Ecclesia Athletic Association

The Ecclesia Athletic Association was a cult masquerading as a child athletic training organization, some of whose members were charged with slavery, manslaughter, and other charges in connection with group's operations. The cult, started by Eldridge Broussard, had a stated mission to help children escape the dangers of inner-city Los Angeles through physically demanding activities and exercise. On October 14, 1988 group members brought the body of Dayna Broussard, Eldridge's daughter, to a fire station in Sandy, Oregon, where the group had property. Following this death the 53 children housed by the organization were removed by state authorities. It was revealed that those children were subject to extreme fitness training and to physical punishments including floggings. Four staff members were convicted of manslaughter, while Broussard and seven others were charged with slavery by the Federal Government. Broussard died before that trial, while the other seven pleaded to lesser charges.

Founding

The Ecclesia Athletic Association was founded as a sister organization to the Watts Christian Center a church by Eldridge Broussard in the Watts Los Angeles neighborhood in 1975.[1][2] Broussard had been a basketball star at Pacific University, was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, and was ordained a minister.[3] He founded the Ecclesia Athletic Association with the goal to "lift children out of the dead-end ghetto life through athletic training and strict discipline."[2] The church, thanks to donations which for some members amounted their entire salaries, was able to buy an Avalon Boulevard bakery to serve as a commune.[1] In 1977 Broussard shifted his focus from the Watts Christian Center, which had lost most of its membership, to the Ecclesia Athletic Association, founded by Broussard and the few remaining members of the Christian Center.[4] The Ecclesia Athletic Association sponsored a successful 32 team basketball league, the largest in LA at the time and Broussard's sister ran a school focusing on nutrition;[5] children in the care of the Ecclesia Athletic Association stopped receiving formal schooling in 1984.[6] Broussard, who was called "The Coach" or "El" by members,[3][4] denied the Ecclesia Athletic Association was a cult, "People who call us a cult group have never been [to the Avalon Boulevard building]. They have never examined us. They assume people are kept here because they see our discipline, because our kids walk in a straight line.[5] The children took pride that they were unlike other blacks in Watts.[6]

Move to Oregon

The bulk of the group's members moved to Sandy, Oregon in 1987[7] though they did maintain their Avalon Boulevard headquarters.[1] The Sandy property offered a lot more space 18.5 acres on which Broussard told neighbors of plans to build pools and gymnasiums.[7] Broussard told the neighbors of their "plan for the welfare of a lost generation."[7] The Association bragged of the extensive calisthenics, including one to five thousand continuous jumping jacks, the children in its care could do as part of the goal of training the children to be Olympic athletes.[7][2] By late 1988 there were 53 children ranging in age from six weeks to sixteen years old[7] and the group had a second house in Clackamas.[5] These children's parents were all members of the cult, whose parents had asked forced to sign a vow of poverty upon joining the group, which put themselves, their children, and their assets under Broussard's control.[7][5] The life of residents in Oregon was highly regimented with the children training under the supervision of Broussard's oldest son, Eldridge Broussard III who was born in 1976.[3] During a reporter's visit to Oregon, teens and adults were observed working long days in the fields, unable to talk or sing because it would, according to a group spokeswoman, lower productivity.[3]

Neighbors did not notice any child signs of bruising or other scars when they saw the children and lent advice and equipment to the Ecclesia for their farming.[7][5] Some neighbors did experience unusual interactions with the children, not seeing them play and the time one of the children explained she was unable to speak to the neighbor who should instead talk to the Association's minister of external affairs and other neighbors fearing that they were a cult reminiscent of the followers of Rajneesh.[7] The neighbor's alarm grew as the Association began planting more crops, with claims of having grown 91,000 pounds of produce, and attempted to secure permission to place more tents and outside toilets across their property in order to legally house 100 people.[7][5][8] Neighbors grew increasingly suspicious that the children were being abused and repeatedly called authorities.[5] A deputy who was dispatched after several complaints, found fifty children living in a sweltering garage but took no action, with the Oregon Children's Services Division also declined to investigate, as Association members explained the children were in a training session.[7][5] Following an outcry at the zoning application by its neighbor's, which included the public release of the vow of poverty, Ecclesia withdrew its application and seemingly abandoned the property in October 1987.[7][3] The group had also faced resistance from neighbors in Clackamas, where Broussard was informed his land was zoned for farming not for housing large numbers of children.[5]

