Cult Member Sentenced to Nine Years for Manslaughter of Two-Year-Old Daughter

A former cult Mother in Australia has been sentenced to nine years in prison for the 1987 manslaughter of her two-year-old daughter, Tillie Craig, who was beaten to death for not completing chores.

Ellen Rachel Craig, 62, received her sentence on Wednesday after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. The New South Wales Supreme Court heard that Tillie had been killed by her mother using a plastic pipe on a commune run by the Ministry of God in regional NSW.

Tillie’s father, Gerard Stanhope, spent decades searching for his daughter, unaware that she had died shortly after disappearing from the cult’s farm. He only learned the truth following Craig’s arrest in 2022.

Craig, who was 25 at the time of the incident, told the court she was “unhappy” with her daughter’s sweeping when she delivered the fatal beating. After Tillie stopped breathing, the cult leader, known as Alexander Wilon or “Papa,” allegedly attempted to resurrect her before cremating the body and scattering the ashes.

Wilon was later charged as an accessory to murder, but he has been declared unfit to stand trial due to terminal illness. Craig was expelled from the cult in late 1987 and lived in New Zealand under various aliases until her arrest and extradition in 2021.

In a letter read to the court, Craig expressed deep remorse, saying, “I will never forgive myself for what I have done.” Tillie’s father, who was unaware of her fate for over 30 years, shared his devastation in a victim impact statement, describing the emotional toll of his fruitless search for his daughter.

Craig will be eligible for parole in November 2027.