Latest news with #coercivecontrol
CTV News
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Police descend on Twin Flames Universe headquarters months after W5 exposé
Michigan authorities raid two properties linked to the controversial online group Twin Flames Universe after a W5 exposé. Michigan authorities have raided two properties linked to the controversial online group Twin Flames Universe, including the sprawling northern Michigan mansion that serves as its headquarters. The criminal investigation comes just months after a two-hour W5 documentary exposed the group's inner workings, revealing disturbing allegations of control, coercion and psychological pressure from former members. The group has also been the subject of docudramas on Netflix and Amazon Prime. In a video posted to social media on Tuesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel confirmed the raids and announced a criminal probe targeting the group's founders, Jeff and Shaleia Divine. @miattygen Dana Nessel is announcing an ongoing investigation into Twin Flames Universe. TFU is an organization with a largely online following operated by Jeff and Shaleia Divine, which gained notoriety through a series of documentaries. Read more at — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (@MIAttyGen) July 1, 2025 'Twin Flames is a largely online organization that allegedly uses coercive control over its members,' Nessel said. 'We believe that many of their actions may have been illegal, and we are asking for the general public's help in this investigation.' The investigation also names Twin Flames Universe members Chrissy and Jason Emerick, as well as programs promoted by the group, including the Church of Union and the Mind Alignment Process. Shaleia Divine is Canadian, as are some of the group's members and former followers. The attorney general's office has launched a dedicated website for tip submissions, which can be made anonymously. For tips on this or any other story please email: Former members say justice may finally be catching up Keely Griffin, once the highest-ranking insider in Twin Flames Universe, described the raids as a breakthrough. 'Huge progress toward justice for those who have been harmed by Jeff and Shaleia and Twin Flames Universe,' Griffin told W5. 'I'm a bit overwhelmed with emotions.' Canadian Angie Moggy, who told W5 she was pressured to change her gender identity while inside the group, praised fellow survivors who helped bring attention to the group's practices. 'I commend my fellow ex-members on speaking out,' said Moggy. 'It finally feels like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.' Victoria Bonilla, another former member, said the attorney general's move is a signal to others still afraid to come forward. 'It's a reminder of how important it is to speak out and not let abusers or oppressors scare us into silence.' What W5 uncovered Twin Flames Universe promises to help followers find their one true love, but W5's two-hour documentary We're Not a Cult: Inside Twin Flames Universe revealed allegations of emotional manipulation, rigid control over relationships and even claims that members have been coerced into changing genders. Former members described being told to cut off their families, change their names, or medically transition in order to align with relationships assigned by the group's leadership. The Divines have denied all allegations and reject the label 'cult.' Investigation ongoing The search warrants were carried out with support from Michigan State Police, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, and local sheriff's departments. Authorities have not disclosed what was seized. No charges have been laid to date. The case remains active. W5 will continue to follow developments.
The Independent
9 hours ago
- The Independent
Michigan attorney general says she is investigating a company promoting 'twin flame' romance
State and federal authorities are investigating an online company that pledges to help people find their eternal love, Michigan 's attorney general said Tuesday. Search warrants were executed at two homes in northern Michigan's Leelanau County where Twin Flames Universe is based, Attorney General Dana Nessel said. Twin Flames, which is operated by Jeff and Shaleia Divine, has been the subject of unflattering documentaries on Netflix and Amazon Prime. It offers to help people find a lifelong romantic partner — a 'twin flame' — through a 'spiritual journey.' Nessel said there are allegations that Twin Flames exerts 'coercive control" over its members across the U.S. through illegal acts. She didn't disclose what investigators were seeking with search warrants. The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment through the Twin Flames website, but it was not immediately answered. Twin Flames has a variety of products, from a $9.99 Kindle book to the $8,888 'everything package,' with access to hundreds of hours of videos, guided meditation and other lessons. In March, Twin Flames posted a statement defending its mission. 'We take seriously recent allegations implying we wield inappropriate control over our community members. After a careful review of both media coverage and recent productions, we are saddened that so much effort has gone into taking swipes at an organization and community founded on love and mutual respect,' Twin Flames said. Nessel encouraged people to contact her office if they want to share information about Twin Flames.
