Country star Rory Feek hits out at adult daughters after they accused him of exposing their kid sister to ‘abusive’ cult

Country star Rory Feek has hit out at his adult daughters after they accused him of exposing their kid sister to what they have called an ‘abusive’ cult.

Feek, who in July married his daughter’s schoolteacher, has been raising his youngest daughter, Indiana, in an agrarian Christian community tied to Homestead Heritage –  which has come under fire after at least one of its members admitted to child sex abuse.

In light of the allegations, Feek’s oldest daughter, Heidi, 37, claimed on Instagram that her father left 10-year-old Indiana – who has Down Syndrome – ‘in the care of a group with a well-documented history of physical and sexual abuse of children.’

‘Indiana, who has special needs, deserves to be in a safe and stable environment where her well-being is the top priority,’ wrote Heidi, who had previously announced that she and her younger sister, Hopie, 35, are pursuing legal action for their sister.

But Feek denied the claims in a lengthy blog post on August 31, entitled ‘love, dad,’ writing that Indiana ‘has never been more loved or better cared for than she is right now.’

The young girl was just two years old when her mother, Joey, died of cervical cancer. The older sisters have a different mother, Tamara Gilmer, Rory’s first wife to whom was married from 1985 – 1992. 

In his blog, he said his eldest daughter’s claims have ‘broken my heart.’

‘I never in a million dreams would have imagined that my older girls would be doing what they’re doing now, and I would be sitting here writing this blog post,’ the country singer wrote.  

‘But here we are, and here I sit, trying to make sense of all the texts and pictures, the online articles and accusations that people have been sending me and even more than that, the things my oldest daughter, Heidi, has been saying and doing – all in the name of what I’m sure she thinks is for the good of her little sister.’

Feek went on write that ‘for the first time in her life, [Indiana] has a mother.

‘She’s, of course, always known that she has a real one – Indy’s seen all the pictures and videos, and heard all the songs – but its different when she can wake up in the morning and climb on Rebecca’s lap and say “Good morning, Mama.”

‘When Joey passed away, Indiana had just turned two and so she doesn’t really remember her,’ the Gentleman singer explained in his blog post.

‘Since then, she has desperately wanted and needed a mother in her life and it has finally come to be. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing to see happen for her and for all us.’

Feek also responded to allegations that Homestead Heritage is a cult. 

‘These folks are just living in a way that other people don’t like or understand, and it’s a whole lot easier to call something a cult and dismiss it than it is to look deeper into and actually find out what it is they are doing and why they’re doing it.

‘If you visit Homestead Heritage in Texas or Greycliff in Montana… what you’re going to find is a bunch of people who have learned to truly love each other in community. To die to themselves and put God first and the fruit of it is everywhere you look.

‘It’s especially visible in everyone you meet,’ he continued. ‘Exactly the opposite of what some of these silly, salacious online reports are saying.’ 

The Christian community of more than 1,000 residents states on its website that it ‘stresses simplicity, sustainability, self-sufficiency, cooperation, service and quality craftsmanship.

‘It also strives to live in peaceful coexistence with the land, other people and other faiths.’ 

For those considering joining the Homestead Heritage, the website states that ‘anyone can join our community, provided they fully understand our beliefs and our way of life and are fully committed to living them out.’ 

It continues: ‘We encourage anyone who’s interested to come spend time with us, ask questions and get to know us. 

‘We also have an abundance of literature available for those who want to learn about us in greater depth.’

Feek further addressed allegations that he left Indiana ‘with child molesters,’ writing: ‘I am not a perfect father, but I’m also not an idiot.’

And he responded to claims that Indiana is not allowed to speak with or see his sisters, saying that they were previously allowed to speak – ‘even through this past spring when the sheriff showed up at my door with a summons saying that I was being sued by Heidi and Hopie, and I had to hire a lawyer to defend myself and m little one.’

Feek said: ‘When Child Protective Services called me out of nowhere, saying that it had reported that Indiana was being neglected, along with other accusations, Heidi and Hopie forfeited their right to speak to their little sister.

