The daughter of the former cult leader who turned out to be a murderer of children, “Mother Anna” told about her upbringing in her mother’s distorted “House of Prayer”, recalling how she watched two children die of hunger and violence.
Joy Flucker’s mother, whose real name is Anna Young, died in prison last March at the age of 79 after spending just 42 days behind bars for the deaths of young children Emon Harper and Catonia Jackson in the 1980s.
Flucker was the one who called police in 2016 to report that her mother had killed Harper decades earlier while leading a tightly controlled religious community in Mykanopi. Florida.
“There was a part of me who hoped that my memories were confused and that there was a chance that maybe because of all the other suffering I was a little deluded,” Flucker explained in an episode of Dr. Phil.
Joy Flucker, the daughter of former cult leader Mother Anna, told what it was like to grow up in your mother’s austere “Prayer House” on Tuesday’s episode of Dr. Phil
Flucker’s mother, whose real name is Anna Young, founded the House of Prayer in Mykanopi, Florida, in 1983. His religious philosophies are based on her perverse biblical interpretations.
“I hoped it wasn’t true, but I knew I couldn’t live with myself anymore without talking, because I felt like a mother, what a person I am, if I’m good at the fact that I believe my mother is responsible for the death of a child?
Young founded the House of Prayer in 1983, and the community’s strict religious philosophies are based on its own perverted and often cruel interpretations of the Bible.
Members and their children had to change their birth names to biblical ones and call themselves “brother” or “sister.” As a leader, Young called himself “Mother Anna.”
They were also required to wear “sacred clothing” in the Old Testament style, including long garments and beards for men and long dresses and headgear for women.
The young grabbed the vulnerable and many of the members were single mothers. She offered free room and food to those who were struggling, but made it almost impossible for them to leave, demanding that members who earn money return to the community.
Young died in prison last March at the age of 79 after spending just 42 days behind bars for the deaths of young children Emon Harper and Catonia Jackson in the 1980s.
Young believed in corporal punishment and allegedly referred to Bible verses when he played violence in her Florida complex (pictured).
The strict religious leader was accused of locking children in closets and attics or throwing them out as punishment, something Flucker said he feared as a child.
The driver sleeps in the same room with the children and cuts them off from their biological mothers. She also believed in corporal punishment and allegedly referred to Bible verses when telling stories of violence.
“Our church community believed that my mother was actually the voice of God,” Flucker said, adding that there were still “nightmares” about Harper dying of starvation.
Harper, whom members of the religious community called “Baby Moses,” was taken to the House of Prayer as a baby in 1986 because his mother could not care for him.
He disappeared two years later and is presumed dead.
The child, who was two or three when he died, was locked in a closet and deprived of food and water. His body was never found.
Flucker said there were still “nightmares” for Harper (pictured), who was locked in a closet and deprived of food and water until he died of starvation. His body was never found
In 1983, two-year-old Jackson (pictured) was starved, beaten and refused epilepsy medication because Young believed the girl’s seizures were a sign that she was possessed by the devil.
“All of us as a church must fast and pray, [a] three-day fast. Without food. Without water. And it didn’t matter how old the children were. They also had to fast, “Flucker explained.
Eman Harper also had to fast [during] different times of punishment, he was not allowed to eat, drink or anything else, “she recalled. “I remember being a child once. I had to give him the water after he went through a punishment post, and he died of starvation.
“And I remember that the dead skin on his lips was so much that he touched my finger.” And I remember backing away. I myself was a small child. I was scared.’
Flucker said the mothers of other children were with them and would witness their beating at the hands of the community leader.
“One of the other children was beaten so badly that she started having seizures and one of those seizures killed her,” she added, referring to Jackson.
In 1983, two-year-old Jackson was starved, beaten, and denied epilepsy medication because Young believed the girl’s seizures were a sign that she was possessed by the devil.
“I was a child myself. I was scared, “Flucker said, watching Harper starve to death
“I just didn’t want to get in trouble,” she explained. “I wanted to be obedient because I didn’t want to get the next beating.”
Flucker was the one who called police in 2016 to report that her mother had killed Harper decades earlier, leading to her arrest and conviction for the deaths of young children.
“I was a child, so I thought it was normal. I thought she was the voice of God, too, “Flucker said of his mother. “I wanted to be her. At first I thought it was God’s will.
“I just believed in everything,” she added. “I just didn’t want to get in trouble. I wanted to be obedient because I didn’t want to get the next beating. I didn’t want to be thrown out. I didn’t want to be put on the ceiling.
The cult disintegrated in 1992 after Young bathed a 12-year-old girl in a tub full of chemicals as “punishment.”
Many members of the House of Prayer are children whose parents are unable to care for them for a variety of reasons, and the victim’s parents are not members.
It is reported that Young decided that the girl “smells bad” and that bathing her with bleach will “burn the evil out of her.”
The parents reported the leader to child abuse police, but she fled Florida and was caught eight years later in the attic of a relative’s home in Illinois.
“There was a part of me who hoped that my memories were wrong and that there was a chance that I might have been a little deluded because of all the other suffering,” Flucker said.
Since then, Fluker has launched a non-profit organization called Prevent the Pain, which offers support to victims who have talked about people they know who are hurting themselves or others.
In 2001, she was sentenced to 6 months and 12 days in prison.
After her release, she moved to Marietta, Cobb County, where she hid her past from her neighbors for more than 15 years.
Young’s arrest in December 2017 was prompted by her daughter, who came out and told police she knew Harper had died as a result of regular beatings and starvation by her mother.
In February 2021, the former cult leader pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and reckless murder, according to Alachua County court records.
She was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder, which was to run at the same time as her 15-year manslaughter for Jackson’s death, but she died in prison just over a month later.
Since then, Fluker has started a non-profit organization Prevent painwhich offers support for victims who have talked about people they know who are hurting themselves or others.
“After talking about my mother, I wanted to talk to someone else – just as I wanted to breathe air – who had spoken out against someone he loved, knowing that this person would suffer. [the] a consequence of what they did, “she told Dr. Phil.