I often put up postings that are tongue in cheek and poke fun at Miscavige and his Merry Band of Minions.
This however is NOT one of those.
It highlights a systemic problem in Scientology, in some ways similar to the Catholic Church. The comparison is both apt (as the interest is in society’s right to protect children and the well being of the children themselves) and somewhat strained (because child molesting is not generally widespread in scientology organizations and certainly not among its “priesthood”). But what is completely parallel is the desire of the church to keep these incidents secret at all costs. To hide the perpetrators and facts from authorities and to “deal with it internally” which usually results in NOTHING being done.
This story is NOT an isolated incident. The fear of authorities is ingrained in scientology — after all, LRH said “the FBI” (and various other government agencies) are beneath the level of pond scum and the “wog” judicial system is corrupt and victims are penalized and criminals walk free. And in the eyes of the church, bad publicity and the merchants of chaos in the media make up the second pillar of evil seeking the worldwide destruction of scientology. Thus the FIRST thought when something like this comes to the attention of OSA is “keep it quiet, we don’t want this to flap.” And all actions are taken based on this operating policy. Just like the Catholic church.
I am sure this posting will elicit stories from others who have similar experiences. Thanks to Robyn for speaking out. It’s not an easy thing to do.
I also note that we have not included the name of the perpetrator in deference to the child involved. The point is not to expose him, it is to expose the way the church deals with such situations.
My name is Robyn Capella and I was a Scientologist for nearly 20 years. I was a Sea Org member for 10 of those years, and during that time was posted in CMO, Flag Bureau, and was a Flag Rep (mostly at LA Day).
In 1996, shortly before the SO to Class V org policy was cancelled, I became pregnant and my then-husband and I were sent to Mountain View org, where I remained as the DSA for the next few years. I left the SO in 2001 and spent the next 6 years as an active volunteer at the San Francisco org.
After many years of being pressured and manipulated into silence, it is time for me to finally expose the worst thing I encountered while in Scientology. This incident has a lot to do with why I eventually left and illustrates how endemic some of the issues are within the Church.
In about the spring of 2001, shortly before leaving the SO, I worked for a few months at San Francisco org for the DSA, Jeff Quiros. While there, I came across a report sitting on Jeff’s desk that an org public had admitted to molesting the 4 year old daughter of his girlfriend. Even though some time had passed since the report had been written, not only had the police not been contacted, but the father of the child had been told specifically that he couldn’t go to the police and that this would be ‘handled internally’. The perpetrator was also still allowed in the org.
When I spoke with the DSA and the HAS (Josh Mooney-Capella – also my husband at that time) about this, I was told that the police would not be involved. I was informed that the perp’s sister — a prominent OT VIII (who at the time ran a study-tech based school and has since passed away) — was doing some ethics handling on him. The DSA had coordinated ‘handling’ the situation with OSA West US and OSA Int, so the decision to not go to the police was not just a local one. Frankly, it seemed like a given to everyone but me and the father that the police would NOT be involved.
At one point, I spoke with the father myself and expressed that I would go to the police if I were him. I was outraged at the way this was being handled and I remember that he thanked me for caring and not simply wanting to brush it under the carpet like nearly everyone else who knew about it, in order to ‘protect the church’. The lack of outrage in others over this was really quite shocking in and of itself. I regret to this day not just going with the child’s father to the police station and handling this the way it should have been. But I was told over and over again that it would be bad for everyone, including the victim, if the police got involved. The mother (who I did not meet), reportedly did not want to go to the police, although I do not believe this was an independently-made decision based on what I had seen happen with the father. I couldn’t even get any agreement to have the perpetrator of this crime declared suppressive. I was told it ‘would not fly’. But I could do one thing myself — I issued a PTS declare order, barring him from service and from coming into the church. There was reluctance to this by certain people as it would ‘upset his sister’.
At the same time all of this was happening, family members of the DSA, Jeff Quiros were unfortunately also harmed by a sexual predator. That perpetrator was not involved in Scientology and Jeff worked with the police to have him prosecuted and put in jail. This was also made known to OSA West US and OSA Int, and there was no opposition to his involvement on sending this perpetrator to jail. I bring this up to illustrate the incredible hypocrisy within the church.
Within a year, that PTS declare was lifted and the child molester was allowed back in the org and on service. I complained, but was told with no uncertainty that I was wrong and to keep out of it. I was told that I was an ex-SO member and so had ‘no say”. At about that same time, all ex-SO with freeloader debts who were volunteering at the org (including me) were kicked out because we were found to be a ‘why’ for fundraising income being low (surprise, surprise, but this action didn’t result in increased income).
Fast forward to a few years later, when the org was in a big push to go ‘St Hill Size’, the perpetrator was actually recruited onto staff and remained a staff member for several years. This was shocking to me and I complained, but was shut down yet again. I was told I needed to ‘get over it’.
Some time ago, at the urging of Steve Hall, I did contact the police, but was told that nothing could be done based on my report alone as so much time had passed and the girl was not in danger. I wanted to at least expose this at the time, but was told by my now ex-husband Josh Mooney-Capella (who is still on staff) that the victim was doing well and that I would just be harming her by bringing this up. I let myself be silenced yet again.
Well, I never have been able to ‘get over it’ and at least I can finally expose the hypocrisy and criminality of the Church. I now know that this was far from an isolated incident and that the church has covered up and committed many crimes over the years.
Disgusting. And I think I might know why it was dealt with like that (or not dealt with). The molestor’s sister was OTVIII. She must have had a lot of money to get so far. Actually holding her brother to account might have killed a major cash cow. I wonder if they would have been so lenient on a random nobody.
