TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Police said six filthy and confused young children taken from two men charged with child abuse have been given away by their parents as part of a satanic cult ritual.
Authorities in Tallahassee and Washington were trying today to learn the identities of the six children, locate their parents and learn more about an unidentified 'satanic cult' apparently based in Washington.
Meanwhile, two men who identified themselves as Michael Houlihan and Doug Ammerman -- names police believe are phony -- were being held in lieu of $100,000 bond on child abuse charges.
The men were arrested in a city park Wednesday after someone called police about two well-dressed men in a blue van watching over six 'filthy' children.
'It is our belief these kids were not kidnapped, but that their parents gave them away because one of the rites of passage into this satanic organization is that you have to give up your rights to your children, and that the leaders of this organization can do what they want to with your children,' police spokesman Scott Hunt said Friday.
'I believe what you're going to find when this all shakes down is that the kids' parents belong to this organization.'
'Until we can figure out where everything is, we can't say a whole lot,' said Walt Ferguson, a police spokesman in Washington.
The Washington Post reported today that the U.S. Customs Service is helping with the investigation and that pictures found at a Washington, D.C. warehouse linked to the group include those of children engaged in what appeared to be 'cult rituals.'
The newspaper said the group was known as 'The Finders' and was made up of about 40 people who lived in the District of Columbia and a farm in rural Virginia, the remains of a popular 1960s hippie refuge that evolved into a satanist society.
Hunt said a 6-year-old girl in the group showed signs of sexual abuse.
The children -- four boys and two girls raning in age from 2 to 6 - were put in state custody.
Merrill Moody of the state health department said the youngsters were 'confused,' but were doing well and will remain in state care until relatives can found who are able to provide 'a safe and healthy home.'
Hunt said the children, who had not bathed in days and were covered with scratches and insect bites, told police they had not eaten in 24 hours. He said they had 'bizarre' names like 'Benjamin Franklin,' 'Honey Bee' and 'B.B.'
Police also believe the two men gave false names. A check of the Virginia license plate on their van showed it belonged to a man matching Houlihan's description, but with a different name, Hunt said.
The men initially told police they were taking the youths to Mexico to begin a school for 'brilliant' children. When they could not explain the children's condition or name their parents, Hunt said, the men refused to answer further questions.
The children told police they had not seen their mothers since before Christmas. One girl said the men fed them mostly fruit and all of them had been sleeping in the van or in a tent.
