22-07-2025
I was beaten with a stick from age 2 on Jesus Army farm where paedo ‘prophets' abused kids & ‘deserters' turned up dead
TO casual visitors the Jesus Army's communal farms in a quiet Northamptonshire village appeared idyllic.
Children played in the fields, picked fresh fruit and did not face the pressures of the modern world.
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But for the kids who grew up in rural Bugbrooke under the terrifying regime of wild-haired preacher Noel Stanton, it was a nightmare.
Children weren't allowed toys, crisps, television, radio, hobbies, sugar or even to visit museums.
A new BBC documentary titled The Rise and Fall of the Jesus Army reveals how children were beaten on a daily basis if they broke these rules and told they were 'possessed'.
Even worse was the sexual abuse in a Christian community that was supposed to value celibacy.
The controversial church, which began life as the Jesus Fellowship in 1973, closed its doors for good in May 2019 following over 600 allegations of abuse.
Founder Stanton, who died in 2009 aged 82, was among the powerful men accused of assaulting the flock.
Breaking the spell Stanton's cult had over them is difficult.
Nathan, 38, who was born into the Jesus Army and sexually abused by a 'man in his 40s' from the age of ten, says that Noel is 'still someone I respect".
He explains: 'It was my whole life basically. I would spend hours with Noel shouting at us that you would go to Hell for stupid little things you did as a kid.'
Stanton, originally from Bedfordshire, ran a stationery business before becoming pastor of the Baptist church in Bugbrooke in 1957.
I was trapped in a cult & forced to give all my money to leaders who made me unwell with their 'cruelty'
Over the following decade he attracted increasingly 'unorthodox individuals' to his evangelistic sermons.
Earlier follower John says: 'He claimed he was a prophet speaking God's will.'
Fervent believers would speak in tongues and think they had been touched by Jesus.
The congregation were expected to be totally devoted to the Jesus Fellowship.
John continues: 'It wasn't just a case of just going to church, it was a case of belonging to the church.'
'Extreme and dangerous'
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That devotion went further in 1974 when New Creation Hall and New Creation Farm were opened.
Stanton's disciples sold their home and all their worldly goods to buy these properties, which they didn't own.
The homes would be shared by any of the followers living there.
Magsy, who was brought up in nearby Upper Stowe, recalls: 'We were playing in the fields and picking fruit. It was beautiful.'
But Philippa Barnes, who was aged seven when she moved there, could sense something was wrong.
She says: 'We were very tightly overseen by Noel. You didn't have time with your mum. It was extreme. It was dangerous.'
Families were split up, with some children placed with strangers and married couples slept in separate beds.
The women were separated from the men, who were in control of the community.
Elders, who were always male, were expected to enforce the rules.
Magsy recalls: 'There were no crisps, no worldly things because that was inviting the devil in.'
In the evening Noel and other elders would purge people of their 'sins' as they writhed about on the floor convulsing like something out of The Exorcist movie.
Magsy continues: 'There would be people who looked possessed, people laying hands on them, Noel crying out 'the devil'.'
Suspicious deaths
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This remained hidden from the outside world until Stephen Orchard, 19, died in suspicious circumstances in 1978 after leaving the 'cult'.
His injuries suggested he had lain on a railway track in the path of a train less than a mile from Bugbrooke, but the coroner recorded an open verdict.
Stephen wasn't the only one.
Eighteen months earlier David Hooper, 24, had died from exposure to freezing temperatures at the farm after being outside partially clothed in early December 1976.
Then in 1986, Jesus Army member Mohammed Majid was found floating in an underground water tank on the grounds.
There would be people who looked possessed, people laying hands on them, Noel crying out 'the devil'
Magsy
The publicity around Stephen's death did nothing to quell interest in this new way of life.
By 1980 their communes had over 430 residents and were running a string of businesses, including a hotel and health food shops.
With followers working for the love of the religion, the coffers swelled.
For the children who could not escape, it was a brutal upbringing with regular punishment beatings.
Magsy, who was beaten with a stick from the age of two, says: 'I was rodded every day. The brothers decided if you were defiant.'
Sexual abuse
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John was the first of the disgruntled grown-ups to leave and to go public with his concerns.
As a result the Jesus Fellowship was thrown out of the Baptist Union and the Evangelical Alliance in 1986.
Unperturbed, Stanton launched the Jesus Army the following year in a bid to bring in fresh converts.
Church members were sent out into cities such as London to find waifs and strays in need of a bed.
They opened up a Battle Centre in the capital and more communities in places such as Sheffield.
Next up were raves in warehouses, with people singing 'we are generation J' and talking about getting a 'natural high' from God.
But word got around paedophiles that the Jesus Army offered easy access to young children.
And the elders failed to crack down on reports of sexual abuse.
Sarah recalls how brazen one senior member of the church was.
She says: 'He would put his hand on my thigh under the table while his wife was across the room. He just shut me down.'
When Philippa told the police that a Jesus Army member had sexually assaulted one of her friends he was sentenced to six months in prison.
But he only served half of that time inside and was welcomed back as leader.
After Noel died the new leaders introduced safeguarding training and safeguarding officers.
The damage, though, had been done.
An investigation by Northamptonshire Police titled Operation Lifeboat uncovered 214 allegations of abuse.
Only five of the abusers were prosecuted and only two of them received custodial sentences, the longest being Nigel Perkins and Alan Carter, who received three year jail terms in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
DC Mark Allbright explains: 'It was difficult, there was closing of ranks.'
An independent review in 2017 carried on behalf of the Jesus Army found that Stanton had abused boys and that the leaders had failed to act.
Facing hundreds of compensation claims the church closed two years later.
Those cases are ongoing and many more victims are yet to come forward, with one in six children in the Jesus Army believed to have experienced abuse.
The Jesus Fellowship said: 'We continue to hold out an unreserved apology to anyone who has been affected by abuse and failings of any kind in the Jesus Fellowship.
'In 2013 we, as the senior leadership of the church, initiated a wide-ranging process that invited disclosures of any kind of abuse, both historic and recent, and referred all such reports to the authorities.'
