Mum on run from religious drug cult in US wins battle to keep kids in Scotland

Daily Record

5 days ago

A mother who fled to Scotland from America to escape a religious drugs cult has won a court custody battle over her two children.
A mum has won a legal battle in Scotland's highest court to protect her two young children from a religious drug cult.
‌
The unnamed woman fled to Scotland from the USA with them 20 months ago to escape the Santo Daime movement of which she was once a member.
‌
Her former husband launched a legal action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh last month (July) accusing his wife of abducting their children.
‌
However one of Scotland's most senior judges Lady Tait this week ruled that the youngsters - aged nine and seven - should remain in Scotland. The father, who was also unnamed, sought the return of his children on the basis that they had been unlawfully removed from the USA.
The court was told that the couple married in 2016 and divorced seven years later. They met through a religious movement named Santo Daime, described in court as a religious drug cult involving the use of the psychoactive drug Ayahuasca.
‌
The mother claimed she was told to give her baby the substance before she started breast feeding.
She left the cult in August 2020 and underwent therapy to recover. The children were then brought to Scotland. Witnesses including teachers, family friends, and others said the children were settled here and did not want to go back to the USA.
In October 2024, the dad applied to the Supreme Court for the State of New York for an order granting him custody of the children. The court granted the order in January 2025 as well as a warrant for the mum's arrest.
‌
However in a 29 page judgment published this week Lady Tait found in the mother's favour. She added:"On the evidence before the court, I am satisfied that if the respondent (the mother) returned with the children to the US, there is a grave risk that she would be arrested and imprisoned and the children would be removed from her care and placed into the care of the petitioner (the father).
"To be removed from the respondent's care, even for a short period, and in the context of having been removed from their settled lives in Scotland, would put the children into a situation which they should not be expected to tolerate.
‌
"The available evidence is that the children have established good and settled lives in Scotland. "A swift return is now impossible. The children clearly object to being returned to the US and being uprooted from their lives here."
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
The court was told that the children were born in the USA and lived there until December 2023 and have not had contact with their dad in almost two years. Their mother, described in courts as an artist, was also born in the US but has UK citizenship through her parents.
‌
Throughout her childhood, she frequently visited family members in Scotland.
The couple met in 2015 through the Santo Daime movement which the mum described as a religious drug cult. She said members are required to consume Ayahuasca which contains the hallucinogenic drug Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and are also subjected to control from more senior members.
‌
She claimed Santo Daime leaders said her baby should taste the 'medicine' before her breast milk to which she complied. The mother said she gave a lot of money to Santo Daime and would do whatever she was told.
She also claimed her husband was abusive and controlling and wouldn't allow her to turn on the heating in winter although they had young children.
She further claimed he had psychotic episodes and believed he was Jesus Christ. For a time he became fixated on their oldest child not being his. As a result she became fearful that she could not protect the children from their father and the Santo Daime movement if they remained in the USA.
‌
However the husband, a delicatessan manager, said he was no longer involved in Santo Daime and accepted that the children should not participate though his mother and brothers are still members. He denied believing he was Jesus Christ or threatening or controlling behaviour.
Santo Daime was founded in the 1930s in Brazil. Ceremonies are typically several hours long where Ayahuasca is then drunk. The substance which is made from vines and plants is illegal in the UK because it contains DMT a Class A drug.