Mikayla Thornton Daughter Of Kevin Thornton From "Color Me Badd" Says He Ran A Cult-Like Home

Former Color Me Badd singer Kevin Thornton is facing disturbing allegations from his adult daughter, Mikayla Thornton, who says the religious household he led after leaving the chart-topping R&B group was marked by physical abuse, fear, secrecy and extreme spiritual control. Mikayla made the accusations during an interview, describing a childhood she now characterizes as anything but normal. Mikayla, Thornton's youngest daughter, alleged that her father created a "rod of correction" bearing Bible verses and his children's names that was used to beat them. She also claimed Thornton subjected the children to religious "deliverances" in which they were struck with a Bible hard enough to leave bruises. "We grew up in a very religious household," she recalled, explaining that she once assumed other families experienced similar treatment. She further alleged that the abuse could continue until the children cried and begged for it to stop. The allegations present a stark contrast to Thornton's public reinvention following his years with Color Me Badd. The group became one of the biggest R&B-pop acts of the early 1990s behind songs including "I Wanna Sex You Up," "I Adore Mi Amor" and "All 4 Love." Thornton left the group in 1998 and pursued Christian ministry, eventually becoming a licensed minister. In a 2009 interview Thornton said he had walked away from secular music because he believed God was calling him elsewhere. "I'm looking to make a career of spreading the Gospel of Jesus with the gifts that he has given me," he said. Mikayla now alleges that religion inside the Thornton home was instead used as a mechanism for control. "It was a cult. My dad was the head. We were his disciples," she told Soft White Underbelly. She claimed the children were taught to idolize Thornton and that fear helped maintain silence around what happened at home. "My dad operated on fear to keep us silent because his name, who he is, his appearance, everything is optics," she said. Some of Mikayla's most serious allegations concern what she says happened when the children sought protection. She said Child Protective Services was called multiple times after her sister appeared at school with bruises. Mikayla also alleged that she was sexually abused by other children on her school bus beginning in elementary school and that her parents failed to intervene after being informed. She also alleged that her parents allowed her to date a 20-year-old when she was 15 after Thornton told her she was "mature for your age." Decades later, she says she wants no relationship with either parent and alleges they prayed that she would suffer a catastrophic car accident that left her paralyzed or disfigured as punishment for rejecting their authority.