I like that Mike is providing this forum. He used to be in charge of the part of the organization that would harass, intimidate, defame, and ruin critics and would ¨handle internally¨ the kind of scenario described in this post. He has done much publicly, and I´m guessing even more out of public view, to fight the injustices and heinous crimes of the ¨church¨, while suffering the loss of family and friends and being harassed and hounded by the ¨church¨. Thanks for getting this kind of information aired and thanks to all of the brave people who speak out. Everyone: stay calm and continue to expose the lies !
I love the Image posted
Jeff Quiros. Grrr! He’s been a busy man with a broom. Search on “Gabriel Williams scientology”.
And it’s a shame that Jan Eastgate / Janice Meyer slipped off due to the years passed and difficulty of proving anything.
Valkov.. Yes..true.. But.. This is Scientology we are talking about.
One day.. The names will be listed of perpetrators. Not now, but one day. These victims must be Validated and those who have victimized them must NOT be protected any longer.
Maybe it’s to late for prosecution, BUT.
The area of sex crimes is a big hush-hush throughout the society. The Federal government is currently investigating something like 60 colleges and universities about their handling of rape and sexual assault on campuses. Many of these are top-tier schools. The schools have their own systems and panels for dealing with these incidents, and a big factor in their ineffectiveness seems to be the desire to maintain good PR and not scare off potential students and their parents, as well as their donors. They want to “handle it in-house” to keep things hush-hush.
The NYT recently had a lengthy article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/us/how-one-college-handled-a-sexual-assault-complaint.html?_r=0
This is an area about which society as a whole needs to have its awareness raised.
Scientology’s obsession with its PR just fascinates me. I can’t think of a brand that is more toxic than Scientology. I try… Monsanto, Wal-Mart, JP Morgan Chase, Exxon. Nope, none is even close. I have to look to political regimes to find names that are more toxic than Scientology: Khmer Rouge, Nazi, Kim Jong-Il.
Yet they are desperately obsessed with avoiding bad PR. I got news for you Scn. bots reading this: Your PR is already in the toilet. No, in fact it’s been flushed; it’s in the sewer.
What is it about religions and their “faith” that true believers can be healed of all manner of psychological afflictions? My mother was raised in a strictly Christian Science home. When her mother was widowed she remarried a widower with another 14 year old girl. This man was known to have a “problem” with molesting young girls. But Christian Science had “healed” him. Imagine marrying someone and risking your 14 year old daughter being molested. He went on the molest my cousin, who loudly went to her mother (my aunt) about the episode. Her mother and our grandmother silenced my cousin and worked to “heal” this man yet again.
Many years later my cousin talked to me about being molested and asked if our our grandfather had ever molested me. Not that I can remember. Thankfully by the time I was born my mother had ditched Christian Science and although she remained connected to my grandmother and (step) grandfather she never really forgot or forgave what happened in her youth. But she never talked about it either until she was in her seventies and all the people involved were dead.
Nothing makes me angrier. The power and authority of an organization or belief system, or even a more powerful individual is used to suppress and exploit others, especially women and children. I was in SCN for a long time and was subjected to my share of horrendous and exploitive treatment. But no one ever sexually molested me or my children. If they had I don’t know that I could be as rational and forgiving as Robyn.
Thanks so much for coming forward. This story needed t be told.
Molest a 4 year old!!!???? This speaks of a deep depravity, casewise. Someone who would do this should be isolated from society, particularly children, before thinking about any personal handling for such a person.
Robyn,
Thank you for bringing this out in the open!
Greta
Robyn,
I am so sorry for what has happened.
You have tremendous courage going public with your story.
Please tell the police. Scientology continues to abuse children as we ‘speak’.
I have no idea what the statute of limitations is on child abuse, but it doesn’t even matter. There are celebrities out there promoting Scientology and getting away with it because no one has your courage. Take someone safe with you and do it now. It is the only way to stop this horrific behavior. Your story is tragically only the tip of the iceberg.
We are blessed to have you here. thank you.
Thank you for coming out in this way and exposing this horrific crime. It’s mind blowing how this “church” declares us for forwarding Debbie Cooks email exposing David Miscavige’s crimes, but will not declare a man who has committed one of the worst possible crimes you can commit against an innocent child. What is wrong with these people, have they completely lost any sense of rationality? If that man did that to my daughter there would be hell to pay. These people are lifeless robots and a perfect example if being totally inculcated. Your integrity is suppose to be more important than your immediate life, well I guess not in that insane asylum!
And all of this occurs under the watch of the most ethical & sane people on the planet?
As a child of 7 years old I was sexually abused by an elderly boy whom happened to be bigger than I was. It just doesn’t go away. This went on for a few years until I had enough, and paid for it by being physically abused by him and my parents. They couldn’t understand why I never wanted to go to school.
When I turned 26 for some reason it all hit me again.I had night terrors and had to drink a bottle of red wine just to go to bed. Eventually when I could afford a psychologist It took me 3 1/2 years to at least realize it was not my fault and it helped me more than I ever realized was possible. When I finally told my relatives you could see the looks in their eyes;”I had somehow brought this on myself.” Jesus, I sort of expected it for some reason. My mother was the only one who felt awful.
She tried to do something about it but in my small town his family had contacts and my Grandparents,Aunts and Uncles didn’t want the town talking. Funny,and not in a good way,the victim gets blamed. They had no association with the,COS yet the attitude was the same.”Sweep it under the rug.”One of my girlfriends said that COS could help me. She had been in for a couple of years before and took me in for courses. Luckily,I started to notice her odd behavior and read tons on the internet.
If this has happened to you please seek help and not from a tin can holder but by a Dr. of psychology. I’d tried several counslers but to no avail. It almost made me kill myself and screwed up my entire life. I constantly questioned my sexuality and the nightmares were horrible. I’m so much better now and live a great life! If you are in the COS get out. I’ve helped several people leave the church and most now lead great lives. They won’t help you,in fact they blame it on your seven year old body:( Fuck them.
