Authorities received multiple abuse warnings on Tubbergen sect but took limited action

NL Times, Netherlands/May 31, 2025

A detailed investigation into the controversial Pater Pio sect near Tubbergen reveals that authorities received at least 19 warnings of suspected abuses during the sect’s existence. Despite some interventions and a conviction in 1996, the sect has continued to operate, with devastating consequences—particularly for two girls aged 11 and 12 who remained trapped within the group until their rescue in 2022, RTV Oost and De Twentsche Courant Tubantia report.

Municipal records obtained through a Freedom of Information request by RTV Oost and Tubantia show that the Tubbergen municipality was aware of sect-like activities on the farm. In December 2019, police and municipal officials raided the farm, investigating illegal construction as well as “sect-like activities.”

During the raid, authorities found a patient with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, who was being treated with prayer healing. The patient was interviewed extensively, but because he chose alternative treatment, no legal action was taken. He died days later.

The Pater Pio sect, a spiritual community led by Trees P., claims direct communication through a rosary with the soul of the late Italian saint Padre Pio, who died in 1968. Trees, nicknamed “the Twentse Jomanda,” controls all activities at the sect farm.

The Public Prosecution Service had reportedly been informed as early as 2016 about three complaints from former sect members by organizations such as Veilig Thuis and the Tubbergen municipality. These complaints, along with the 2019 raid, did not lead to further prosecution or enforcement.

Warnings about the sect have been raised repeatedly for decades. Church authorities, both Catholic and Protestant, warned about Trees as early as 1993. Pastor Theo van der Sman actively cautioned churchgoers from the pulpit about her dubious practices and informed police and prosecutors. In 1996, Trees and some associates were convicted of abuse, including cutting “devil’s ears” from a psychiatric patient. The daughter of Trees, Evelien Vaags, shared detailed testimony about being drawn into the sect as a child.

In 2016, two former members who had grown up in the sect filed reports citing corporal punishment of minors, psychological terror, and forced participation in exorcisms targeting a 14-year-old girl. They also reported denial of medical care, including for a kidney patient and a farmer with lymphoma who was told to eat yogurt with onions and bathe in tea as a cure. The farmer later died, prompting police questions but no follow-up. At least seven terminally ill sect members have reportedly died under the sect’s influence.

The investigation by RTV Oost and Tubantia also reveals an alarming timeline of missed intervention opportunities. Even before the official founding of the sect in November 1993, issues were allegedly apparent. In 1992, a woman with epilepsy escaped after being locked inside the group’s home but suffered a seizure and was found in the woods the next day. Despite filing a report, she never heard back from authorities.

In 1994, a police officer connected to the sect through his partner observed controlling rituals and indoctrination but did not witness criminal acts and received little support when raising concerns. He described the sect’s influence as brainwashing. Remarkably, the local police chief, suffering from a trembling hand, visited the farm regularly and claimed to be healed by Trees’ touch, stating “there is more between heaven and earth.”

A neighborhood police officer in nearby Glanerbrug tried to intervene in 1995 but lacked backing from higher authorities. The municipality took no action after the 1996 conviction, with then-mayor Jos Houben describing feeling powerless. He recalled the farm’s oppressive atmosphere but noted the group was quieter for a time. He said municipal intervention was limited to controlling caravans and campers around the property, unaware of the full extent of sect activities inside.

Neighbors repeatedly complained about illegal building on the farm and alleged human confinement in a basement, but the municipality did not revoke permits. Judicial documents include a judge’s comment: “All of the Netherlands knows, except the municipality of Tubbergen.”

In 2005, a mother who had taken her children into the sect reported abuses but saw no consequences follow. The ex-members who filed complaints in 2016 explicitly warned that two young sisters remained in the sect under their mother’s care and were in danger.

Only in late 2022, after the sisters reported at school that they were beaten and forced to do excessive chores, were authorities able to remove them. A juvenile court judge stated the mother was obeying orders from the sect leader.

A former sect member who was a longtime member and treasurer and later opened a general practice in Twente also filed a complaint in 2016. He admitted feeling pressured by the sect and failing to intervene despite knowledge of dying patients, as opposing Trees’ medical directives seemed futile.

Following the widely publicized Ruinerwold sect case in Drenthe, the police and municipal officials raided the Tubbergen sect farm again in December 2019. Officially, the search focused on illegal construction and fire safety but also investigated sect-like behavior. The raid uncovered the critically ill ALS patient and several illegal structures. Despite discussion of possible follow-up, records do not confirm any action taken.

The illegal buildings could have reportedly given the municipality a legal basis to intervene, but the sect has continued operating up to the present.

The sect also has a branch in Flanders, Belgium, where minors were forced to work on a farm. Dutch authorities reportedly never informed Belgian officials despite multiple warnings.

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