After learning that Tillie Craig had been adopted, her father launched a decades-long search for her after she vanished from the Ministry of God farm in 1987.
Tillie had actually been murdered by a plastic pipe. The leader of the group then allegedly set her remains on fire and dispersed them throughout the commune in the rural area of New South Wales (NSW).
Following a tip to the authorities, Ellen Rachel Craig, 62, was charged in 2022 with her daughter’s murder. Later, she entered a guilty plea to the lesser manslaughter charge.
Judge Natalie Adams acknowledged that Craig had not intended to inflict any harm when she sentenced him on Wednesday.
She told the NSW Supreme Court, “She died at the hands of someone whose job it was to protect her.”
Regardless of age, children at the commune were expected to perform duties and were frequently punished with a piece of black pipe, according to the agreed facts stated in court.
Tillie’s mother beat her to death on July 7, 1987, when she was sweeping because she was “unhappy” with the quality of the work.
