Editing David Koresh (section)

==Allegations of child abuse and statutory rape==
Koresh was alleged to have been involved in multiple incidents of [[physical abuse|physical]] and [[child sexual abuse|sexual abuse]] of children.<ref>See Christopher G. Ellison and John Bartkowski, {{"'}}Babies Were Being Beaten': Exploring Child Abuse Allegations at Ranch Apocalypse," pp.111–152 in Stuart A. Wright (ed.), Armageddon in Waco: Critical Perspectives on the Branch Davidian Conflict (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1995)</ref> His doctrine of the House of David<ref>See Bromley and Silver, pp.60–65</ref> did lead to "marriages" with both married and single women in the Branch Davidians.

A six-month investigation of sexual abuse allegations by the Texas Child Protection Services in 1992 failed to turn up any evidence, possibly because the Branch Davidians concealed the spiritual marriage of Koresh to Rachel's younger sister, Michele, when she was 12, by assigning her a surrogate husband ([[David Thibodeau]], who was 10 years younger than Koresh) for the sake of appearances.<ref>David Thibodeau and Leon Whiteson, A Place Called Waco: A Survivor's Story (New York: Public Affairs, 1999)</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bryce |first=Robert |date=November 12, 1999 |title=Salvation: Former Davidian Tells Survivor's Story |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/1999-11-12/74647/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=The Austin Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> Regarding the allegations of physical abuse, no evidence was ever found.{{Clarify|date=April 2022}} In one widely reported incident, ex-members claimed that Koresh became irritated with the cries of his son Cyrus and spanked the child severely for several minutes on three consecutive visits to the child's bedroom. In a second report, a man involved in a custody battle visited the Mount Carmel Center and claimed to have seen the beating of a young boy with a stick.<ref>Ellison and Bartkowski, 120–121.</ref>

Finally, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]'s justification for forcing an end to the 51-day stand-off was predicated on the charge that Koresh was abusing children inside the Mount Carmel Center. Allegations had been made that he had fathered children with underage girls in the Branch Davidians. In the hours that followed the deadly conflagration, [[Attorney General of the United States|Attorney General]] [[Janet Reno]] told reporters, "We had specific information that babies were being beaten."<ref>Sam Howe Verovek, "In Shadow of Texas Siege, Uncertainty for Innocents." New York Times, 1993, March 8</ref> However, [[FBI Director]] [[William S. Sessions|William Sessions]] publicly denied the charge and told reporters that they had no such information about child abuse inside the Mount Carmel Center.<ref>Stephen Labaton, "Confusion Abounds in the Capital on Rationale for Assault on Cult," New York Times, 1993, April 21</ref> A careful examination of the other child abuse charges found the evidence to be weak and ambiguous, casting doubt on the allegations.<ref>Ellison and Bartkowski, 1995</ref>

