‘How can there be this many pedophiles in a relatively small church?’

Tava Zahorka Nicholson cannot recall many details of her upbringing. “I did not and still do not remember my childhood to this day, I remember bits and pieces,” she said.

Zahorka Nicholson’s family was part of a largely unknown Christian sect that is currently in the midst of a public reckoning over what some describe as decades of systemic abuse and the unwillingness of church leaders to confront the problem.

Zahorka Nicholson says she is one of the survivors. “Overall, I had pretty cool parents on the outside looking back—especially for cult parents,” she told the Daily Dot in a recent phone conversation, laughing softly.