Photo: Alachua County Sheriff’s Office
A former cult leader has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the deaths of two children in the 1980s, including a toddler who she allegedly locked in a closet.
Anna Elizabeth Young, 79, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Emon “Moss” Harper. Emon was between ages 2 and 3when his mother gave him to the “House of Prayer for All People” cult in Micanopy, Florida. He died around 1988 after he was locked in a closet and deprived of food and water.
Emon’s remains have never been found, but members of the cult told authorities that he died from abuse and a lack of nutrition, and that Young allegedly ordered his body to be burned in a barrel.
Cobb County
According toFirst Coast News, Young was arrested in 2016 after her daughter, Joy Fluker, turned her in to authorities. She was initially charged with an unrelated count of felony child abuse for allegedly causing severe burns after bathing a 12-year-old girl in a steel tub with chemicals, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office in Georgiaannouncedat the time.
Young, who was known as “Mother Anna,” led the House of Prayer in the 1980s. At its peak, the group had approximately 25 members. She also ran what authorities called a “religious boarding school.” According tothe Charley Project, Young allegedly forced members to give up their life savings. She also allegedly starved, beat and tortured her followers for their “sins,”
On Wednesday, Young pleaded no contest to both the murder and manslaughter charges,WCJB reported. All other charges have been dropped.
Young was sentenced to 30 years in prison for Emon’s murder and 15 years in the manslaughter death of Katonya. The sentences will run concurrently,
source: people.com