Todd, thank you for opening up about your experience with sexual abuse. It is a horrific thing to experience and takes time to recover from. I’m very happy to hear that you got into therapy and are doing better today. If you ever feel the need to return to therapy (or just keep going), there is nothing wrong in this. Sometimes trauma comes off in layers.
I am very close to two women who were sexually abused by their fathers when they were children. They both ended up in therapy as teens/young adults and it has helped them immensely. One sees a psychologist and the other sees a psychiatrist. For one of them, the abuse began when she was three years old and stopped when her mom divorced her dad when she was nine. She never told anyone about it, having all the guilt and shame that you expressed, until she was a young adult and the trauma manifested itself with a horrible sleep disorder and a breakdown. She is doing much better now and under the care of a psychiatrist who she likes and feels understands her situation.
Unfortunately, one of the beliefs in Scientology is that psychologists and psychiatrists are evil people at the core, who will not help you and will tell you what is wrong with you. You can make up your own mind on that. You know when someone is telling you what is wrong with you.
To anyone who tells you that your seven year-old body is to blame for the sex, I also say: Fuck them.
Todd, thank you for sharing your story and I’m glad that you have been able to get the help you deserve. I agree with Pepper that therapy can be great and I’m so glad you are doing well now.
It’s awful that you were made to feel shame for a crime perpetrated on you. Victim-blaming is a blight on our society. If I had heard anyone try to blame the little girl (no one did, despite other victim blaming that does go on in Scientology), I would have blown my top.
Thank you Robyn for coming forward.
I made a video on this subject and the famous Monique Yingling
Lawyer who covers for Miscavige crimes “We handled it internally”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40_PWoib-0U
Thank you Karen for the link. Ever notice how Monique can’t keep her eyes focused on Anderson Cooper? She looks down, sideways and blinks a lot. Especially at the end, her eye lids are literally fluttering. Lots of lies are going on there.
Thanks, Karen, I remember how shocking that interview with Anderson Cooper was. Monique admitted flat out that there was violence occurring at int and her response to Anderson about it being ‘handled internally’ — well, isn’t that par for the course?
I just couldn’t get over it; even one instance of hitting someone never should have happened; I certainly didn’t think such things could go on up at int, that is for sure.
Int = I Not Tell
I witnessed adultery among the higher up staff in an org. Slap on the wrist for the man. the woman was declared….unbelievable indignity towards females in this cult. Children of staff do not get a decent education or are “home schooled” (a crock of S) That is child abuse/
Yes if you are on staff, have status or are a celebrity or have money then crimes are brushed under the rug.
But, if you run out of money, stop coming in or are a critic then your crimes might be made public.
Special treatment is the name of their game, they do whatever they think is best for their group and worst for their enemies.
Robyn, It’s good that you have come forward with this appalling story. And very well done, again, for reporting it to the police.
The big picture of Scientology’s treatment of children includes a version of child abuse that was very prevalent in the Sea Org in that having children was officially seen as an “other intention” if not an outright “counter intention.” As a result, hundreds if not thousands of children were denied the proper time, attention and love they so deserved from their parents.
That big picture also includes the thousands of young lives that Corporate Scientology “ethics officers” decided to snuff out — I think “murder” is the right word, considering it was not a matter of free will but coercion. The whole organization has blood on their hands, that’s the truth. People often wonder why they “didn’t see the corruption” — well, overts cause blindness and stupidity. Some may deny it, but the moment a corporation comes out with a “policy” that will result in death, man, you either wake up and start banging heads together, or you let it slide and become part of the problem. The Church of Scientology’s policy of institutionalized murder was not the only contributing factor to the demise of the CoS, but it was a milestone on the way down, that is for sure.
Some people wonder why Guillaume is a broken man, a blind worm in DM’s hell hole… it was his name at the bottom of that SOED (Sea Org Executive Directive) — a death warrant for hundreds of unborn children.
Then on top of this, we have Policy of covering up any crime and letting criminals go free to “protect” the organization’s repute? Wow. How crazy can it get?
Stick around, it’s gonna get worse.
The big picture of how children are both officially and unofficially treated and viewed in the SO is absolutely important to this discussion.
In terms of Scientology tenants, the policies against the second dynamic actually predicted the destruction of the group. I think this played a large role in bringing the state of the Sea Org to where it is today. Demonizing having children was so effective in degrading people who were otherwise good, caring individuals. They were made to lose respect for family and, once that is done, it opens the door to so much of the abuse we have seen and heard about.
Milestones included cancelling family time, creating the ‘SO to Class V’ policy for pregnant SO members and then the cancelling of this, which meant you were kicked out entirely if you got pregnant. Marriage has also been dragged through the mud, from quickie marriages and quickie divorces, to partners being separated for long periods, third partied to each other. Spending time with family was treated as a counter-intentioned activity. Work was always, always, always more important.
All of this created a hostile atmosphere for the entirety of the second dynamic.
And yes, institutionalizing murder — difficult to confront the reality, but that is indeed what happened. There were people who wanted to have their children and they were coerced into abortions and that is unconscionable. No one should ever have to go through that.
yes, experienced the “quickie” divorce myself; thanks to the Org & etc.
Right. The concept of the 2nd dynamic evolved into “Creativity”. This meant that one is creating, or more literally, working non-stop for the church. “Creating” replaced procreation in the Sea Org. This was a rationale given to me once and I heard this several times afterwards.
What stemmed from this evolution of the 2D going from the sex act/procreation and the Family Unit to “Creativity” is the following: abortions, increased hours spent working, quickie marriages and divorces, and more disconnection from families. The CoS became more and more cult-like and fundamentalist in its internal activities and demands on people, both staff and public.