Associated Press
10 hours ago
- Associated Press
Michigan attorney general says she is investigating a company promoting 'twin flame' romance
DETROIT (AP) — State and federal authorities are investigating an online company that pledges to help people find their eternal love, Michigan's attorney general said Tuesday. Search warrants were executed at two homes in northern Michigan's Leelanau County where Twin Flames Universe is based, Attorney General Dana Nessel said. Twin Flames, which is operated by Jeff and Shaleia Divine, has been the subject of unflattering documentaries on Netflix and Amazon Prime. It offers to help people find a lifelong romantic partner — a 'twin flame' — through a 'spiritual journey.' Nessel said there are allegations that Twin Flames exerts 'coercive control' over its members across the U.S. through illegal acts. She didn't disclose what investigators were seeking with search warrants. The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment through the Twin Flames website, but it was not immediately answered. Twin Flames has a variety of products, from a $9.99 Kindle book to the $8,888 'everything package,' with access to hundreds of hours of videos, guided meditation and other lessons. In March, Twin Flames posted a statement defending its mission. 'We take seriously recent allegations implying we wield inappropriate control over our community members. After a careful review of both media coverage and recent productions, we are saddened that so much effort has gone into taking swipes at an organization and community founded on love and mutual respect,' Twin Flames said. Nessel encouraged people to contact her office if they want to share information about Twin Flames.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
'I had to investigate my own abuse case because the police failed me'
Caroline struggles to lift a large, brown suitcase on to a table. Inside are hundreds of documents which prove her ex-partner psychologically and physically abused her."I spoon-fed the police," she explains with exasperation as she shows us print-outs of text messages and she says officers still failed to grasp the seriousness of his pattern of intimidatory and threatening behaviour, which even included dictating what she ate."They just didn't get it," she says. "I was treated like the bottom of the pile."Caroline's experience is not unusual.A BBC investigation has found that 10 years after coercive or controlling behaviour (CCB) became a crime, there is a wide disparity in how police forces in England and Wales recognise and understand the offence - with some logging rates that are three times higher per head of population. Police responses can be so poor that victims say they have to become their own detectives. Lives are being lost, say leading political and legal figures who were responsible for the law response to the BBC's findings, a senior government minister said she would "hold the police to the highest standards". We have spoken to many survivors of CCB who have gathered years of evidence, including Caroline and a woman we are calling "Gemma".By the end of Caroline's relationship, her ex-partner Clive Thomas controlled every part of her life, from where she went, to what she wore."I would wake up and know I wouldn't be making any decisions that day," she says. "I didn't know it was coercive control, it was just a way of life."He would throw food on the floor, force her to pick it up and then stuff it into her would point to a shop window and threaten to throw her through he did not like her clothes, he would pour water over her or soak her with a was terrified of what Thomas would do to her if she left him, so her only hope was that he would leave her to tell her friends or family, she confided in her phone. She wrote about what was happening under the heading "shopping", to disguise the contents from him when he searched her found ways to cover up the cuts, deep scratches and bruises he inflicted. She shows us a small, lasting scar on her face. It was his actions on 6 December 2017 that she says marked a turning point for her. He threw her on to the floor, pulled out a large clump of her hair and spat in her relationship ended a month later after another attack. She dialled 999 and Thomas was removed from her remained in fear of Thomas and after a year felt there was no option but to contact Greater Manchester Police. She never believed her fight for justice would take six painful the notes on her phone, she was able to hand over a 32-page chronology detailing every incident, as well as photos of appointments were delayed or missed, evidence was misplaced and inaccuracies were introduced into her all of her evidence, she was told by the Crown Prosecution Service that no charges would be hired a lawyer costing £20,000 and appealed. Eventually, 10 charges were brought against Caroline's ex-partner – after it was found the police had not handed over key evidence."When you look at the abject failings that have been made by