolved into something else. The FBI was investigating them as a domestic terrorism threat back then for a number of alleged crimes, including welfare fraud, strong arm extortion, bank robberies and even one murder.
KAGAN: And this one is very serious. These are child sex abuse charges. The idea is or what is alleged here is that Dwight York is having sex with very young children among this group.
OSINSKI: Right. He brought people in, and then the charges are that he was having repeated frequent sex of all varieties with their children.
KAGAN: Now, how do we know it is not what these people claim, and they just say that they are a group, and they are trying to bring together -- this is the kind of place that they want to live. It's not a cult.
OSINSKI: Well, when they say it is a cult, you have you to sign applications alleging that you give up your rights, cut off ties with the outside world, and basically the followers see Dwight York as some kind of supreme being. That sort of adds up to a cult in my book.
KAGAN: And finally, we mentioned that you have been following these people for a number of years. Law enforcement officials have been. And when they decided to go in and arrest him, they were very careful in how they decided to do it...
OSINSKI: Right.
KAGAN: ... because they didn't want another Waco.
OSINSKI: Right. And this had a lot of similarities. There were allegations of child abuse. There were children on the property. There were allegations of a number of weapons on the property. And the last thing that they wanted was another showdown like they had.
So they planned this for at least a year, and they wound up going in there with massive force all at once, and they waited until Dwight York was outside the campus, so that he was arrested. And then they went in and executed their search warrants.
KAGAN: And what exactly did they find in there?
OSINSKI: A lot of 30, 40 weapons, about 400 grand in cash, tons -- not tons -- a lot of pornography. Some of the articles that the children had said in their statements to the investigators that they would find that he used in his little sex games with them.
KAGAN: And what has happened to the children that were being held there?
OSINSKI: Oh, well, there are a number of them that I would assume are still there. Some who may be witnesses later on have been taken into state custody.
KAGAN: And as a reporter, what's the next thing you are interested in seeing the next chapters of this, of the Nuwaubian story?
OSINSKI: Well, he has denied bond, so he won't be out until there is a trial date set, and there are a number of steps that have to be taken before that. It could be weeks or months until he decides to stand trial or enter some kind of a plea.
KAGAN: All right. Bill Osinski from "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution," thanks for joining us.
OSINSKI: Thank you.
KAGAN: I appreciate your insight on the story.
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