Dear Robyn,
Thank you for your excellent write up. I very much appreciate your efforts in that as a practicing member of the CoS, you did what you could do at the time to bring the offender to justice, and this shows that you cared about the four year old victim too. If this incident weighs heavily on your heart, please know that you did what you could possibly do, while being in the confines of the morals and beliefs of the church at the same time. The fact that you are bringing this into public view now continues to show that your priorities are aligned with bringing justice to child sex criminals and for the four year-old girl, who’s body was used for the purpose of sexual gratification by an adult.
Child sex abuse is a grievous matter. I noticed that the four year-old girl was mentioned a few times as “doing well now”. Just because kids don’t talk about it and appear to be going through the motions of life doesn’t mean that they are not psychologically impacted. They definitely are. Adults who are survivors of sex abuse in childhood commonly experience the following: depression, drug and alcohol abuse, low self- esteem or self-hatred, dissociation, lack of trust for anyone, flashbacks, sleep disorders, and more. Children don’t get used for sex and then get over it, forget about it, or move on. It stays with them always; a marked period in time.
The CoS has a generalized distaste for what they call “Wog Law”. They want to be identified on the same level of the Catholic Church as “priest/penitent privileged”. If this was really true, then why was there a report on someone’s desk, where others could read it and the “sin” not exclusively remaining in the PC Folder? Because they know it is wrong to cover up an present time crime, and one would think especially a crime involving sex with a four year-old. Scientology ethics is not a replacement for the law. The CoS should at the very least follow the laws of the land regarding sex abuse of children and report these crimes. They should remove parishioners who are engaged in them. Even though the CoS thinks they are exempt from following most laws regarding the human rights of people. Take a good look at the Sea Org and all the human rights violations that goes on there.
Thanks for your thoughtful message. I agree with you on questioning how ‘well’ the girl would actually be doing. The biggest reluctance I had on speaking out was due to not wanting to make her life worse. I never knew or met her. I know how much this has haunted me, so I can’t even imagine.
As for the priest/penitent privilege, so far as I know, this applies to auditing and not any any every report of of wrongdoing (or a crime in this case). This wasn’t something that came up in auditing, but rather was something the guy had otherwise admitted to having done. Although apparently the church doesn’t respect the priest/penitent privilege of ex-members even with auditing, so the point may be somewhat moot.
I think that those involved in dealing with these sort of things tend to treat these as completely isolated incidents that never otherwise happen and, because they are treated like that, people don’t see how often such things do occur within the church.
Th Church implant is simple: We are the only ones who know…everyone else is below us. It then makes perfect sense to not trust the government or the police. It is completely justifiable to sweep it under the carpet, as nothing is more important than the Church’s survival.
That implant is right in KSW 1. Hey, I bought in for many years.
The concept of justice, as the rest of the world would define it is gone here. The greatest good for the dynamics in reality was betrayed and harmed by the expediency of keeping things quiet. NO black PR allowed. The greatest good in the diabolical calculation is heinous and, from some of the other comments today, not all that rare.
I wish the best for that almost grown girl. She is innocent and certainly did not “pull it in”. If that suggestion was made to me I would have to belt someone in the mouth. God I hope these bastards don’t get her into the F ing Sea Org. You know they will use that horrible button to coerce.
Feckers
The church lets heinous pedophiles go on and on in good standing and on OT Levels yet they kick out ethical people whose only crime was reading the blogs and maybe commenting here and there on them. What kind of justice system is that?
It’s not a valid justice system, Cindy. Scientology ethics has never been a true replacement for justice or for law enforcement as glaringly seen in Robyn’s example.
I have seen people declared for the most stupid things. One was a young lady I knew who fooled her husband into marrying her on the premise that she was coming into an inheritance very soon. She also got herself quickly with child to secure the marriage. She really wanted this guy and would have done pretty much anything to have him.
When the baby was about two months old, the lie unfolded and the guy found out that there was no inheritance coming in. He said that he wouldn’t have married her if there was no money attached but never disclosed this before the marriage took place. He got his wife Comm-Ev’d and she was declared an SP as a result. They were both BC students at the time too. I thought this was outrageous. No-one seemed to think that there was much wrong with the guy marrying the girl in the first place “for her money” but the girl was a horrendous human being for stringing the guy along with the promise of a several million dollar inheritance. To me, they were pretty much on equal ground and both needed some help with their personal integrity. So he got to do some conditions and she was declared.
Another example of wacky ‘justice’.
Wacky justice is an understatement!
It actually makes perfect sense that misrepresentation of wealth would be cardinal sin in Scientology.
This is no different from the Catholic Church or the Mormons in protecting the reputation of the church. Efforts to handle child molesters through prayer and reflection (or in the case of Scientology – condition formulas) has been the practice for centuries with disastrous consequences. People who are sexually attracted to young children (except when drugs or alcohol are involved) often go through life fighting the urge to act on their attraction. For most, that’s as far as it goes. The ones that act on their imagination and molest children, even briefly, need to be watched and live and work in positions where they are never alone with children.
What does the cult Scientologist say?
The kid must have had overts against the child molester. It urgently needs a strong ethics handling and the “Consequences rundown”.
I addressed this elsewhere, I wanted to reply. Although victim blaming is common in the church, not even the most fundamentalist Scientologist I know would ever say such a thing about a 4 year old being molested. I will just copy what I wrote elsewhere on this page:
It’s important to understand the actual reasons and mindset so that those still stuck in it can eventually break free.
Josh believed that the perpetrator would get worse if he went to jail and better with Scientology. I think I should have talked about this in my original write up as that was his main point of contention personally. I believe that is a dangerous and wrong mindset because it leads to the cover up of all manner of crimes.
I don’t really know what everyone else was thinking about it, I just knew that the instinct to hide it from authorities outraged me.
This wasn’t the reason OSA was directing it to be covered up; theirs was that it would be ‘bad PR’, which is pretty horrible.