Death of Dayna Broussard

On October 14, 1988 four members of the Association, Willie K. Chambers, Brian James Brinson, Constance Zipporah Jackson, and Frederick Paul Doolittle brought the body of Dayna Broussard, Eldrige's 8 year old daughter and the second oldest of five children, to the Sandy fire station.[2][7][4] The four were arrested and charged with manslaughter.[7] Eldridge has been in Los Angeles at the time of his daughter's death,[2] but members of the Ecclesia had begun returning to Sandy two months earlier.[5] While investigating the death of Dayna, child welfare officials learned that 42 of the 53 children, all those who were older than five, were subjected to beatings of at least 100 lashes with paddles and an electrical cord and had been scarred.[7][5] The children were also regularly forced to watch others be punished; many had watched the punishment of Dayna which lead to her death.[7] In an affidavit officials describe a "cruel and terrifying experience, giving rise to mental injury."[7] The children were also regularly forced to go with limited food, sleep on the floor, and share only one or two working bathrooms.[7][5] Authorities explained that no children had tried to runaway because the cult was the only life they knew.[5]

Broussard said that the conditions authorities found were due to inexperienced members being placed in charge of the children while he was away and defended the punishments while talking about the beatings he experienced from his father and as cultural differences between Watts and Oregon.[7][9] Following the death Broussard announced he was dgoing to shut down both the Ecclesia Athletic Association and the Watts Christian Center,[10] though Ecclesia continued to operate.[11] In the aftermath, Broussard's brother Alvin was arrested for beating a ten year-old boy at their LA headquarters but prosecutors declined to charge Alvin with a felony.[9] The Oregon Children's Services Division defended their failure to investigate by explaining, "The issues raised were not neglect or child abuse, which is the only reasons we can go out in an investigation. They felt that the kids weren't being parented properly and that's not something we go out on. If we went out on every case of parenting skills, first of all we couldn't do it, and second, people would be angry at us."[5]

Once in state care, most were put in two reform schools, with the remainder being placed in foster homes.[6] During this time the children expressed more of a desire to see Broussard than their own parents.[6] The children acted much younger than their age and had little in the way of traditional schooling, instead having Biblical and fitness knowledge.[6] The children were "abnormally quiet and compliant" when initially entering care but became more rowdy when they discovered they would not be beat for misbehaving.[6] The state did attempt to recoup over $30,000 ($62077 in modern dollars) in costs of caring for the removed children from their parents,[12] though the overall costs of the care were substantially more.[13] By the end of 1988, Oregon state officials wanted to return some children to California to live with relatives.[14] These plans were complicated a few weeks later when the children's parents, who had been visiting their children, announced that they would stop visiting as they refused to renounce their connection to Ecclesia.[15] The organization faced its own roadblocks in reunification, when a judge blocked a request from the Ecclesia in July 1989 to let the children participate in a summer camp.[11] Officials also tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent the children from meeting with defense lawyers.[16]

Aftermath

Many were angry that there had only been a charge of manslaughter in Dayna's death, which the prosecutor explained by stating that more serious charges would have required more evidence of intent.[7] During the three week trial prosecutors explained that Dayna's punishment stemmed from her stealing zucchini from another child and escalated from there.[17] Several of the Ecclesia children testified that Dayna had been beaten 200 to 845 times, while children and adults testifying for the defense said it was 50 to 100 times.[17] After a day of deliberation the jury found all four guilty of first degree manslaughter.[17] At the sentencing Broussard asked the judge for clemency, but the four were sentenced to the maximum 20 years, though they were eligible to be paroled in 40 months, Brinson and Doolittle, or 10 years, Chambers and Jackson.[18]

