A trans woman has admitted to her ‘horrifying’ upbringing as part of her late father’s ‘evil’ cult, which forced people to live in a compound unable to venture out into the wider community.
42-year-old Yaya DeCloud, who was born as a male, told how her father, a former police officer, became the spiritual leader of the ‘DeCloud’ family cult, using it to satisfy his sexual urges, kidnapping and raping fellow members. Claiming he used the bible to manipulate the community, she told how he died behind bars in 2024 after being imprisoned in 1993, serving part of a 220-year sentence for kidnapping, felonious restraint, rape and forcible sodomy.
Read more: 'I took DNA test for a laugh - and accidentally uncovered my mum's devious past'
A trans-woman has spoken for the first time of how she escaped an evil cult led by her father who kidnapped and raped fellow members (SWNS)Speaking out for the first time about her ordeal and life in the cult, where she endured both physical and emotional abuse, the trainee peer support specialist, from Chicago, Illinois, told the nypost.com: “There were 30 of us living on a commune, we never ventured out into the community. We had our own church service and would never leave the property.”
After admitting her father controlled everything, she said: “We saw him as the interpreter from God, whatever he said or did came from God.” Referring to him as a "strict, very temperamental person,” she said: “I am sure he loved us, but if we did one thing wrong he would blow up.”
New Year resolutions you should make for 2023 based on your star sign
“We saw him as the interpreter from God, whatever he said or did came from God.” (SWNS)
She told how her and her siblings endured physical and emotional abuse as part of her late father's cult (SWNS)Living in the DeCloud community until she escaped with her sisters in December 2000, she revealed that while living on the commune was ‘tough’ and ‘strict’, it was all she and her family knew. She said: “He was controlling and he did use the Bible to manipulate and control us. But I think he believed what he said.”
After admitting she had: “Heard a lot of terrible things that my Dad may have done", she claims that after he was imprisoned, he still tried to control the family from there, sending letters and phoning her mum and grandma: “My dad made a code sheet for pagers, so we could communicate with each other and warn each other of danger.”
She also told how she and her two sisters left the cult in 2000, saving up £30 ($40) from their £4 ($5) weekly allowance to leave the 'controlling' family compound. Yaya said: “My sister got one of her guy friends in California to get us a hotel in Jefferson City, Missouri. Everyone in the compound was asleep and we wrote letters to our family members to tell them we were sorry, we had to leave."
Her father Nelson DeCloud, 73, was a former police officer and spiritual leader of the group which he used to satisfy his own sexual urges (SWNS)She continued: “I remember the night so vividly, the roads were slippy and we kept slipping and falling. We had a taxi waiting to take us to a hotel.”
When her father passed away in 2014, she was able to visit him in prison to say goodbye: “When it came down to it he was my Dad and I still loved him. All of his kids except one were there. We all said our goodbyes, formed a circle and prayed for him one last time.”
After her dad’s death and the break up of her marriage, Yaya came out as trans in 2019. She said: “I didn’t start living as a woman until 2019, it was something that was always there. I realised I was trans when I was 13/14 but it was something I never acted upon.”
“I am currently single and living my best life – I couldn’t be happier.”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
