'Disturbing' new details emerge about Bay Area religious sect at center of FBI child sex abuse probe
Details emerge in Bay Area religious sect's FBI abuse investigation
ABC 7 News, California/January 23, 2025
By Stephanie Sierra
San Martin, California -- New details are being shared with the ABC7 I-Team about a religious sect facing widespread allegations of sexual abuse. They're known as the "Two by Twos," or the "Church With No Name."
Last year, we uncovered the group's following in the Bay Area - working in collaboration with our partners at ABC News and Nightline Impact. You can watch their documentary "The Secrets of the 2x2 Church" streaming now on Hulu.
In June, ABC7's Stephanie Sierra spoke with several of the leaders in the ministry at one of the group's meetings in San Martin.
They made it clear they didn't think the FBI's investigation into alleged child sexual abuse was "necessary," denying they were made aware of the allegations. Now, new documentation reveals why some former members question that.
What is the 2x2 Ministry?
It's a nondenominational religious sect that's been around since the late 1800s.
"It's a very persuasive type of religion," said Michael Day, former Two by Two member.
"How would you describe this organization?" asked ABC7's Stephanie Sierra.
"They use fear and manipulation... They tell you, we are the only true way," said LaNette Burrage Flanigan, former Two by Two member. "Disturbing,"
"It becomes systemic. It's intergenerational, and it just carries on. And nobody wants to confront the problem," said Cynthia Liles, a private investigator working with the FBI.
Lauralee Brown and Sheri Autrey, former members of the 2x2, described experiences of alleged sexual abuse by ministers or members when they were children.
"How many times would it happen?" ABC7's Stephanie Sierra asked.
"It would happen about two times a week, or more," said Brown. "All around the Truth meetings... I'm just broken. I could cry right now, it makes me sick."
Brown says she was molested for three years.
"His type was small-framed brunette girls," said Autrey.
Brown says, unlike most other religious institutions, the Two by Two leadership will live in the homes of their followers for periods of time, giving easy access to young children.
Reaction from church leadership
Sierra spoke with a veteran minister based in Washington state who presided at one of the church meetings in San Martin in June.
"I've talked with numerous former members who say they have been sexually abused by ministers while they were staying in their home. They say the abuse was going on for years. What's your response after hearing that?" asked Sierra.
"Well, I never saw it. And knowing the church leadership, I find that very difficult to believe," said Gary Paul, the Two by Two minister based in Washington.
"And in the multitude of years that I've been in it, it's never been a problem," Paul added.
"How do you know it hasn't been a problem?" asked Sierra.
"Well, it's never been a problem that I'm aware of. Obviously, it could have been, but I wasn't aware of it and I never saw it," claimed Paul.
Former members speak out
After watching our story, former 2x2 member Bart Cooke says he reported his own alleged assault and attempted rape by another minister to leaders within the ministry - but nothing was done.
"He threw me on the bed, pinned me down and started grinding into me... as a 19-year-old farm boy. I couldn't even fathom what was happening to me," recounted Cooke. "He had this rage in his face... and I thought, he's about ready to rape me."
Cooke says after he left the church, one of the leaders in the ministry met with him, trying to convince him to come back.
Cooke refused and says instead he wrote a ministry leader a letter raising concerns about other alleged sexual abuse within the ministry - but he never got a response.
Years later, Cooke says he confronted him about it at a church conference.
"I said... In 2005 I sent you a letter. In that letter, I told you about two rapists that are in the church. One of them is still in your fellowship. And he goes, 'I never got the letter, and I don't know who you are'... I said, you're lying to me, man!" said Cooke.
Child sex crime convictions
In that letter, Cooke listed concerns about two members, both brothers -Richard and Ronald Schober - convicted of child sex crimes.
Court documents show Richard Schober was convicted of inappropriately touching a minor in the '80s, and he says he served time in prison.
Richard says he's been affiliated with the church ever since -- up until two years ago. ABC7's Stephanie Sierra spoke with him over the phone.
"I have done my time and have gone through a very extensive eight-year program. Fifteen months in prison. Fifteen years on the sex offender registry," said Richard.
"Have you received any allegations of sexual abuse since that time?" asked Sierra.
"Absolutely not," replied Richard.
While Richard says he hasn't received any allegations since his conviction, he admits there were more victims than one child.