CofS’s long term practice of brushing child molestation under the rug is a sad fact of daily life. I’m aware of early-mid 70s cases in San Francisco. One was a highly thought of Class VIII auditor who seduced the minor daughter of a prominent local family of Scientologists. The other was an SFO staff member who molested a few young boys over several years until he was finally caught. Each boy was molested on org premises. With both of these predators the whole thing was thoroughly hushed up. Not only that, nothing beyond patty cake lower conditions was asked of either of them. In the end they both remained in “good standing.”
The CofS compounds their heinous behavior in these instances by giving these people access to the OT levels despite their criminal acts. But in the eyes of the CofS being a child molester is nowhere near as big a transgression as the #1 unforgivable sin within Scientology of being gay. I was told in no uncertain terms in the early 2000s by on of my BC auditing sups that a gay person would never be granted clearance to do the OT levels because someone who is gay is out of valence.
This is the level of “logic” being used within the confines of the CofS.
They might make an exception with Ellen Degeneres as she’s got bucks, but after having Leah Remini on her show, she’s on the enemies list. I would really like to see the results of an unbiased survey from an independent research group done on a cross section of the world’s population to find out what the average person thinks of Scientology is. My gut feeling is not too good.
And that is on a really good day.
LRH has come back and wants to be briefed:
DM: Well sir, I found the WHY was not only the blind leading the blind, but the ideal orgs that you wrote about was tweaked to conform with standards of an upscale society and then the psychs have been drugging a majority of the population and 3rd partying Scientology resulting in crashed stats, but we’re handling the hell out of it.
LRH: WTF!!!!!!!!! +%*%+-_#@!!!
“LRH has come back…” Very good MJ! Still laughing!
The Group is All, the Individual Nothing.
The true purpose of Scn Ethics and Justice is – whatever is good for Scn. Period.
They are a “The End Justifies The Means” organization. That way they an justify ANYTHING. Even child molestation…
The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number. Communism.
Ironic, as much as LRH railed against Communism, he ended up creating his own religious communistic quasi-military cult. I still shake my head when I think I signed up for that.
Mike, you’re saying that DM is Scientology? Freezone differs. They’re saying LRH and DM are different like night and day.
I don’t understand your question.
That’s the great thing about being out of your cult, OSA Troll. You don’t have to have unanimity of opinion to have unanimity of purpose. And the purpose of the Freezone, the Indies, Anonymous, the Old Guard, and the Never-Ins is unanimous: take down your repulsive cult as quickly and painfully (for you, that is) as possible.
Like.
Well, the Scientology explanation is that the child pulled it on. The child must have had overts in a past life on the perpetrator. So, why create an out PR scene that’s only going to hurt the church? Besides, it’s only a one lifetime meat body; we work in eternity So, based on the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics, let’s just transfer the molestor to a safe place out of the country, and no one say a word. Let’s have the child do some MEST work to get into PT, and then have it write up it’s OWs and do some lower conditions for pulling it in. Situation handled, and be sure to count that on OSA’s weekly stats.
Richard, this may be a fundamental concept of scientology, but I do not believe it is the driving motivation of not reporting these incidents. It’s the belief that government/law enforcement and media are seeking to “destroy” scientology and would love to have a justification for doing so.
I’m all in!
Yes, I understand that the avoidance of a bad PR and Legal situation for the “Church” is probably the primary motivation in trying to sweep things under the carpet. But at least part of the mindset is that they’ll try to “handle it with Scientology”. Of course, even LRH says that Scientology doesn’t work on a Suppressive Person and is not intended for the criminal. Scientology, at least according to LRH himself, is only intended for the social personality. I think anyone who would molest a child could probably be considered a Suppressive Person. I think I would consider any instances of child molestation to be suppressive acts. Real suppressive acts, not the kind of things that are listed in golden rod these days, such as “Failure to apply any of the points of KSW…”.
There is also the belief that what he did is deeply aberrated and only Scn counseling can handle that not prisons, which has a vein of truth as prisons do little to no rehab due to expense and other factors. So Scn takes in this dildo whose repentance is to slave away for them, but then as we all know staff get little to no counseling, so now there is this loose canon on board, HELLO!
Richard, this never came up as any sort of reason for covering up the crime. It’s important to understand the actual reasons and mindset so that those still stuck in it can eventually break free.
Josh believed that the perpetrator would get worse if he went to jail and better with Scientology. I think I should have talked about this in my original write up as that was his main point of contention personally. I believe that is a dangerous and wrong mindset because it leads to the cover up of all manner of crimes.
I don’t really know what everyone else was thinking about it, I just knew that the instinct to hide it from authorities outraged me.
This wasn’t the reason OSA was directing it to be covered up; theirs was that it would be ‘bad PR’, which is pretty horrible.
Well, there’s some evidence that indicates that child molestors are very difficult to reform. One result of this is that convicted sex offenders have to register the rest of their lives. There has also been some push to sterilize child molestors. FWIW, there is no evidence that Scientology can reform sex offenders.
Mike great article with one caveat. There is rampant pedophelia within the staff ranks. Marie Warren, the 40 year old Sea Org Member who raped Hebers minor son Alex, Angelo Scozzi CO AOLA who raped his 14 year old assistant and Doug Finadica Cadet Org Exec who raped a 15 year old Cadet. Being surrounded by plenty of people on the RPF who were getting off similar withholds told me it was WAY more prevalent than we would even dream to think. These guys are hiding in plain sight in every org some on key posts. I would wager a guess that there are more pedophiles in Scientology than in the Catholic Church.
Fair comment. I don’t know what the comparative percentages are. Perhaps you are right. It was not my impression, but I certainly don’t claim to know everything.
