Dutch Father Who Held 6 Children Underground for 9 Years was Creating own CULT

‘Weird rituals & fantasy language’: 

The father of six children who spent nine years in a farmhouse basement was a former Moonie “trying to create a cult of his own” and has been arrested for holding his brainwashed offspring against their will, Dutch media reported.

Gerrit-Jan van Dorsten, the bedridden patriarch of the basement-dwelling clan, is the second person to be arrested over the shocking discovery of the six adult siblings living in a farmhouse cellar in Drenthe province.

He and a friend, both former members of the Unification Church – commonly known as “Moonies” after its founder, Sun Myung Moon – were reportedly trying to start their own brainwashing cult. Josef Brunner, whom neighbors had believed to be the farmhouse’s sole occupant, was taken into custody earlier this week after the oldest son in the family escaped and raised the alarm about their plight.

The two men were trying to start their own cult, according to Unification Church members who spoke to Dutch media. After van Dorsten left the group, he moved to Germany and they “lost sight of him” – but rumor was that he’d set up a group of his own “with his family.”

The six adult van Dorsten children were moved to a holiday park after their basement prison – accessible only through a secret passage behind a kitchen cupboard – was discovered. But their cult rituals, including walking circles every half-hour, disturbed other guests, forcing authorities to move them elsewhere. The 25-year-old son who sought help from the pub owner has been moved to a separate location from his siblings, some of whom had been reduced to communicating in a "fantasy language" because of their isolation, authorities said.

Van Dorsten has been charged with “depriving people of their liberty, harming the health of others and money laundering,” police said in a statement on Thursday.

Authorities found tens of thousands of euros piled up at the farmhouse, believed to be donations from the Moonies. The sect confirmed van Dorsten was a member on Friday in a statement that noted he “suffered from mental health problems” and left in 1987. It claimed to have no records of Brunner’s involvement. A cousin of van Dorsten's still with the group claimed those mental health problems were what got him kicked out of the cult in the first place.

“At some point he got certain ideas in his head. Crazy ideas… He started talking and discussing that, but they immediately said, ‘no, we don’t want anything to do with it.’ At one point our church said: we cannot go any further with you,” he told Dutch outlet Algemeen Dagblad. 

Apparently, it wasn't unanimous as it appears some were still supporting him for years.

Van Dorsten’s family had not heard from him in decades and feared he was dead when he did not attend his mother’s funeral.

Authorities are still investigating whether “a certain religion or philosophy” played a role in the family’s nine-year isolation, during which none of the children attended school or apparently understood there were other people in the world. Even the house’s owner said she had no idea there was anyone living there – least of all a cult “waiting for the end times.”

Now that's bizarre!

Bizarre Story of Apparent Abduction and Imprisonment for 9 years of Dutch Family

Dutch family found living in cellar for 9 YEARS waiting for ‘end of days’

& unaware other people still existed

The farmhouse where the family was found © Ruptly

A family of six has been rescued from the hidden cellar of a Dutch farmhouse after the eldest son escaped and wandered into a local pub to seek help. They had lived in total isolation for nine years, ‘waiting for the end of time.’

Police descended upon the isolated farmhouse in Ruinerwold, Netherlands after the son, now 25, escaped on Sunday night and ran to a nearby pub for help. Explaining he had left at night because it was “not possible during the day,” the man – dirty, unkempt and confused, according to the pub owner – said he lived on the farm with his brothers and sisters and that he “wanted to end the way they were living.”

The children and a bedridden man, initially believed to be their father, had lived concealed in the basement of the farmhouse for nine years, waiting for the "end of time," according to Dutch media. One Josef B., 58, a handyman who was previously the only known tenant of the house, was arrested at the scene for refusing to cooperate with the investigation. 

The siblings lived in the basement of the house, which was only accessible through a hidden staircase behind a cupboard in the living room, and were reportedly unaware there were other people in the world. The house itself was isolated by a canal, accessible by a single bridge, and secured by a locked gate. Neighbors who tried to investigate found that the property was dotted with surveillance cameras. 

According to the eldest sibling, the children had never been to school, and they were not registered by any local authorities. The family was believed to be self-sufficient, with a vegetable plot and livestock to sustain them. Their mother is thought to have died before the family moved to the farmhouse – “a long time ago,” according to the mayor – though some reports suggest she is buried on the property.

The only one seen off the property was Josef B., whom neighbors witnessed driving in and out of the farm daily. He would also watch with binoculars to ward off intruders, neighbors reported.

Police are still investigating how the family lived for so long in isolation and the exact nature of the relationship between Josef B. and the family. The siblings have been removed from the home.

There can be no doubt that the children were uneducated and horribly deceived, thus mentally and emotionally abused. I wonder what other kind of abuse they might have been subjected to.