TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ A sensational case with allegations of sexual abuse and devil worship has been reduced to a child custody matter with the dismissal of charges against two members of a mysterious group called The Finders.

The two men had been charged with child neglect after being spotted in a park with six hungry, ragged and insect-bitten children - four boys and two girls ages 2 to 7 - on Feb. 4.

Last week, the two men were released from jail, where they originally were held on $100,000 bail each, and the misdemeanor charges were dismissed by Leon County Judge George Reynolds after prosecutor C.L. Fordham said there was insufficient evidence.

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Investigators who had labeled The Finders a satanic cult have long since characterized it as merely an experiment in group living in which, for example, children gave themselves names and members elected a new leader daily.

State social services authorities also disputed police reports that some of the children had been sexually abused.

Police in Februrary had reported the children were on a camping trip and hadn’t seen their mothers since before Christmas. They said the two men gave false names and said they were taking the children to Mexico to start a school for brilliant children.

The two men, James Michael Holwell and Douglas Ammerman, said they had permission to have the children, and one later was identified as the father of one of the six.

The children’s five mothers helped substantiate the men’s statements, as did documents found in a van in which the men and children were living.

At the time of the arrest, the children were put in the temporary custody of the state. Three have since been returned to their mothers, and the other three remain in the full or joint custody of the state.

A circuit judge held a hearing last week and extended the joint and state custody of the three for at least 60 days to monitor the progress of three mothers in finding work, homes and schools for their children.

Robert G. Terrell, a spokesman for The Finders, said at a news conference earlier this month that the group, based in the Washington, D.C., area, is disbanding. He gave no reason for the decision.

″This is farewell from the Finders, we’re breaking up. You won’t hear from the Finders again until the Chinese are running Hong Kong,″ said Terrell, also known as Genghis K. Plato.

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Police said they were only relying on information contained in search warrants sworn out by police in Washington in characterizing The Finders as a satanic cult. The group maintained two homes in Washington and one in Virginia. Fordham, chief misdemeanor prosecutor in Leon County, defended the arrests.

″I think the response of the police was entirely appropriate. In an abundance of caution, you just have to investigate what you have,″ he said.

″It just looked like something far more weird than it turned out to be. And it is weird. ... They had to be sure the children were OK.″