the police it beggars belief," said Caroline's lawyer, Rachel Horman-Brown KC (Hon). She has worked with male and female domestic abuse victims for decades."Too much of my job really is taken up advising victims who feel fobbed off by the police when they report coercive control," she said."There are too many women who have also lost their lives because of this." BBC analysis of the latest official data (April 2023-March 2024) of recorded CCB offences found a huge difference between police force areas, with some forces logging coercive control crimes at much higher rates than and domestic abuse charities acknowledge that while statistics-gathering may currently vary between forces - and should improve in future - they say the current disparity between police areas shows a lack of understanding of coercive control."Crime is crime and it should know no force boundaries," said Sir Robert Buckland, the former Attorney General who introduced the law into Parliament in 2015."It is unacceptable that victims are having to in effect be their own detectives in these often very serious cases involving very serious harm."Many miles away from Caroline is Gemma, whom we are not created a spreadsheet detailing years of what she says was coercive controlling behaviour."He would put you down, you didn't feel worth anything," she says. "He would just flip into a rage at the smallest thing, punch walls around me and throw things at me."She told us she had submitted more than 100 pieces of evidence of psychological, sexual and physical abuse to the police. Among them are lists of witnesses, photos of injuries and text messages in which her ex-partner apologised for his behaviour. Gemma feels the police did not take her case seriously from the beginning, telling her: "It's going to be really hard to prove this."After they mislaid evidence a number of times, she says, she carried her home computer and a pile of paperwork into the police the years since Gemma first went to the police, she has had to retell her story to more than 20 different officers, she ex-partner has never been charged with an offence against her."I feel like the police have gaslit me. I have walked out of one relationship with an abuser and straight into another one," she says. "I would never have called the police if I had known it was going to be like this."Gemma has been advised to hire a lawyer to deal with her case, but she lost her business and became homeless after leaving her abuser. She often relies on food well as being diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety, Gemma says she rarely leaves her house as she is terrified of bumping into her ex-partner. But she is adamant she will keep help police identify the often hidden pattern of coercive control, an updated risk-assessment process has been rolled out since have been encouraged by the College of Policing to deploy the Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment (Dara) at every domestic abuse Freedom of Information requests by the BBC have found that more than half (23) of the 43 police forces in England and Wales are still not using Dara. Gemma's force is one of research has also found a big variation in the number of staff who have completed the recommended Domestic Abuse Matters course, which educates officers about all indicates that coercive control is not a priority for many police forces and "radical change" is needed to improve "horrendous attitudes", says Ms Horman-Brown. The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said some staff will have undertaken alternative risk assessments or training other than the Domestic Abuse Matters a statement, Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls, said: "Coercive or controlling behaviour has a devastating impact, and when victims bravely seek justice and report it to the police, they should not have to constantly relive their unimaginably difficult experiences or feel unprotected."I will hold the police to the highest standards and expect them to use every tool at their disposal to deliver for victims and put offenders away."Louisa Rolfe, the national police lead for domestic abuse with the NPCC, said in a statement: "We know there is much more to do, and I am saddened to hear of victims not receiving the best response."We want women and girls to feel safe and confident reporting any instances of abuse to police, and when they do come forward, we want to be able to take swift action to prevent any further harm."On 26 June, Caroline watched as her ex-partner Thomas was given an 18-month sentence, suspended for 20 months, after pleading guilty to one charge of coercive control and one charge of common court heard Caroline had suffered significant psychological harm. During sentencing, Judge Lester-Ashworth told Thomas: "Were it not for your age and previous good character, you would be going to prison today."A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said of Caroline's case: "We recognise and regret the frustration caused by the prolonged process to bring the offender to justice."The victim's bravery and tenacity has helped ensure the man responsible has now been held accountable for his crimes."Leaving court, Caroline reflected on the end of her long journey."I have been battling with him, the police, so I'm feeling exhausted," she said."If I hadn't done anything, it would have been hanging over me for the rest of my life. I know I needed to do it for myself." If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, details of support are available at BBC Action Line
