Cults and extreme religious groups are grabbing headlines these days. After learning that another controversial group is operating right here in North Central Wisconsin, NewsChannel 7 set out to learn more about it, its members, and its elusive leader.

The controversy goes beyond a mysterious lifestyle. There's also concern about its financial impact on a community where it's invested millions in businesses and other properties.

This special series of investigative reports looks into a group many have wondered about - and speculated about - for years.

The existence of this group is no secret to those who live in the Shawano area. Local officials tell me members have been there for more than 30 years. But what has been, and still is a secret is just what their group is all about.

Over a period of several weeks we've been trying to learn more about their leader, a man now named Avraham Cohen, formerly known as Samanta Roy, and before that Rama Behera.

What we’ve found is he and his followers have always remained just out of sight.

Residents of Shawano and surrounding towns describe their community as old-fashioned and close-knit. It’s a place where word travels fast, and there are few secrets.

But for more than 30 years, one thing has eluded their small-town curiosity: a community within their community. "The group has been here for a number of years”, said Shawano Police Chief Ed Whealon. “I mean, as long as I’ve been with the department, since 1978, I believe the group first started in 1973 or 1974."

They've called themselves "The Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ", led by a man then named Rama Behera.

Officials in the town of Westcott, just north of Shawano, say some of the first land purchased by Behera was a few acres in the town of Wescott, which they say serves as the group's compound.

The compound is guarded by group members 24 hours a day. Any stop at the building, or often even vehicles just driving past, prompts the group to call to the Sheriff's Deparment and begin videotaping.

Officials in the Town of Wescott say no one knows for sure what's inside this compound, which has been covered by tarps and closely guarded by the group for years. Officials say it's exactly that kind of secrecy that makes many residents uneasy. “What's inside of it? What are they doing? What are they doing behind it?”, asks Wescott Town Chairman Mike Schuler. “I don't have the slightest idea, and I’ve been here for 20 years. That's how tight it is."

And the mystery goes beyond the compound. No one seems to know how many members are involved with the group. And their leader has always remained in the shadows over the years. He's met with just a handful of local officials and business owners, and has been photographed just a couple of times.

He's also now gone by three names. First known as Rama Behera, court records show he changed his name to Samanta Roy in 1990, and last summer, changed it once again to Avraham Cohen.

Rick Ross is an internationally renowned expert in cults and religious groups whose institute for tracking such groups is based in New Jersey. He says the name change could be to escape criticism. "I would say this was because one name would be come well known to the general public and he sought to assume a new identity, and therefore avoid the criticism or baggage that went with former names”, said Ross.

Ross has followed Cohen’s group since the mid 90's and says he's seen the impact it's had on followers. "The people that have followed Rama Behera have followed, many of them for decades, since the 70's”, said Ross. “I've met people that literally gave up their life for this man. They gave a great deal of labor, a great deal of money, and it affected their personal life, every area of their life."

Ross says by controlling the environment his followers live and work in, Cohen is able to control their way of thinking.

Local officials say the group does not have a violent history. But in 2002, Gaeland Priebe, a former member of the group, was accused of repeated sexual assault of a child, crimes that took place after he left the group.
A major part of his defense involved the influence he says Behera's group had over him.

Testimony from former members gave accounts of shocking abuse. In a letter read in open court, one former member who left the group at age 10 stated, "Beatings by Rama were Rampant. Almost all children were targeted. Rama whipped me with an electric cord with frayed edges on both ends. He applied a cattle prod to the inside of my mouth, on my teeth, in my ears, on my neck, to my sides, and to the inside of my thighs."

A letter from another former member was also read in court, which said "Members became brainwashed into thinking that Rama represented God himself and had powers beyond that of the rank and file religious leader. Once trusted and feared as our spiritual leader, Rama regularly engaged in various physical and emotional abusive behaviors; all of which were used to obtain and maintain full control over his members' spiritual and personal lives."

Priebe was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison for the sexual assaults. No charges have ever come against Behera's group. "There have always been suspicions or allegations”, said Chief Whealon. “But nothing that law enforcement has ever been able to substantiate, as far as the Shawano Police Department has been involved."

Yet residents and local officials say it's not what's known about the group, but what remains unknown, that makes them worry. "You don't have problems with them in general, the people that are there itself”, said Schuler. “But we've already gone through a Waco, Texas. We just got through getting those children out of another home. Is this, are we having trouble in this home? Is this the next one? And what's behind it, I can't tell you. And it does get people nervous? Yes. It definitely gets people nervous."