On February 7, 1991 Federal prosecutors indicted Broussard, his brother, Chamers, Zipporah Jackson, and four others for slavery and denying children their civil rights.[19][20] Stephen Peifer, the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case called it "the largest child slavery ring in the history of the United States."[1] While still awaiting trial, Broussard, who had become more reclusive following the indictments and convictions, died of complications from diabetes on September 5, 1991.[1][21] On January 17, 1992 the remaining seven "pleaded guilty.. to lesser charges and were given prison terms ranging from 2 1/4 to 8 years."[22]

Brian James Brinson was released early from his twenty year prison sentence. In 2002 he was charged with several counts of sexual abuse and found guilty of one count. The charges were unrelated to his involvement in Ecclesia. In May 2013, he was shot to death by two teenagers.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 STOLBERG, SHERYL (1991-09-06). "Indicted Cult Leader Broussard Dies : Commune: Ex-Watts minister faced charges of enslaving children at Oregon farm". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 McCall, William (2018-09-05). "Founder of Ecclesia Assn, Where Girl Beaten To Death in 1988, Dies At 39". AP News. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 TIMNICK, LOIS (1987-06-22). "Ecclesia--New Life or Another Cult Invasion?". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  4. 1 2 3 MURPHY, KIM (1988-11-01). "Miracle Child Was Messiah to Followers in Watts Group". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Ellis, Barnes (1988-10-23). "Ecclesia: Death and contradictions in Oregon compound". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 STOLBERG, SHERYL (1988-11-15). "Children of Ecclesia Slow to Cut Ties to Past". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Parker, Laura (1988-10-25). "ECCLESIA GROUP WAS A MYSTERY TO COMMUNITY_UNTIL GIRL DIED". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  8. ↑ From United Press International (1987-06-29). "Ecclesia to Drop Housing Proposal". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  9. 1 2 Lesar, Jack (1988-10-20). "A Los Angeles ghetto pastor said Thursday allegations of..." UPI. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  10. ↑ Press, From Associated (1987-07-25). "Ecclesia Leader Tells Mourners He'll Suspend Group's Activities". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  11. 1 2 "Plan for Return of Children Rejected". Los Angeles Times. 1989-07-08. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  12. ↑ "Oregon Has Difficulty Obtaining Child Care Debt". Los Angeles Times. 1990-11-13. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  13. ↑ "Local News in Brief : Funds for Care of Ecclesia Youths OKd". Los Angeles Times. 1989-01-12. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  14. ↑ STOLBERG, SHERYL (1988-12-03). "Oregon Prepares to Return Some Ecclesia Children to California". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  15. ↑ Services, From Times Wire (1989-01-25). "Ecclesia Parents Cut Off Visits to Their Children". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  16. ↑ "Local News in Brief : Ecclesia Children to Be Questioned". Los Angeles Times. 1988-12-08. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  17. 1 2 3 Mosier, Laura (1989-05-12). "Four Ecclesia defendants convicted of manslaughter". UPI. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  18. ↑ Dipietro, Benji. "Ecclesia members get 20 years in beating death". UPI. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  19. ↑ AP. "Commune Chief Charged With Child Slavery". Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  20. ↑ Singer, Margaret Thaler (2003). Cults in Our Midst (Rev. ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. p. 85. ISBN 0-7879-6741-6. OCLC 50803257 – via Questia. (Subscription required (help)).
  21. ↑ "Autopsy on Group's Founder". New York Times. 1991-09-13.
  22. ↑ Associated Press (1992-01-19). "7 Plead Guilty to Conspiracy in Ecclesia Child Beatings". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  23. ↑ Staff, KATU.com. "Man convicted in 1988 'Ecclesia' death shot to death". KATU. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
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