Guide Note

Grail Movement cult member, 31-year-old Klara Mauerova of the Czech Republic, confessed to torturing her two sons. In court on June 19, 2008, Mauerova admitted that she kept the boys in cages, or chained them and forced them to cut themselves with knives. She installed a television monitor so that she could watch them suffer from her kitchen.

Fast Facts

1. Age: 31 years old at time of confession
2. Member of Grail movement cult
3. Told the court that she received text messages from a cult leader telling her how to abuse the children
4. Sons: Jakub Mauerova age ten and Ondrej Mauerova age eight
5. Police found the children on May 10, 2007
6. Ondrej was abused for at least six months¹
7. The boys testified in court
8. The children were handcuffed, sometimes kept in cages, forced to stand in their own urine
9. Children were beaten, had cigarettes put out on their skin
10. Partially skinned, and fed the flesh of the boys to relatives²

A neighbor of Mauerova installed a baby monitor so that he could watch his baby. In May of 2007, the signals were mixed and the neighbor saw an image of a naked boy, tied up on a floor in an otherwise empty room.¹

Police searched around from house to house on May 10, 2008. When they came upon the home of Mauerova and her sister Katerina Mauerova, the women would not open the door. Firemen had to break the door down.¹

Eight-year-old Ondrej was found bound with duct tape. A video camera was was filming him. He was dehydrated. His 10-year old brother, Jakub, was also found in the home. The boys later testified in court. Jakub and Ondrej had been beaten, handcuffed, burned with cigarettes and were forced to cut themselves with knives. Ondrej had been gagged so that his screams could not be heard.

When police rescued the boys, they also found a girl called "Anna" who was believed to be adopted. After the rescue, 13-year-old "Anna" ran away. In actuality, "Anna" was 34-year-old woman named Barbara Skrlova, a cult member and friend of the women who participated in the abuse of the children. She was later arrested and charged.¹