Separatarian Sect

The Separatarian Sect was a cult that appeared in Season Four of Criminal Minds.

Background


Libertarian Leo Kane founded the Liberty Ranch in La Plata County, Colorado in 1980 as a self-sustaining community. At some point a pregnant woman sought shelter with the group and joined them, giving birth to a son she named Charles Mulgrew. Charles was unusually intelligent and, at the age of seventeen, was kicked out of the ranch when several young girls claimed he had forced himself on them.

Charles, now known as Benjamin Cyrus, returned to the ranch in 2000, shortly after the death of his mother. Ben ousted Leo from power, putting a gun to his head and claiming God told him to take over. With Leo gone (and later incarcerated for tax evasion and assault) Ben introduced religion to the ranch, effectively transforming it into a cult. Stockpiling weapons Ben also had his way with several young female members of the cult, even marrying a few of them. In 2008 the cult came under investigation when a 911 call from a member implicated Ben was having sexual relations with a minor. Getting calls from the authorities Ben agrees to allow three child interview experts in to talk to several of the girls living on the ranch.

Minimal Loss
When Nancy Lunde and the undercover Emily Prentiss and Spencer Reid arrive at the ranch Ben greets them warmly and sets up an impromptu interview room in the schoolhouse. As Nancy and the agents talk to fifteen year-old Jessica Evanson, discovering she is actually married to Ben, the ranch gets a tip that the police are planning a raid. Placing the women, children and Nancy, Reid and Emily in the tunnels beneath the ranch Ben and his most dedicated followers get into a firefight with the SWAT agents when they arrive. In the chaos three cultists are killed, two agents are wounded and Nancy is accidentally killed by an agent's stray bullet. Ordering a ceasefire Ben allows the agents to leave with their wounded (one of whom dies en route to the hospital).

When the authorities set up outside the ranch Ben is contacted by Rossi, who begins negotiations, Ben telling him about Nancy's death during their discussion. Having agreed to give the cult medical supplies Rossi drops off several bugged boxes the next day, Ben letting him inside and showing him the women and children, who he refuses to let go when Rossi's asks him to. When Rossi leaves Ben pours each member of his congregation a cup of wine, telling them after they drink it that the wine was poisoned. After writing down the names of those who panic after drinking the wine (to know who his true followers are) Ben tells everyone there was no poison, it was just a test.

Later, after seeing a news broadcast mentioning an undercover FBI agent is in the ranch Ben, when Emily admits to being the agent, takes her to an empty room and beats her unconscious, telling his second-in-command Chris Cole to keep her tied up upstairs. Getting advice from Reid (who realizes the ranch is already bugged) Ben calls Rossi and claims he will release a child if they give the name of the FBI agent inside, as a trust test. Releasing a little girl Ben is told by Rossi that Emily is the FBI agent and, after gaining this information, expulses several cult members, the ones who had failed the wine test, leaving only the most dedicated followers. Lying to Rossi, Ben claims the cult will surrender at noon and demands the press be present; in actuality, Ben is planning on a mass suicide as a last act of defiance and has his followers rig the ranch to explode.

As 3:00 AM approaches Ben offers Reid the chance to leave, an offer the agent declines, telling the cult leader he wants to be the one to tell the group's story. Moments later Ben notices a squadron of Humvees approaching and, enraged by this development, goes outside and shoots into the air to get the attention of the press. Preparing for the inevitable attack Ben, seeing Reid trying to talk sense into Chris, beats him into submission just before Morgan and several agents burst into the room, having snuck in through the tunnels and evacuated Emily, the women and the children. Both Ben and Chris are shot to death. Having run back into the chapel after realizing her mother (revealed to be the one who called about the child abuse in the first place) had tried tricking her into leaving (claiming Ben had wanted her to bring everyone into the tunnels) Jessica, seeing her dead husband, grabs the detonator he had dropped and activates it, detonating the explosives spread throughout the chapel, killing herself and any of the die hard followers still inside while Reid, Morgan and the other agents manage to escape.

Members

 * Benjamin Cyrus . Portrayed by Luke Perry.
 * Christopher Cole . Portrayed by Colby French.
 * Jessica Evanson . Portrayed by Jenna Boyd.
 * Kathy Evanson. Portrayed by Kathleen Wilhoite.
 * Miles
 * Lauren
 * Robert
 * The Sutters family
 * Todd Sutters
 * Melanie Sutters
 * Nicholas and Nathan Sutters
 * Evan and Janelle Radley
 * Josh Scorpi
 * Sean Ebbins
 * Sherry Gelman
 * Alice Danfield
 * Wyatt Rayborn
 * Rowanci Dell
 * Doris Beasley
 * Benny Jenford
 * Willis Farwell
 * Numerous other unnamed members

Known Victims

 * Numerous unnamed girls
 * Bower and a second unnamed SWAT agent
 * Emily Prentiss and Spencer Reid
 * Numerous unnamed U. S. Army soldiers
 * Jessica Evanson and numerous unnamed members

Appearances

 * Season Four
 * "Minimal Loss"