"Is it true you have 70 victims?" asked Sierra
"There was a number... And there's probably too many to number. Many of those didn't even know... it's hard to explain. Some of them weren't even aware that I had touched them," said Richard. "I'm being real honest here."
Cynthia Liles, a private investigator working with the FBI, says families have been trying for years to warn church leadership about Richard. Over the course of her two-year investigation, she says more than 8 of his alleged victims have come forward.
Liles says the ministry was made aware of it, and one of the leaders even visited him in prison.
"He was aware of his conviction, and he was fighting with a family that was trying to get him removed from the congregation because he was showing interest in their children," said Liles.
Jen Ford is a former 2x2 member who tried to file a restraining order against Richard after she claims he was stalking her youngest children. She says Richard lives 12 miles away from her in Alaska.
"I'm not surprised that he can't tell them. When we initially visited with him, he told us it was one," said Ford. "And then at the end of the conversation, he told us hundreds...my reaction is, it's nauseating. It's completely nauseating."
Richard claims he did nothing wrong and that the restraining order was never granted. But Ford says despite that outcome, she was most disturbed by the lack of action from the ministry.
"The minister knew all about Richard. And when I told him how he was acting at the time... he said, 'I wonder if he's off his medication?'" Ford said. "The minister knew and knowingly put my children in harm's way, just hoping that Richard would take his medication. That's so disturbing to me. That somebody claiming to be a man of God would do something with such harmful potential with not just my children, but any children."
"Do you regret what you did?" asked ABC7's Stephanie Sierra to Richard.
"Do I have regrets about what happened? Yes. I have lived with it for 40 years now... I go through this all the time. This is like a shadow over me. Every time I see a child, I feel it again, Stephanie," replied Richard.
Richard denied the ministry tried to hide his prior conviction and put children at risk. But the 79-year-old did claim another member abused him when he was young.
"I was 10 years old... It happened in the dorm at the church convention," said Richard.
"Are you still involved with the Two by Two religious sect?" asked Sierra.
Schober said he had no comment.
"They seem to be working hard to get perpetrators back in meetings, even though members of the community are pushing back on the ministry... It's really a matter of safety," said Liles, the private investigator.
According to Cooke's letter, Richard's brother Ronald is also a longtime Two by Two member. Court documents show in the late 80s Ronald was convicted of first-degree statutory rape and four counts of indecent liberties. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. Newspaper reports indicate his victims were children patients of his chiropractic practice between the ages of 8 and 11 years old. More than three decades later, Ronald was convicted again in 2021. This time it was third-degree criminal sexual assault of a mentally impaired victim. ABC7 tried to reach him, but hasn't heard back.
Concerns about the Schober brother's convictions were laid out in detail in Cooke's letter to a member of church leadership. We reached out to them, but they denied ever receiving the letter or meeting Cooke.
"That's impossible. That's impossible he didn't know who Bart was. That's impossible," said Liles.
"Why?" asked Sierra.
"I mean, he was in his geographical area, we're all connected, a lot of us are related. It's just impossible to me that he didn't know who he was. And Bart had offered to be in the ministry back then," said Liles.
"And they knew about his convictions. But this church always says, 'Oh, sin is sin, and we just need to forgive him,'" said Cooke.
Who's telling the truth?
The 2x2 (Two by Twos) are also known as "The Truth" by their followers, given they believe it's the only true way to find salvation.
"The thing that's been most striking to me is the level of deception and denial on the part of the ministry. You would expect more from men of God," said Liles.
"It just makes me sick... I can't talk about it," said LaNette Burrage Flanigan, former Two by Two member.
Yet, former members say they're struggling to find any honesty, and more importantly, change.
In June, ABC7's Stephanie Sierra asked one of the church ministers about that.
"From your perspective, what will it take to see real change from all of this?" asked Sierra.
"Well... I don't like the word change. Because there's a lot of things about the fellowship that cannot change... You can't do that," said Paul, the Washington-based minister.
According to Advocates for the Truth, a non-profit advocacy organization working to support alleged survivors, 910 perpetrators within the Two by Twos have been reported across the world to date.
Report to the FBI
The FBI Omaha Field Office is seeking the public's help in identifying victims or individuals with knowledge of abuse and/or criminal behavior that has occurred within this religious group.
