The State - News from March 18, 1988

A former member of an unorthodox Christian sect based in Sacramento alleges in a $20-million lawsuit that the religious group forced her to live in a tiny shed with no toilet and with little food, took away her possessions and turned her family against her. Maura A. Schmierer, 39, claims in her suit that the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, also known as Free Love Ministries, duped her into giving up legal custody of her three children and divorcing her husband while she was held in virtual captivity. Schmierer said she was afraid to leave the group after founders Jim and Lila Green; her husband, Steven, and two other members decided on Jan. 10, 1987, that she had “fallen under God’s judgment” and had been “forsaken.” Ministry leaders could not be reached.