Australian Cult: Twelve Tribes Community arrives in Katoomba, Blue Mountains (NSW)

Brisbane - Sydney, Australia -- A bizarre bible cult, which advocates beating children before they are old enough to walk, is recruiting in Queensland and New South Wales.

Sources say its set up camp in Maleny on the Sunshine Coast (Qld) also Picton Galston and Katoomba in (NSW).

Twelve Tribes mission, also called Messianic Communities the group is attractive to teenagers and young adults with its carefree life style.

But the parent cult has a lengthy court history of child abuse and abduction in the United States. In one high profile case, Darlyn Church, 13 claimed she was stripped to her underwear and given a seven hour "scourging" with a cane. Defecting senior members Michael Painter and James Howell have claimed some have been beaten almost to the point of death. US authorities have discovered infants who died at childbirth, buried on cult property. Child deaths, often through negligence, go unreported.

Their treatment of children makes Twelve Tribes a favorite subject for US documentary makers.

Cult children are not allowed toys, pets, or bicycles and are schooled on site. They can be beaten for showing emotion, imagination, for playing make-believe, for not responding on the first command and even crying. Children are taught to love their beatings and neglecting to discipline a child is regarded as an act of hatred.