'TikTok Cult' pastor's home raided by cops in sex trafficking probe
A home connected to a " TikTok cult" pastor was raided by police as part of a probe into sex trafficking and other criminal activities.
The property partially owned by Pastor Robert Shinn was stormed by federal agents from the FBI, the US Postal Service, Department of Labor and IRS and several people were detained. The pastor was the subject of a 2024 Netflix documentary series called "Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult" but the identities of the people arrested are not clear. Officials reportedly raided the California home over allegations of sex trafficking, tax evasion, money laundering, mail fraud, and COVID-19 -related fraud.
The raided home was the same property featured on the Netflix show and the warrant is connected with the alleged cult in the docuseries, according to the Los Angeles Times. Helicopter footage from local station KTLA showed at least six people handcuffed, including an older woman and a woman holding a child.
Officials entered the home at 6am on Friday morning as a neighbour, in the Tujunga area, said he heard loud bangs, according to the LA Times.
The local said: "I was getting ready for work when I heard the flash-bangs go off. Then a loud speaker ... 'You need to come out, hands up.' All the neighbors came out to find FBI, Sheriff's Department and police taking up the whole area."
Shinn founded the Shekinah Church in 1994 and helped to create an LA-based talent management agency called 7M Films. This company has been accused of allegedly luring in dancers by telling them they will become famous on TikTok. Some of these dancers allegedly also worked for the church and recruited for the talent management company.
Four people who worked for 7M and were part of the Shekinah Church claimed Shinn manipulated and abused them. Some of these people also accused the pastor of sexual assault.
Shinn reportedly would call himself "the Man of God" and told followers in the alleged cult that his teachings would grant them salvation.
The Netflix docuseries follows former members of the Shekinah Church and how they escaped the alleged cult and rebuilt their lives afterwards.
A former member, Dancer Aubrey Fisher, claimed Shinn forced her to give the church 70% of her income - which allegedly included a 10% "man of God fee" for Shinn himself.
Another ex-member, Melanie Wilking, went viral in 2022 when she said she was trying to reach her sister Miranda and said she was "no longer in control" of her life. The sisters had a TikTok page that was made when they joined the 7M management company.
Shinn has denied claims the Shekinah Church and 7M are affiliated with one another. The alleged cult leader did not personally respond to the Netflix series but 7M released an Instagram post, at the time, which claimed the show referring to the group as a cult were "false statements", according to the LA Times.
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