One important thing I did not mention, though some commenters have done so, is a big difference between the catholics and scientology. Catholics believe everyone is basically flawed and a sinner and scientologists try to persuade the world they are the most ethical people on earth with a moral compass that is unshakable and always true.
Yep, you got that right, Mike! Scns try go pass themselves off as the most ethical on the planet and that the SO is “putting in ethics on the planet.” With the crimes they have swept under the rug?! Ha!
Of course they would be RIGHT! Problem is, their ‘moral compass’ is always pointing due South.
Good sec check question for a cultie: “Have you ever failed to lie, cheat, steal or damage a comrade when the opportunity presented itself?” Take all reading items to a stuck needle!
Most ethical group…and that leads to unbelievable justifications, the moral compass is completely faulty.
But then shit trickles down from the top , and we have sociopathic think , no conscience.
Yes absolutely Scientologists portray themselves as the pinnacle of perfection in every way and stomp on anyone who dares say otherwise. But don’t the Catholics and other main line Christians do the same thing and have been doing that for centuries. They have just gotten better with the thousands of years of practice, of making it seem less overt.
And for any Christians out there, one thing I want to say is Jesus’s message of love, real universal love, I have no contention with. But hate, manipulation, pain, torture, in the name of love, or in SCientologys case in the name of “Total Freedom” is wrong and evil.
I think you are absolutely right that it’s more common than we would dream. I never, ever considered it could happen in Scientology and was just floored when I found out about it. And then even more floored at the lack of action.
As a DSA for nearly 4 years, I didn’t know of any cases in Mountain View — but it turns out that less than a year or two after I left, a horrible case of child molestation happened at that very org. And I knew the victim and the perpetrator. I didn’t find out about it until many years later when I was pretty much out of the church.
Mike’s recent post about Jasja Barendson is another good example. So few people knew he was in jail for soliciting a minor. The church was telling people to disconnect from those speaking out about the church’s abuses, but not from this guy.
Such crimes are kept under wraps and are definitely not talked about. In that way, those of us who find out about one instance think that it’s the only time this could ever have happened because Scientologists and especially SO members are so ethical.
It’s the same with so many things in the church; abortions in the SO were never talked about; I had heard vague whispers about two girls who’d had them, but I did not know that people were being coerced into them. Same with people who had chronic illnesses; they were hidden away or, if they could still function on post, hid their illnesses from others. And the mindset that they were out-ethics or PTS biased others continually against these victims of abuse and neglect.
I wasn’t privvy to much inside info latterly but even I know of two definite cases in the UK – both teachers abusing students; one was at Greenfields. And indeed the ONLY importance in both cases was minimizing the PR fallout – absolutely. In one case this was difficult as the perpetrator did “time” at Her Majesty’s Pleasure. But still he – the perpetrator – was pleased that OSA had “done a good job” of containing the bad press and keeping Scientology out of it. There were rumours of what went on at Stonelands too when it housed the nursery and Cadet Org, but nothing I could verify. It is definitely much wider spread than previously thought.
Cameron, powerful response, I kind of remember you when the Woodruff flap we at down on L Ron Hubbard Way. I completely agree with you because I had my own issues when 8 was a not so smart teenager in the Sea Org ini the mid 70’s. Happy to hear you respond. you are welcome anytime in my camp.
Wait Jane, you said Doug Fiandica raped a minor? I knew him quite well, did not seem the type.
They never do! How do you think they get away with it?
Mike Reppen,
BasketballJane is my wife.
I’ve never commented openly here before, but I feel compelled to answer your question because, like you, I was there. And this particular aspect of the Sea Org was the real reason I left. It was over a decade ago, but yes, it happened.
A lot of horrible stuff happened. I’m not entirely clean of any of it either. The fact that I didn’t turn on the church back when I was witnessing it makes me an accessory, and I have no real sane excuses for not speaking up. Just insane ones.
I had recently stepped into an executive position in the CLO WUS at the time, and was handed a pile of crap that was the Cadet Org and had to deal with some pretty shocking out-ethics situations there. The conditions those kids had to live in wasn’t anything I’d want for my children or anyone else’s, and I made it my mission to get it handled.
Doug didn’t seem the type to you, but my old friend Yasha didn’t seem the type to me either. There isn’t a type actually. There are individuals with their decisions and actions. Decisions and actions need consequences.
As the deputy commanding officer, I learned really quick that our tendency as Scientologists to throw people into buckets was doing ourselves a huge dis-service and really was just a mechanism to categorize someone so you “knew” what you could expect from them.
This type of thinking is lazy and faulty. For example, I know “Democrats” who proudly own guns and “Republicans” who think Fox News is totally full of crap.
Labels really just breed indoctrinated behavior and serve their creators. Get labeled a “Suppressive” and see who keeps talking to you. The indoctrinated don’t. They don’t even ask you about it. They already “know” what to expect from you and how to react, no matter what the real story is. That particular label is serving DM less and less these days because it’s having less and less consequence. The number of indoctrinated people “disconnecting” is rapidly dwindling and as a result, DM is losing his grip on everyone’s balls.
Afraid of speaking out about the COS? DM’s got your balls. Usually in the form of a family member who you don’t want to “get in trouble” by saying something. Brilliant way to control Scientologists but he’s fucking it up. I’m proof.
SO many things back then in 2000 were “off-policy”, “out-ethics”, “counter-intentioned”, and my favorite “not what LRH would do”. A lot of us were overwhelmed with the task of fixing it all.
I think I lasted about 6 months or more on that post, and I left the Sea Org.
Routing out was 4 months of security checks, FPRD and a super secret process called the truth rundown. A brilliant mind fucking procedure that RPFers are subjected to. Bruce Hines gives a great explaination here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjbt9gVFIX8
An RPF graduate took my position, Rebecca Christensen. Lisa Hamilton, (now out of the bubble) had me sign a stack of documents under duress of not being able to leave, saying I’d never speak ill of the church or bla bla bla. I was handed a few bucks and shown the door. When people asked me why I left, I lied to keep me and my family safe.
