Roch Thériault

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Roch "Moses" Thériault was the charismatic leader of a small religious group based near Burnt River, Ontario, in Canada. Between 1977 and 1989, he held sway over as many as 12 adults and 26 children. He used all of the nine women as concubines, and probably fathered most of the children in the group.[1] He was arrested for assault in 1989, and convicted of murder in 1993. He is serving a life sentence and was denied parole in 2002. Along with Clifford Olsen and Paul Bernardo, Thériault is one of Canada's most notorious criminals.[2]

During his reign, Thériault mutilated several members. He once used a meat cleaver to chop off the hand and part of the arm of Gabrielle Lavallée, one of his concubines. He also removed 8 of her teeth. Thériault was accused of castrating a 2-year-old boy, as well as one adult man. His major crime was to kill Solange Boilard, his legal wife, by disembowellment while trying to perform a surgery on her.[3][4]

The group was based primarily on Old Testament themes, such as women's obedience to men, polygamy, harsh punishments, the righteousness of the leader and the sinfulness of the followers, and living miracles. Thériault was called "father (papy)" and re-christened all members with biblical names. He also claimed to be a reincarnation of the prophet Moses, and demanded the respect appropriate for such a figure. Based on the testimony of former cult members, Thériault was probably delusional and may have actually believed he could do miracles. In particular, he once tried to resurrect a woman he had killed by sawing the top off her corpse's skull and masturbating into the cavity.[5] Thériault was originally a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, although he was thrown out of the church when he claimed to be a prophet and demanded to be made their leader. He was also thrown out of a Catholic social group under similar circumstances.

Thériault was charming to young women and was a good speaker. He was able to persuade his followers to sell their belongings, sever ties with their families, and move to a commune near Burnt River on the property of Malcom Dudman, who later assisted police in his capture and arrest, about 100 km northeast of Toronto. He convinced the women that all of them were his wives, and that they should bear him children. Even while he was in prison, three of his wives continued conjugal visits and bore him more children.

In 2002, the film "Savage Messiah" depicted Thériault's crimes against his followers and the ensuing legal recourse. The film starred Luc Picard as Thériault and Polly Walker as Paula Jackson, the social worker whose investigation revealed the crimes.[6][7]

One of his former followers, Gabrielle Lavallée, wrote an autobiographic book about the sect titled L'alliance de la brebis ("Alliance of Sheep"), ISBN 2920176854.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Ant Hill Kids" Kaihla, Paul, Laver, Ross. Maclean's. Toronto: February 8, 1993. Vol. 106, Iss. 6; pg. 18, 6 pgs
  2. ^ RH Cartwright, SA Kent. "Social Control in Alternative Religions: A Familial Perspective". Sociological Analysis, 1992. JSTOR. 
  3. ^ Boyle, James J. 1995 Killer Cults New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-95285-6
  4. ^ Colin A. Ross (1995). Satanic Ritual Abuse: Principles of Treatment. University of Toronto Press, 105. ISBN 0802073573. 
  5. ^ "The Ant Hill Kids" Kaihla, Paul, Laver, Ross. Maclean's. Toronto: February 8, 1993. Vol. 106, Iss. 6; pg. 18, 6 pgs
  6. ^ IMDB entry
  7. ^ "Savage Messiah - European Premiere Screening", di-ve.com, June 2, 2003. 

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