Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions of physical and sexual violence against children.
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau walks underneath a tree that used to be a refuge for her from the brutal beatings she was subjected to as a child in "The Park," a little-known cult that was active in the '60s. She remembers sitting under the tree to read.
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The trailer park community once known as "The Park" is pictured in October 2023 in Prescott, Arizona. It's now just a neighborhood, but in the '60s it was a commune where a 'sadistic madman' ordered his followers to brutalize children.
William Branham and Leo Mercier fishing.
From left, Gene Goad, Leo Mercier and a boy are pictured in one of the trailer homes in The Park. Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau said the boy was one of her nephews, who was around her same age.
The children of The Park and some adults are pictured at Grand Canyon Caverns in Arizona.
Lynne Daulton holds up a photo of herself at six years old. She says she was sexually and physically abused while growing up in The Park commune in Prescott, Arizona.
Photos of Lynne Daulton. Daulton says she was sexually and physically abused while growing up in The Park commune in Prescott, Arizona.
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau stands in front of what remains of "the root cellar." She said it collapsed in on itself, but used to be a cellar in the ground for storing food. On Leo Mercier's orders, men would lock her and other children in the root cellar for hours and sometimes days for minor rule infractions. They had limited food and water. Girls were occasionally let out to go to the bathroom, but boys were not, she said.
Gene Goad and his wife Connie at a dinner party in The Park.
A group of girls eat a meal at The Park. Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau said the girls, from right, are, Salome, Deborah, Anna, Elisabeth, Lynne and Esther.
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau said she is pictured here with her sister Esther and her nephew, Mark Edward, in front of a trailer.
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau looks out across the neighborhood she lived in for most of her first 14 years. The trailer park community used to be a cult called "The Park," she said. Daulton-Thibodeau and other children were routinely subjected to arbitrary beatings as children in the commune in the '60s. She chronicled these abuses in her 2022 memoir, "The Serpent's Tail."
Girls in The Park are pictured with their hair curled into tight ringlets, the way that Lynne Daulton said Mercier used to make her style her hair. In the back row are Angela, Becky, Esther and Deborah.
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau, right, is pictured with her niece, Hannah in 1972. Daulton-Thibodeau's hair is still growing back after Mercier's men cut it short a second time to humiliate her. Women never cut their hair as a rule in her former faith, a fringe Christian sect called "The Message."
The Daulton family is pictures in 1961 in Kentucky before moving to The Park.
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau looks out across the neighborhood she lived in for most of her first 14 years. The trailer park community used to be a cult called "The Park," she said. Daulton-Thibodeau and other children were routinely subjected to arbitrary beatings as children in the commune in the '60s. She chronicled these abuses in her 2022 memoir, "The Serpent's Tail."
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau is pictured with her twin sister, Esther.
Adults from The Park are pictured in the dining hall at the commune. Leo Mercier is seen at center with his hand on Gene Goad's shoulder.
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau looks up into a large tree in the trailer park neighborhood that used to be a commune. The tree used to be where men in her community would hang the carcasses of animals they hunted. She said the men were poaching them.
Rev. William Branham
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau looks through the trees surrounding the neighborhood she lived in for most of her first 14 years. The trailer park community used to be a cult called "The Park," she said. Daulton-Thibodeau and other children were routinely subjected to arbitrary beatings as children in the commune in the '60s. She chronicled these abuses in her 2022 memoir, "The Serpent's Tail."
A March 11, 1992 article in the Arizona Daily Sun.
An article in the The San Bernardino County Sun published Feb. 11, 1995.
Lynne Daulton
The trailer park community once known as "The Park" is pictured in October 2023 in Prescott, Arizona. It's now just a neighborhood, but in the '60s it was a commune where a 'sadistic madman' ordered his followers to brutalize children.
Deborah Daulton-Thibodeau's parents and older siblings are pictured before they moved to The Park. She said they are, from left, "Daddy," "Mama," JimEd, Marietta, Alberta, Doris, Joseph and Jerry. Deborah is not pictured.
Contact reporter Emily Hamer at emily.hamer@lee.net or 262-844-4151. On Twitter: @ehamer7
Contact columnist Tim Steller at tsteller@tucson.com or 520-807-7789. On Twitter: @timothysteller