It’s taken several years for me to leave the bubble and move on. Even when you’re out mentally, it’s even longer till you start talking to others. Then there’s the fear of getting your family who’s still doing Scientology into “trouble”. You wan’t them to allow them to keep doing Scientology and not get them pulled into Ethics, so you keep your mouth shut. Feel DM holding your balls?
But I digress.
Out of everything I experienced in that iron bubble, the harboring and covering up of HER incident was the one I struggled with the most. She was a very dear friend of mine, and still is today. We are in touch. She is doing very well.
“The Group is all and the Individual is nothing” mentality was VERY heavily indoctrinated.
We all thought that way, and we were all monsters for thinking it.
The indoctrination is heavy, and by definition, it’s expected that you don’t question it.
We were the only hope for the entire fucking universe. We all really believed it too.
All these mest universe “problems” were just dogs yapping at the fire engine.
They were not going to stop our mission. Screw the victim, save the groups reputation.
She was blamed for it. She had “seduced him” and the whole thing was “handled” within the Sea Org so it wouldn’t be a PR Flap. The whole thing was handled at “OSA Level” but despite this, anyone who knew how it was being handled and didn’t do something about it, was wrong. Including myself.
The effort that goes into shielding the actions of criminals in the Sea Org in the name of the “greater good” is insane.
And when it comes to rape of a minor, I couldn’t believe it happened. Seems fantastic right?
It’s not.
What’s fantastic is that he wasn’t escorted to the police. Instead, he was given “Scientology Justice” and an “ethics program”. It’s insane that the “most ethical group on the planet” with the purpose of getting “ethics in on the planet and the universe” harbors sex offenders and shields them from the justice system.
Even hardened criminals in jail have a higher standard when it comes to sex offenders. They have a special welcome for them when they arrive in jail. They openly beat the living crap out of them.
Our society, rightfully labels them for life and puts them on a list for the public to easily look up.
You won’t find Doug on facebook lately or even find a picture of him on the internet anywhere. He had a facebook account last year, but He’s since gone dark.
But from his youtube account, you can see what channels he’s subscribing to:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Dougcahuenga
I suspect that will disappear shortly.
Anyway, I’ve confirmed it’s true I hope. I couldn’t keep quiet about it.
One last thing Mr. Reppen,
Thank you for all your hard work for so many years helping the SO staff with your work in the Universe Corps. A lot of us stayed the course in the SO so many years because we genuinely wanted to help people. Like a lot of us, I never had any auditing in my 12.5 years in the SO, just a bunch of sec checks. But I really liked what you were doing for the staff.
Thank you.
Thank you, Cameron. What a sad story for you and all SO who come in with pure hearts wanting to help and then get the spin dry treatment and no auditing. The “I’m not auditing you” Sec Checks are not auditing. I hope telling your experiences lifted a weight off of you. Keep shedding light and telling the truth. It helps. My wish for you is peace and a great life from her on out. You deserve it!
Dear Cameron,
Thank you so much for your heartfelt and brave response.
I am sure many, many well-meaning souls who have found themselves implicated in any number of unsavoury even illegal and inexcusable situations thorough their involvement in this twisted system which offers well-meaning people the chance to save the world as part of ‘The Most Ethical People on the Planet’, and then leaves them poorer and holding the bag for child-molesters, hebephiles, con-men, human traffickers, fraudsters, homophobes and yes, even murderers, will recognize themselves in your comments here…
Thank you especially for your refusal to place yourself above reproach or excuse your actions (though we all know haw this particular mind-fuck works, don’t we?) There are far too many people around here who seem to believe they were one of the ‘good ones’ and there fore excused, as if their intentions mean more than their acts over days, months, years, decades of this nonsense.
Stopping any chain of abuse begins by saying “Enough! This stops with me; I will not participate any more, not will I remain silent and allow it to be practiced around me!”
Until you clean up your own house you cannot hope to set a hideous structure like Scientology to rights. And you certainly cannot do it whilst carving out a little ‘White Room’ for you and yours and whatever soap-box effigy you’ve built of L Ron Hubbard out of his lies and your dreams, either. David Miscavige goes to sleep every night on high-thread count sheets made of your foolishness whilst children are separated from their parents, husbands from wives, and pregnant women are forced to sleep in parking structures on dirty mattresses with no sheets. People are kept in ‘The Hole’ while Tom Cruise receives Extra-Meritorious Humanitarian Awards for blowing his mouth off on Oprah and making you all look like morons. Tommy Davis is laughing at you from behind his mother’s skirts as you cry for your lost relatives due tot he disconnection policy he assures the world doesn’t exist. And whilst some, even on these very boards find nothing better to do than invent cockamamie excuses for why such-and-such a shore story a bout some dreamed-up medal on LRH’s chest really isn’t so far fetched after all, and really could have happened… and on and on and on…
The CoS is not some noble artifact with a few bad apples on top and a huge, crushing majority of belaboured saints at the bottom. Yes, blackmail, attempted brain-washing and arm-twisting, morals-destroying, hard-sales persuasion is used to ruthlessly keep the ‘faithful’ in lone, but at some point, if you are reading, thinking human being you have to know. And if you are not, why did you cease to become a complete human being, NO one can do that to you– You have to take that decision yourself. And once you do, you are complicit.
If everyone coming out showed your courage and moral fibre, Cameron, the scam would be over now and the healing could begin.
