Zacch Comfort, Part 2: The Bride of Christ Church, and an Important Story From Lola

Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

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True Crime, Talk Radio, Comedy, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2023

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In part two of Lola & Meagan's interview with Bride of Christ Church survivor Zacch Comfort, they discuss how leader Thomas Clyde Smith Jr's control tactics got more extreme once the group moved to the Oregon commune, including separating children from their families, requiring people to hit each other in church, and cycling children into his home for sexual abuse - as well as how the group ultimately fell apart, and what Zacch's life is like now working in a psychiatric hospital. Plus, for Lola's cultiest thing of the week, she and her friend Liz Y2K discuss discovering a man they both dated has been arrested for serial rape, and how the police are seeking additional victims to come forward. Trust Me is sponsored by Thrive Causemetics! Get an exclusive 15% off your first order at ThriveCausemetics.com/trustme If you have information on Ben Belser, contact: LAPD's Operations West Bureau, Special Assault Section 213-473-0447 or 877-LAPD-247 Or for anonymous tips: LA Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-TIPS LAcrimestoppers.org If you have experienced sexual assault and you need support, visit https://www.rainn.org/ or call 800-656-HOPE

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you have your own story of being in a cult or a high control group or if you've had
0:04.1	experience with manipulation or abuse the power that you'd like to share, leave us a message
0:08.4	on our hotline number at 347-86 trust. That's 347-868-7878 or shoot us an e-mail at TrustMePod
0:18.2	at gmail.com. Trust me, do you trust me? Trust me, I'm like a smart person. Yeah, I've never
0:25.6	lied to you. I never have lied. If you think that one person has all the answers, don't!
0:32.5	Welcome to TrustMe. The podcast about cult, extreme belief and manipulation from two pop stars
0:38.5	who've actually experienced it, I'm Lola Blanc and Megan is out sick today. Today is part two of our
0:43.7	interview with Zach Comfort, survivor of the bride of Christ Church, headed by Thomas Clyde Smith,
0:48.7	Jr. In the second half today, we'll discuss how Tom's control tactics got more extreme once the
0:53.0	group moved to the commune, including separating children from their families, requiring people
0:56.9	to hit each other in church and cycling children into his home to sexually abuse them. We'll also
1:01.8	talk about how the group began to fall apart and then we'll get into how Zach is doing now and
1:06.0	what his life is like working in a psychiatric hospital. Content warning, some of the stuff in
1:10.5	today's episode will include descriptions of violence and child sexual assault as well as
1:14.6	sexual assault in general. Please be prepared if you listen to this episode. So before we dive in,
1:19.7	actually we're gonna do something a little bit different today. Megan is out and I have a story
1:24.7	to tell and I have brought in my friend Liz Abrams to tell it with me because she actually shares
1:29.6	the story with me as well. Okay, well I know you guys can't see me right now but I look amazing
1:38.9	and the reason I look amazing is because I'm wearing this brilliant eye brightener from Thrive Cosmetics.
1:44.3	I'm also wearing their eyeliner. I have my waterline lined and it looks pretty good. I'm not gonna lie.
1:49.2	It glides on so smooth. I really really like it as part of my daily routine. I'm an eyeliner girl
1:53.8	so you know we love the black eyeliner. It has a built-in sharpener, it's easy to blend, easy to
	...

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