‘This is not how it should be done.

‘Instagram and Facebook are not the places where we should, as people and families, be settling our disputes or differences.’

He added that ‘too often, these platforms are used to air out dirty laundry, to say things about, or to, people we don’t have the courage to say in person.

‘I know it makes for a heck of a show online because people gravitate towards train wrecks, but in the end, it just hurts everyone.’ 

On Sunday, the older sisters responded to the blog post on Instagram.

‘Hi dad. This is Heidi and Hopie. As sad as it is to say, we’re just happy to hear from you,’ the Instagram post read, as the sisters shared a screengrab of what they said were text messages they sent to their father.

They agreed that the Internet ‘isn’t the place to settle this,’ and said they have forgiven their father multiple times in the past – even when he allegedly ‘abandoned’ them in the middle of the night as children, an incident Feek spoke about in his audiobook.

He said he went to the train station without telling anyone and asked for a ticket to ‘anywhere but here,’ and he dreamed of a life ‘that didn’t have the responsibilities he had, but he later returned home because he wondered who would raise his girls.’

‘Love is action, not words,’ Heidi wrote. ‘We forgive you for your unkind words.

‘You called us cowardly in your blog post for not facing you. We forgive you.

‘The last time we sat down to have this conversation, without a mediator as you requested, you told us you were done being our father. We forgive you.’

The final slide had a photo of Heidi and Hopie and read, ‘We have found peace in our own lives and have taken the long journey of healing.

‘We have come out stronger on the other side of our childhoods.’ 

In a separate post, Heidi wrote she was speaking only for herself, as she hit out at her father for saying “Indiana has never been more cared for than she is right now.”

‘I felt heartbroken,’ she said. ‘I was worried you would try to erase Joey from the story like you erased our mom.

‘You say Indy has a new “mama” but several people close to you have reached out to me concerned about the way she treats Indiana. Hopie and I aren’t the only people speaking up.

‘Some of the people speaking up grew up at Homeland Heritage,’ she went on. ‘You called the *numerous* convicted pedophiles within Homestead “a few bad apples” but the saying goes, “a few bad apples spoil the barrel.”

Her husband, Dillon Hodges, also wrote his own letter to the country singer that addressed his decision to stop allowing Indiana to spend the night at their home in Alabama.

‘While I tried my best to respect your wishes when Indy came to visit us (we never allowed her to look at screens, and always prayed before meals, etc), I’ll admit that I regularly let her listen to Disney songs (and sometimes even Whitney Houston on my iPhone. 

‘I know you said no music, but please don’t punish the girls for my actions.’

Hodges said he also recorded conversations between Rory and his older daughters.

‘I have been shocked and appalled by the way you have treated all your children, so I felt the need to document it.

‘You are no hero. You are no victim,’ he wrote. 

Still, Feek shared in his blog post that he loves his daughters ‘with all my heart. And I do not want to hurt them, even if their desire is to hurt me deeply.’

He ended the post by asking fans to ‘Pray for us. Pray that we will put our selfishness aside and choose to love each other.

‘Pray that we will put our devices and our accusations down, swallow our pride and get in the same room, with legal counsel or mediators, and began talking and listening to each other, even if it’s hard and uncomfortable.’ 

A spokesperson for the Christian community, Dan Lancaster, also responded to the claims.

‘Over a decade ago, our church pastors reported four individuals to local authorities for sexual assault and all were rightly convicted and sent to prison,’ he told Fox News.  

‘Only one of those was a member of our church when the crime was committed.

‘Unfortunately, one of our parishioner’s estranged daughters is trying to rewrite history to gain leverage in a family custodial dispute that has nothing to do with our church.

‘Like any church, having even parishioner that commits such a heinous crime is one too many, but it is also heartbreaking to see our 1000-plus local parishioners and our church’s 51-year history smeared in the press for the crimes of others that we proactively reported to authorities.’