The allegations of child abuse largely stem from detractors and ex-members.<ref>John R. Hall, "Public Narratives and the Apocalyptic Sect," pp.205–235 in Stuart A. Wright (ed.), Armageddon in Waco (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1995); Stuart A. Wright, "Construction and Escalation of a 'Cult' Threat: Dissecting Moral Panic and Official Reaction to the Branch Davidians," pp.75–94 in Stuart A. Wright (ed.), Armageddon in Waco</ref> The 1993 [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] report cites allegations of child sexual and physical abuse. Legal scholars{{who|date=April 2024}} point out that the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms]] (ATF) had no legal jurisdiction in the matter of child protection, and these accounts appear to have been inserted by the ATF to inflame the case against Koresh. {{citation needed|date=April 2024}} For example, the account of former Branch Davidian Jeannine Bunds is reproduced in an ATF [[affidavit]]. She said that Koresh had fathered at least 15 children with various women and girls, and that she had personally delivered seven of these infants. Bunds also says that Koresh would annul all marriages of couples who joined the group and had exclusive sexual access to the women and girls.<ref name="dpmt_justice">{{Citation |surname=U.S. Department of Justice |year=1993 |chapter=Evidence of Historical Child Sexual and Physical Abuse |title=Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas February 28 to April 19, 1993 (From ATF Affidavit in Support of Arrest of Koresh, taken from ATF Special Agent Aguilera's interview of former compound resident Jeannine Bunds, included in Agent Aguilera's affidavit in support of the Koresh arrest warrant "Davy Aguilera, Special Agent Bureau of ATF, Subscribed and sworn to before me this 25th day of February 1993 Dennis G. Green United States Magistrate Judge Western District of Texas – Waco" |edition=Redacted |publisher=U.S.DoJ |place=Washington, D.C. |chapter-url=http://www.usdoj.gov/05publications/waco/wacotocpg.htm#toc |access-date=February 4, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070124190128/http://www.usdoj.gov/05publications/waco/wacotocpg.htm#toc |archive-date=January 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>Ellison and Bartkowski, 1995; Wright, "Construction and Escalation of a 'Cult' Threat," 1995</ref> Thibodeau, a student of Koresh and one of the few to escape the fire that destroyed the compound, stated in 2018 that while he considered Koresh a friend, he "certainly was guilty of something. He was either a polygamist or he was guilty of [[statutory rape]]. Probably both."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Skinner |first1=Paige |title=Waco Siege Survivor Behind New Miniseries Tells Us What TV Has Gotten Wrong |url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts/david-thibodeau-survivor-of-waco-siege-talks-paramount-network-miniseries-and-david-koresh-10255922 |website=Dallas Observer |date=January 14, 2018 |access-date=November 23, 2021}}</ref>

In his book, James Tabor states that on a videotape that was sent out of the compound during the siege, Koresh acknowledged that he had fathered more than 12 children by several "wives".<ref name="tabor">{{Citation |surname1=Tabor |given1=James D. |surname2=Gallagher |given2=Eugene V. |title=Why Waco?: Cults & the Battle for Religious Freedom in America |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |place=Berkeley, California |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-520-20899-5}}</ref> On March 3, 1993, during negotiations to secure the release of the remaining children, Koresh advised [[hostage negotiator]]s that: "My children are different than those others," referring to his direct lineage versus those children whom he had previously released.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

[[Bruce D. Perry|Bruce Perry]], the chief of psychiatry at [[Texas Children's Hospital]] who led the team that cared for the twenty-one children who survived the siege of the Davidian compound, wrote after a two-month investigation that "the children released from Ranch Apocalypse do not appear to have been victims of sexual abuse."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Boyer  |first=Peter J. |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/waco/childrenofwaco1.html |title="The Children of Waco" |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=May 15, 1995 |access-date=February 20, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> However, in an article published May 4, 1993, Perry started that "the kids became increasingly open about 11 and 12-year-old girls being David's wives." He additionally stated that it was clear that the status of wife included having sex.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1993-05-04 |title=Growing Up Under Koresh: Cult Children Tell of Abuses (Published 1993) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/04/us/growing-up-under-koresh-cult-children-tell-of-abuses.html |access-date=2025-07-26 |language=en}}</ref>

While Perry's reports about the Children of Waco experiencing physical abuse are contradictory, he reported that they were "likely exposed to inappropriate concepts of sexuality," and subject to "a whole variety of destructive emotional techniques ... including shame, coercion, fear, intimidation, humiliation, guilt, overt aggression and power."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rimer |first=Sarah |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/04/us/growing-up-under-koresh-cult-children-tell-of-abuses.html |title=Growing Up Under Koresh: Cult Children Tell of Abuses |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 4, 1993 |access-date=February 20, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Perry has reiterated this view as late as 2018.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilking  |first=Spencer |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/branch-davidian-childrens-drawings-foretold-deadly-waco-fire/story?id=52122314 |title=Branch Davidian children's drawings foretold deadly Waco fire, psychiatrist says |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=January 4, 2018 |access-date=February 20, 2023 |language=en}}</ref>