A trans-woman has spoken for the first time of how she escaped an evil cult led by her father who kidnapped and raped fellow members.
Yaya DeCloud, 42, was born as a male on December 14, 1981.
She was forced to live in a compound of 30 people known as the ‘DeCloud family’ who rarely ventured out into the wider community.
Her father Nelson DeCloud, 73, was a former police officer and spiritual leader of the group which he used to satisfy his own sexual urges.
He died in the Southeast Correctional Center, Missouri, in 2014 while serving a 220-year sentence for kidnapping, felonious restraint, rape and forcible sodomy.
Yaya claims her dad would use the “bible to manipulate” the community and even did so behind bars until she escaped in December 2000.
Yaya is speaking out for the first time about life in the cult where she endured physical and emotional abuse.
Yaya, a trainee peer support specialist, from Chicago, Illinois, said: “There were 30 of us living on a commune, we never ventured out into the community.
“We had our own church service and would never leave the property.
“My dad controlled everything, we saw him as the interpreter from God , whatever he said or did came from God.
“My dad would be a very temperamental person, he was very strict.
“I am sure he loved us but if we did one thing wrong he would blow up.”
Yaya was born in1981 and lived in the DeCloud community until she escaped with her sister in December 2000.
Yaya said living on the commune was “tough” and “strict” but it was all she and her family knew.
She said: “My Dad always wanted ‘The Family’ to appear to be spotless and above reproach.
“I have heard a lot of terrible things that my Dad may have done.
“He was controlling and he did use the Bible to manipulate and control us. But here is the thing, I actually think he believed what he said.
“He was raised southern Baptist and my Grandpa was a preacher in Kansas City.”
Yaya and her siblings attended school on the commune and would learn maths and English like any other child.
She said: “We had a curriculum, we would be in school during the day time and my sisters would be the teachers.
“We would learn a normal curriculum like maths, English and science.”
After Nelson was imprisoned in 1993 for kidnapping, felonious restraint, rape and forcible sodomy.
Yaya claims that he would still control the family from prison by sending letters and having phone calls with her mom and grandma.
Yaya said: “My dad made a code sheet that was for pagers so we could communicate with each other and warn each other of danger.
“Because we didn’t have cell phones at that time and that was how my dad could communicate with my grandma without anyone being able to trace us.
“We stayed in hiding until I ran away in 2000, that was another major reason we left, we weren’t allowed to have any friends.”
In December 2000, Yaya and her two sister’s saved up $40 dollars from their $5 weekly allowance and left the family compound.
Yaya said: “My sister ended up getting one of her guy friends in California to get us a hotel in Jefferson City, Missouri.
“Everyone in the compound was asleep and we wrote letters to our family members to tell them we were sorry and we had to leave.
“I remember the night so vividly, the roads were slippy and we kept slipping and falling.
“We had a taxi waiting for us to take us to a hotel.”
When her dad died in 2014, Yaya was able to go visit him in prison to say goodbye and how she still loved him.
She said: “When it came down to it he was my Dad and I still loved him.
“All of his kids except one were there.
“When we all got there, we all said our goodbyes and formed a circle and prayed for him one last time.
“We all went out to eat and then went our separate ways”
After her dad’s death and the break up of her marriage, Yaya came out as trans in 2019 and now lives life as her ‘true self’.
She said: “I didn’t start living as a woman until 2019, it was something that was always there.
“I realized I was trans when I was 13/14 but it was something I never acted upon.
“I am currently single and living my best life – I couldn’t be happier.”
