High-ranking members of the United Nation of Islam, a cult based in Kansas, were convicted of forcing dozens of people, even minors as young as 8, to work.

Prosecutors said the group, which was labeled a cult by a federal judge in 2018, beat children and imposed severe dietary restrictions.

Federal prosecutors say the United Nation of Islam, a quasi-religious group deemed to be a "cult," used fear to coerce children into working up to 16-hour days in its storefronts, which were donated by the Kansas City,

Victims’ food and water intake was so heavily policed that a girl drank water from a toilet because she was thirsty, the federal prosecutors said