- A new documentary scheduled for release later in February tells the shocking story of an Australian woman who convinced her followers that she was Jesus Christ

- She took young children and raised them but also brainwashed, starved and gave them mood-changing chemicals

- She held these children captive for decades

A new documentary scheduled for release on February 23 tells the shocking story of an charismatic but delusional Australian woman who convinced not only herself, but hundreds of followers that she was Jesus Christ.

Anne Hamilton-Byrne pictured with some of the children she held captive for decades

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Influenced by a mood-changing chemical, Anne Hamilton-Byrne took in hundreds of young children in the 1970s and 1980s with the delusional aim of saving them from an apocalypse she believed was imminent.

She believed she had the duty to save them because she was Jesus Christ reincarnated. To control the children, she gave them the same chemical that was causing her delusions.

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Anne made the children wear matching uniforms

Anne also kept the children captive and often starved them. She made them wear matching uniforms and, according to some of the survivors of the sect interviewed in the documentary, she and her husband oversaw many instances of physical and indecent assault.

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Some of the captives eventually escaped in 1987 and alerted the police. However, Anne was only charged with forging birth certificates and fined. She is now aged 96.

Here is the trailer for the documentary.

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