Mother Anna: Survivors of violent cult describe abuse by Cobb woman
Decades before she made a life in Cobb County, she was the leader of a violent cult in Florida — where police say she beat and starved a toddler to death.
Anna Elizabeth Young went by "Mother Anna" at the House of Prayer for All People cult outside Gainesville, Florida. She goes by that name to this day. She is currently in a Florida jail on a murder charge after being arrested at her Marietta home in late November.
READ on myAJC | Mother Anna unmasked
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution interviewed those who said they survived alleged abuse inside the cult, including her daughter who lives near her mother’s home. An AJC reporter visited the former Florida cult site and reviewed hundreds of police and court documents obtained from state and federal agencies.
The paper trail on “Mother Anna” dates back to 1973 and stretches from Michigan to Puerto Rico. Learn how former cult members have dealt with their past and why investigators are looking again at Anna Young's past.
You can read the full story and watch interviews with survivors on myAJC.com.
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About the Author
Ben Brasch is the reporter tasked with keeping Fulton County government accountable. The Florida native moved to Atlanta for a job with The AJC. If there's something important to you going on in Fulton, he wants to know about it. Help him better metro Atlanta by dropping a line, anonymously or otherwise.
