As children growing up in a controversial religious sect, they spent every day ‘paralyzed by fear’. They were physically abused, banned from school and told they would die as martyrs aged 12. But now, twin sisters Flor and Tamar Edwards, 34, have escaped from The Children of God cult and are both living and working in California – one as a freelance writer, the other as a yoga teacher. They have opened up to ABC’s Nightline about their lives inside the sect – which blended free love attitudes with preparing for the second coming of Jesus – and their transition to the outside world.

SACRAMENTO, California – A man has been arrested in the disappearance and death of 6-year-old Jadianna Larsen. Jadianna was first reported missing Thursday morning around 11 a.m. by her mother’s boyfriend, 25-year-old Juan Rivera. Rivera, who was Jadianna’s caretaker, told investigators that he had a “medical emergency” and woke up to find the girl missing.

A Washington father of 12 has been arrested for allegedly beating, starving and raping his children as part of a cult. “These children were held against their will, denied nutrition, denied medical care, and physically and sexually abused,” Scott Wilson, of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, told Q13 Fox. “It’s one of the worst cases of abuse we’ve ever seen.”

PORTLAND, OREGON – As it approaches five years since the disappearance of Kyron Horman, who was 7 years old when he was last seen at Skyline Elementary School, a reward of $50,000 is being highlighted in hopes of finally solving the case. Kyron Horman disappeared on June 4, 2010. The case made headlines around the country as crews searched for any sign of the boy.

JACKSON, Michigan – One day before he was arrested for allegedly killing an 18-month-old in March, Scott Jurewicz became a suspect in the death of a second child, a 21-month-old Summit Township boy. While Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka was waiting to press any criminal charge until his office received what he said was a critical medical report, Scott Jurewicz, 27, began a relationship with another woman. He was living in her home near Vandercook Lake when her son was found dead Thursday, May 21, according to court records.

A Republic man was arrested after a manhunt in Mississippi, and he is now facing 11 felony charges in Greene County for allegedly molesting and sodomizing an 8-year-old girl. Donovan B. Lipich, 44, was charged Wednesday with five counts of statutory sodomy, five counts of child molestation and one count of attempted statutory rape. According to court documents, an 8-year-old girl told authorities Lipich had been molesting her since she was 7 — touching her inappropriately, forcing her to touch him and forcing her to perform sex acts on him.

PORT HURON, MI — In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Frank Hawkins got news no relative wants to hear. The Port Huron man sat on a stoop in front of 829 Oak St. after hearing that his five-year-old granddaughter — a child he described as “a beautiful little girl” — had died. “I’m just in total shock,” Hawkins said. “I need to go wake up my wife and tell her our granddaughter died.” Across the street, a boy wearing a backpack sat on his front porch and watched police come and go at the Oak Street home. And children walking to school or waiting for the bus looked around barricades to catch a glimpse of the home roped off with police tape.

FLORIDA – Two brothers stand accused of repeatedly raping a girl living in their West Palm Beach home for at least the last three years. Facing hundreds of charges of sexual assault against the girl who is now 13, the two are being held without bail in the county jail. West Palm Beach police say Noe Ramos, 28, and Uriel Ramos, 26, confessed to the crimes, which amounted to each man raping the girl multiple times a week.

LONDON — The extraordinary scale of sexual abuse perpetrated against children by British VIPs was laid bare on Wednesday when officials disclosed that they were investigating allegations against 76 politicians and almost 250 “persons of public prominence.” Thousands of victims have come forward since police forces launched a series of investigations into child abuse that went unpunished for decades. In total, police are investigating 1,433 suspects as part of inquiries into abuse within institutions or committed by prominent men.

TOMPKINSVILLE, Kentucky – BREAKING: KSP has confirmed that the body of Laynee Wallace has been found in a well in Barren County. The body is being take to Louisville for a thorough autopsy. The place Laynee Wallace was found is only a few miles from where she was living with her mother and Anthony Barbour, the prime suspect. Police say the property where the 2 year old was found belongs to the Barbour family. Anthony Barbour was arrested today at approximately 1:16 PM CST at the Temple Hill Volunteer Fire Department during a traffic stop.

In 2005 my daughter was 8 yrs old. I had taken her to meet my sister and her husband every other weekend so they can babysit for her while my husband and I worked 3 jobs. While in his care my brother -in -law molested my daughter. Through a program at school [good touch/bad touch] my daughter told the school Alan had touched her inappropriately. This happened on the day of her 8th birthday. The school contacted me and that is when I was told he had molested her. We went to court and he was given 10-life.

Louis has gained access to Coalinga Mental Hospital in California, which houses more than 500 of the most disturbed criminals in America, convicted pedophiles. Most have already served lengthy prison sentences, but have been deemed unsafe for release. Instead, they have been sent here for an indefinite time. Spending time with those undergoing treatment, Louis wrestles with whether he can ever allow himself to believe men whose whole history is defined by deception and deceit.

An autopsy to be performed on Thursday may help Bellefontaine authorities determine how a 5-year-old boy died early Wednesday. Just after noon on Monday, a woman called 911 seeking medical attention for her boyfriend’s son, Michael G. Barton. “He’s 5 years old. He is not breathing and we’re not feeling a heartbeat,” Skybree Schindler said from her home in Bellefontaine. Dispatchers instructed Schindler and the boy’s father, Anthony Barton, 24, also of Bellfontaine St., to perform CPR until medics arrived. As Schindler talks to dispatchers, Barton can be heard in the background saying, “Come on buddy. We’ve done this before. Come on.” The boy was taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead just before 1 a.m. Wednesday.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida—With handcuffs on her wrists and tears rolling down her cheeks, Heather Hironimus looked up to the courtroom ceiling, briefly clasped her hands together in prayer, and finally picked up her attorney’s pen. The 31-year-old West Boynton mom — jailed since May 14 for defying a judge’s custody order and refusing to let her 4 1/2-year-old son be circumcised — gave her consent to the procedure wanted by the boy’s dad, Dennis Nebus, of Boca Raton.