As already stated Anne Hamilton Byrne, her husband, any of the Aunts and Uncles responsible for the abuse and the psychiatrist John MacKay who helped with the supply of LSD never received jail time.
A decision was made by the police and department of public prosecutions, rightly or wrongly, to not try any member of the cult with the alleged abuse. It was deemed that this would be too traumatic for us to be put on a witness stand and be forced to relive what we had gone through. It was a given that it would be fought every step of the way due to the cult always using the best lawyers possible to defend themselves in court.
As I left the county court on 26 September 1994 I had to process that this was the end of the legal road in this world.
One day all of us will stand before God's judgement seat and give an account for what we've done and it will either be spending eternity in God's presence in heaven or banished from His presence in Hell. The destination is based on our response to His offer of redemption through Jesus paying a debt we cannot pay through His death on the Cross of Calvary. Anne is yet to face the final judgement seat where all the books will be balanced and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. At this stage based on her rejection of Jesus' offer it looks like her destination is decided.
Like all of us I had to process the personal damage of what had been done to me.
There is power in forgiving others when we've been damaged or hurt, but how about when we are willing participants in those events or to mask the pain we go on and do things that we then become ashamed of? We need to forgive ourselves! How do you forgive yourself when you know what's inside you, when your conscience condemns you and you live with shame and regrets that nothing can erase? You can try and drown out your conscience and justify why you behave or behaved the way you do or you can take responsibility of the consequences of your actions. That's where the good news is that being forgiven by God gives you the power and the desire to forgive others as your conscience is cleansed and the guilt and shame is cancelled out and you are free, you are forgiven!
By September 1994 I had already made a conscious decision to forgive each cult member the damage they had done. In May 1991, while in my habitual morning prayer session, I relived each instance of damage I'd suffered at the hands of cult members as I brought them before God. I went there with the pain, the anger and the bitterness; I remember repeating that it wasn’t a mistake they made but a conscious choice to do what they did under the direction of Anne Hamilton-Byrne. In obedience to Jesus Christs' commandment, I chose to forgive both them and Anne just as Jesus Christ chose to forgive me for every violation of relationship with Him that I willingly committed from the time I was rescued from the cult up until that moment in 1991 and beyond.
It's been said, many a person lives like a bird in a cage and even though the door to the cage is open they still aren't free. I still vividly remember the spot I was sitting in when I did this and what a release and freedom I experienced! As God promises, I no longer experience the pain and anger when I think what happened to me. The deadly emotions are gone, replaced by the healing power that Jesus Christ gives when I let Him in to my place of pain.
He offers this to every person who is broken hearted, who is a captive. He came to set us free and whom the Son sets free is free indeed!
