Kansas cult leaders convicted of making children work 16-hour days without pay

Prosecutors say the group beat children as young as eight years old and imposed strict rules on what they did and ate

Six members of a Kansas-based cult have been convicted in a scheme to house children in overcrowded, rodent-infested facilities and force them to work up to 16 hours a day without pay while subjecting them to beatings and other abuse.

The defendants were either high-ranking members of the organization formerly known as the United Nation of Islam and the Value Creators, or were wives of the late founder, Royall Jenkins, the US Department of Justice said on Monday in announcing the verdict.