Odessa American: 'Children' Drop Suit On Damages

'Children' Drop Suit On Damages

Odessa American/1973-07-30

DALLAS (AP) - The Dallas colony of the Children of God has dropped a $1.1 million libel and slander suit against a group of parents who had picketed in protest to the fundamentalist religious sect.

The request for dismissal of the lawsuit was made four days after a state court authorized an order by the parents requiring the Children of God to produce a financial and membership records.

The lawsuit was filed in October, 1971, after a demonstration by parents outside the Dallas federal building.

In their suit the colony maintained that the parents depicted the religious sect as a subversive group.

The Children of God were also pictured as guilty of kidnaping young persons, using drugs and hypnotism on them, and extorting money from converts, the suit said.

In a printed statement, the sect said the lawsuit was dismissed because the parent's allegations "have proven to be only a repoach upon themselves."

The COG professes to be a fundamentalist movement which established commune - oriented sects whose members are said to follow the day-to-day living principles of the early Christians.