N.Y. man helps teens flee Twelve Tribes : Effort similar to `underground railroad'

A New York man, distraught over his friend's total immersion in the Twelve Tribes, has set up an ``underground railroad'' to help teens flee the allegedly abusive, mind-controlling cult.

``When we pick these kids up, they're afraid,'' Kevin Coughlin said of the former members he has helped leave the controversial religious sect. ``They're told that if they leave, they're no longer under the anointed and they could be killed. At the very least, (they're told) they'll go to the `Lake of Fire.' ''

Coughlin, who lives in upstate New York near Albany, has helped several people leave the group in recent months, including Zeb and Nathan Wiseman, sons of the cult's second in command, Charles ``Eddie'' Wiseman. Zeb Wiseman fled in May, just days after his 18th birthday, by hopping into Coughlin's pickup truck during a planned late-night escape from the group's Cambridge, N.Y., commune. Zeb lived in a Taunton ``safe house'' for a few weeks, worked closely with Middleboro-based cult deprogrammer Robert Pardon, and is now staying with relatives in Georgia.

Coughlin's name is well-known among children who were born into the cult and many contact him through e-mail, seeking help leaving. He helps arrange their flight and then harbors them in a network of safe houses run by ex-members who know what the children need to assimilate into the mainstream.

``You walk into the community and see everyone smiling, but then there's what's going on inside. All people see is one big happy family, but they don't see what's underneath,'' Coughlin said.

He says the escapees he's dealt with tell horrific tales of routine physical and mental abuse. Some say they've been locked in basements and closets, whipped with thin sticks and forced to work in the cult's factories, making soap, furniture and other products sold commercially by the Twelve Tribes.

Teens are ``shuttled back and forth on the Mass Pike'' between New York and Massachusetts, laboring or working construction jobs for any of the group's various contracting businesses.

``These kids say they're working all the time. They push, push, push,'' Coughlin said. ``A lot of the communities' success is on the backs of these young men. Many, many hours. And they make no money. Everything is for the community.''
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N.Y. man helps teens flee group: Effort similar to `underground railroad'