David Murdoch

CAUTION: This article contains explicit text and/or images that some may find disturbing or offensive. This article contains graphic descriptions of child abuse and may be disturbing for some viewers.

David A. Murdoch (Australian, also known as Joshua, Michael and David Murdock) joined The Family in India in the 1970s. He later began a relationship with Valerie Jones, who was then married to Christopher Carruthers (aka Simon Peter), that lasted for a number of years and during which he acted as a stepfather to several of her children.

A number of people born and raised in The Family, including some of Murodch's step-children, have alleged that he violently physically abused them and sexually molested them over a period of many years.

In a British child custody case, one of Murdoch's step-children testified that Murdoch sexually molested her for the first time when she was 3 years old:

8. KJ spoke of remembering very clearly of the first occasion, aged 3, in London, when her step father "touched me up, playing with me, my vagina, I remember him licking me out, fingers inside me". She spoke of this through her tears. This sort of abuse happened often. She felt "quite scared" by it. She knew it was sex but thought he was showing her love. He would grab her head and force fellatio on her. He tried to penetrate her when she was only 7 or 8 and it hurt. He was a crude man who would boast openly about his daughter being "a good fuck".

In September 1994, the UK Criminal Injuries Compensation Board awarded a survivor of Murdoch's abuse £5,000 as compensation for injuries she suffered as a result of child abuse in the UK. While the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board determined that she had suffered injuries as a result of criminal acts of child abuse by Family members in the UK, India and other countries, its compensation award was based solely on abuse that occurred in the UK.

During the Turle child custody case in the early 1990s, some Family members claimed that The Family had excommunicated Murdoch due to credible allegations that he had physically and sexually abused children. However, The Family never reported any of these allegations to law enforcement and child welfare agencies or took any action to protect children from the risk of harm by preventing him from any contact with children being raised in The Family. Indeed, it later emerged that in fact he was never permanently excommunicated from The Family and continued to be a full member of the organization for many years in Kenya and other countries. In a biography posted on a web site promoting his services as a "life coach" in Australia, Murdoch states that he " was Chairman & Co-founder of Family Care Missions a still active NGO, in Kenya." The web site of "Family Care Missions" states that it is "a project of The Family International" and that it provides services to children. Photographs on the "Family Care Missions" web site indicate that many of its staff and volunteers have direct contact with and access to children.

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External links

• Not Without My Sister — web site for a book whose authors include two of Murdoch's children and which details allegations of physical and sexual abuse against Murdoch
• David A. Murdoch, CPC — web site promoting Murdoch's services as a "life coach"
• Family Care Missions, a project of The Family International — web site for non-profit organization founded by Murdoch