The State - News from Aug. 6, 1985

Three members of a Marin County-based religious sect have filed declarations accusing their leader of using the group’s assets for the pleasure of himself and his nine wives while devotees remain impoverished. The declarations were filed in Marin County Superior Court in connection with a scheduled hearing on whether a $5-million suit by a former member against Da Free John, also known as Franklin Albert Jones, should be dismissed. Beverly O’Mahoney, in a suit filed in April, accused John and seven other leaders of the Johannine Daist Communion, or JDC, of false imprisonment, sexual abuse, assault, brainwashing and involuntary servitude. A declaration filed by a former JDC director, Andrew Parker, said “as much as 80% of the wealth of the JDC Corp. is tied up in assets that are completely set aside for the total control and pleasure of Jones.