Eight members of religious group charged with child abuse

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors allege eight people connected to an organization based in Kansas City, Kansas, forced children to work without pay and abused them for years. An indictment unsealed on Tuesday charges the organization, formerly known as the United Nation of Islam, with conspiracy to commit forced labor and forced labor. A federal judge is Kansas labeled the group a cult in 2018. The group was founded in the 1970s by Royall Jenkins and is also known as the Value Creators. The indictment alleges that since at least 2000, the organization ran businesses in several states using unpaid labor from followers and their children. Prosecutors also allege the children were abused.