The Independent
7 days ago
- The Independent
Double killer Hazel Stewart fails in bid to have sentence reduced
Double murderer Hazel Stewart has been refused leave to appeal against the length of her sentence for killing her policeman husband and the wife of her ex-lover. A panel of judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that the sentence imposed on Stewart, 62, a former Sunday school teacher, was 'neither wrong nor manifestly excessive'. Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan told the court that Stewart's latest attempted appeal would have caused 'stress and upset' to the families of those she killed. Stewart's lawyer described the ruling as disappointing, but said it 'doesn't end the quest to highlight that she was a victim of coercive control'. She is serving a minimum 18 years behind bars for the killing of Constable Trevor Buchanan, 32, and 31-year-old Lesley Howell, the wife of her former lover Colin Howell. Both were found in a fume-filled garage in Castlerock, Co Londonderry, in May 1991. Police originally believed they had died in a suicide pact, after discovering that their partners were having an extra-marital affair. Instead, they had been drugged and murdered and their bodies arranged to make it look as though they had taken their own lives. Nearly two decades passed before dentist Howell, 65, confessed to both killings. He implicated Stewart and she was ordered to serve at least 18 years, at her trial in 2011. Stewart launched her appeal against the length of her sentence on the basis of fresh psychiatric evidence that suggested she was suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the murders and had been coercively controlled by Howell. Stewart, wearing a pale blue T-shirt and a cross necklace, watched the court of appeal ruling via a videolink from Hydebank Prison. Dame Siobhan said the fresh psychiatric evidence had been presented 'well after the event' and 'places reliance on prison records to contradict the case made by all other experts'. She said: 'Even if there were any traction in the points now made, which we do not find, the trial judge also made allowance for Howell's control in the sentence he passed. 'No injustice arises in refusing to reopen this long-concluded appeal on these facts.' The Lady Chief Justice added: 'We record this was a double murder of spouses in the cruellest of circumstances. 'Our overall view is that the sentence was neither wrong nor manifestly excessive. 'We refuse leave to admit the new evidence or to extend time as we are not convinced the new evidence establishes a valid ground of appeal. 'We are similarly not convinced that a fulsome enough explanation why this evidence was not produced earlier has been provided. 'In reaching our conclusion we reiterate the need for finality in criminal proceedings, we must deduce from this appeal that the applicant does not fully appreciate that. 'What must be self-evident is the stress and upset this latest appeal attempt will have caused to the families of the deceased.' Dame Siobhan said the original trial judge had been cited on the issue of Howell's control of Stewart and he altered her sentence accordingly. She concluded: 'We find no merit in any of the points raised on appeal.' Stewart's lawyer, Kevin Winters of KRW Law, said: 'Today's decision of the Court of Appeal to refuse leave is disappointing but in many ways not unexpected given the very high bar we had to reach to convince the court to look at this relatively new issue after so many years.' He added: 'Today's ruling doesn't end the quest for Hazel Stewart to highlight that she was a victim of coercive control. 'She engaged with the criminal justice agencies in an open and transparent manner to present as a victim of criminality. 'She made her case to a specialist abuse unit of the PSNI to allege that she was drugged, sexually and mentally abused and raped by Colin Howell. 'For that she is to be commended in taking the decision to come forward. It wasn't taken lightly.' Mr Winters said: 'It shouldn't be lost on any one that Hazel Stewart has the full backing and support of her family which includes Trevor Buchanan's two children. 'That support has been with her ever since her conviction for her role in the double killing of her husband and Colin Howell's wife over 20 years ago. 'That support has been here as well throughout the criminal investigation against Colin Howell and right up until today's appeal ruling.'
