‘Google cult leader who tried to bed 100 male followers in a DAY gives chilling warning to betrayers,’ member claims
The Sun
by Katy Forrester
Oregon House, CA
July 29, 2022
The leader of a California 'cult' which has landed Google in a
lawsuit is abusive and has given a chilling warning to those who want to
leave, a current follower has claimed.
Former Google video producer Kevin Lloyd is suing after alleging the tech giant's studio in Mountain View, California was made up mostly of members of The Fellowship of Friends.
The controversial religious sect, led by Robert Earl Burton, has its
headquarters based in Oregon House, a small town deep in the
Sierra foothills, around 200 miles away from the Google studio.
Lloyd alleges in his lawsuit he was fired after complaining about the
department's link to the Fellowship and its bizarre practices,
including Burton's rumored 'love fests' where he tried to bed 100 male
followers in a day.
News of his firing came after a bombshell Spotify podcast, Revelations, hosted by investigative journalist Jennings Brown, who spoke to men claiming they were sexually exploited.
The Fellowship, also known as Living Presence and the Fourth Way
School, was founded by Burton in 1970, who previously settled a sexual
abuse lawsuit in the 1990s.
A current member of the group has now bravely decided to break ranks
to speak to The Sun about the allegations the leader has faced over the
years, while he has never been criminally charged.
The woman, who wants to remain anonymous for fear of retribution,
said she believes the many survivors who gave harrowing accounts of
alleged abuse in the podcast.
The Fellowship of Friends, which has around 1,500 members worldwide,
is still active and run by Burton, 83, who lives at the headquarters in
northern California.
Asked how she feels to hear about the latest claims featured in the
podcast, the member told The Sun: "It's horrible. It bothers me, it's
always bothered me. It should be called out."
She added: "Nobody that's in the group is supposed to talk to you."
The member, who said she rejoined years after leaving as her late
husband and friends were still followers, said Burton should be removed,
saying: "I do think it would be wonderful for the health of the
community."
Asked if she feels the Fellowship is a cult, she admitted: "It's
absolutely a cult. It meets all the criteria, it's leader centric, and
you're punished if you leave."
Quizzed on what members are told will happen, she cackled: "Oh, you are going to the outer reaches of hell!"
She added that when someone starts "exerting their spiritual
authority," the choices are to speak out against what's happening within
the group or leave.
"But for many people it's like, this is their social life, this is
their spiritual life, this is their family, you know, it's a lot to walk
away from," she admitted.
"These are not made up stories and I'd say, 'Why doesn't it bother
you?' They [the other members] just put it back on me; 'Why does it
bother you?'
"The tricky part about this is that there's some really powerful,
important ideas that underpin the Fellowship, that are overlaid with a
lot of personal, cultish ideas, proposed by Robert Burton.
"He is a very, very flawed human being, he carved out something that worked for him."
In the podcast, Brown says he spoke to seven men who claim Burton
sexually exploited them, two of which also alleged they participated in
the rumored sex ritual where he attempted to sleep with 100 of his male
students in one day. [ed. - See "Robert Burton's Valentine's Day Gift"]
They also claimed the Fellowship helped them obtain religious visas.
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