Episode 6: Bad Grandpa
REAL
Naomi Channell
4.8 • 725 Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It wasn't only the media that were now paying attention to the Children of God survivors, so were the authorities.
In this episode, we hear from Mary Mahoney, who joined the Children of God when she was just 16 years old and raised eight children under the reign of David Berg, until she found the strength to escape.
This is Bad Grandpa.
WARNING: This series contains descriptions of abuse against minors, sexual abuse, suicide and murder. Whilst the descriptions are not explicit, please take extra care whilst listening.
Mary's book: 'Abnormal Normal: My Life in the Children of God' can be found here:
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this podcast, please see the organisations below who can help and support you:
https://www.mind.org.uk/ - Mental health support
https://www.spuk.org.uk/ - Suicide Prevention UK
https://www.samaritans.org/ - The Samaritans
https://www.thesurvivorstrust.org/ - For people who have been the victim of sexual abuse (UK)
https://www.rainn.org/ - Sexual Abuse Support USA
https://988lifeline.org/ - Suicide Prevention USA
https://www.nasasv.org.au/support-directory - Sexual Abuse Support Australia
https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/ - Suicide Prevention Australia
https://www.rcni.ie/useful-links/ - Sexual Abuse Support Ireland
https://www.pieta.ie/ - Suicide Prevention Ireland
https://www.thefamilysurvivaltrust.org/ - Support for cult survivors (UK)
https://www.peopleleavecults.com/services/support-groups - Support for cult survivors & Intervention (global)
If you'd like to support the podcast, you can do so here, thank you:
buymeacoffee.com/podcast4justice
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Warning, this is a true crime podcast and is not suitable for all audiences. Please use discretion. |
| 0:07.9 | This series contains descriptions of sexual assault against minors, murder and suicide. Whilst the |
| 0:15.8 | descriptions are not explicit, please take extra care whilst listening. Convictions against some of the adult |
| 0:24.7 | members who abused children whilst in the children of God were now happening. Some people were |
| 0:32.5 | finally facing consequences for their actions decades later. But these convictions wouldn't have been possible |
| 0:40.4 | without the incredible bravery and tenacity of the survivors who had lived through this abuse. |
| 0:47.5 | I'm Naomi Channel and this is episode six of Bad Grandpa. Thank you. In 2018, children of God member Alexander Watt was convicted of four charges of sexual abuse against his own daughter and another child whilst living on the east coast of Scotland |
| 1:46.5 | during the 1980s. Verity Carter reported her father to the authorities and he admitted the abuse. |
| 1:56.3 | He wasn't given a custodial sentence, but by speaking out, Verity encouraged others to do the same. |
| 2:04.3 | Verity has spoken about her experiences in the press in the past, |
| 2:08.4 | and said that many other people in the cult also abused her from the age of just four years old. |
| 2:16.2 | It's so hard to hear Verity's story. She doesn't just detail sexual |
| 2:20.9 | abuse, but physical and mental abuse too. She's told the press how corporal punishment was often |
| 2:28.2 | used on her as a young child. She was put on something known as silence restriction from as young as the age of six. |
| 2:37.1 | This is where she was isolated from other members of the group, not permitted to speak to anyone |
| 2:42.4 | or be spoken to, sometimes for months at a time. |
| 2:48.5 | Verity escaped the cult when she was 15 years old. By this point, her father had left |
| 2:53.6 | the cult himself and she went to stay with him in mainstream society. He would give her money |
| 2:59.5 | and buy her things, something she recognised as him trying to compensate for the abuse that he |
| 3:06.1 | had subjected her to. She's detailed how the |
| 3:09.2 | abuse has suffered her long term. She gets insomnia and she has mental health difficulties. |
| 3:15.5 | She's in touch with her siblings who are now also living outside of the cult and she's very |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Naomi Channell, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Naomi Channell and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.