MIscavige isn’t doing this alone; He needed a lot of assistants to carry on Hubbard’s twisted work. And he’s never ahd too much trouble finding them, covering up tings for The Greater Good, writing KRs an spouses for the Greatest number fo bla-bla-bla, selling their children into Sea-Org slavery for a break from the regges…
Break the machine, Throw yourselves on the levers. Stop covering up child rape, fraud, blackmail, human trafficking, abuse of the legal system, exploitation of US Health services because the COS doesn’t want to touch the billions (yes!) it is sitting on, MIscavige’s violence to his staff and imprisonment of his wife..The Hole, etc…
HE CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT YOU!
So give yourselves a big pat on the back, or preferably a big kick in the ass to get it out the door.
TODAY.
Welcome out Robyn! Brooke and I are still living in SF and doing well. Peter is still on staff and disconnected from us. We remember the “real” Josh fondly from those days. All the best, Mark
Hi Mark — good to hear from you, although I’m sad to hear about Peter. It pained me to name Josh here, but his mindset on this was dictated by the church and no amount of argument from me could make him budge. It was by no means his decision to cover this up, but he, along with the DSA and other executives at the org, did. And he influenced me greatly in keeping my mouth shut for so long. I still care about him a lot and hope that he one day is able to see what is really happening.
Robyn
I know of a corporate Scientology teenager who molested some other Scientologists daughter or daughters. The OSA director didn’t report this either. The father eventually found out somehow and went along with the whole mascarade and he himself was under the radar. He has a son in the Sea Org so they were able to scare him into silence and pull him back into the fold.
I know of another Older Scientologist (around 50ish at the time of the occurrence) who took his wife, his son and girlfriend out to a party or something and the girl got very drunk. While driving home the girlfriend took her clothes off in the car. Upon arriving to the older Scientologists home he carried her upstairs and put her in a bedroom apart from his son. Later in the night he crept in and had sex with her while she was semi conscious. I reported all of this to the OSA director and she got pissed at me for getting involved. I told her that it was my belief that it was some sort of rape. This girl may have been over 18 years old but this old guy having sex with her even if she “agreed” at the time is sick.
I am sure there are lots of other things like this in every Org. They always try to keep a lid on it so there is not “bad PR”.
An intoxicated person cannot legally consent to sexual activity, so yes it was definitely rape.
Tony you are correct to think that a rape occurred under the influence of alcohol, even though the victim was of legal age. Anyone under the effects of drugs or alcohol cannot legally consent to sex and it is considered rape in the legal (and moral) sense.
Such incidents like this occur and then are
hidden by many groups.
But for this to happen in the group whose
purpose is to clear the planet and rid it of war and insanity,
is perplexing indeed.
Hubbard developed the ethics system and then
abused it with heavy handed ethics handling
and the fair game crap. He basically used it
to attack those who he felt were out to get him
or go after groups that he deemed against his
group. That then morphed into a heavy hand
to keep his group members on his view of the
straight and narrow.
A group whose lofty aims of clearing the planet
surely could not only use it’s own ethics system
but also should use and stay in line with local
laws that govern all.
A true ethics officer should certainly see this
and differentiate between group law and laws
of the land.
Why then are these abilities to differentiate
ignored? Because of fear of reprisal from society?
Or from fear of hurting another within the group?
And why is this ignorance bolstered by upper level
management?
I think the ethics system developed by Hubbard can
and does work when administered by an understanding
of its use along with the kindness and concern we should
all have towards each other.
Letting something like these sickening actions go without
reprisal is not kind nor is it understanding. It is just as
criminal as the act itself.
So….how can a group clear the planet
when they can’t even clear themselves?
Unfortunately Hubbard was able to instill the unworkable
and abusive side of his ethics tech into many gullible robots that had no idea
of how to differentiate or think for themselves….which then
trickled down to the mess there is today.
Sadly Hubbard’s misuse of his own tech made
his misuse look as if it was the useful and the norm.
Somewhere along the line he lost his kindness and understanding to
fear and introversion. Yet he developed the Int R/D…..go figure.
Thank you Robyn for telling this story. This is yet ONE MORE of several accounts of child molestation within the “church” being swept under the rug.
I have watched Mae Maxima Culpa on HBO which is the story of a group of deaf men, who in their adult lives exposed the sexual molestations perpetrated by a priest when they were young boys. They persisted and were instrumental in exposing the rampant pedophilia and cover-up in the Catholic Church. So, Ms G, is correct. It is never too late to come forward as a victim of this crime.
I personally know someone (Scientologist) who confided in me sexual molestations committed on her when she was a minor, by someone who moved up the ranks in the SO. She was very upset about it and the fact that nothing was done about it within the “church” even though she told the “proper terminals.”
This group makes me sick.
IMHO, “following the laws of the land” is in this case not a bad idea.
Criminon can pickup the pieces if they were doing their job.
Thank you for coming forward, Robyn. Let’s put these people where they belong.
Thank you again, for your courage, Robyn.
Yes, covered crimes like Lisa Mc P of which I was witness of the treatment she received…but one point I would like to make is the falsity of “do it to protect the church”; NO, all cover ups are carried on to protect THE CRIMES the church has been, is and will continue to be involved in unless persons like Robyn (and many, many others throughout some years now) keep speaking up about the abuses and scam of DM and the ‘church of Scn’.
So lets keep at it loud and clear and thank you to those who do so.
New name for CC …….. Cult of Criminals.
“It is more than policy that one gets the condition he fails to correctly and promptly assign AND enforce.
It’s a sort of natural law……
Remember THAT when your finger falters “on the trigger.”
(HCO PL 20 Oct 67, Conditions, How to Assign)
Robyn,
You ultimately did the right thing.
Hopefully the day will come when the victim speaks out as well.
Disgusting beyond belief. Children being molested and raped by scientology staff without consequences for the perps. This cult is beyond sick. It’s a cancer that needs to be removed from all countries. Evil doesn’t even begin to describe the cult. And, of course, I’m sure the psychotic dwarf himself keeps the perps protected for fear of a “PR flag.” The crimes of Miscavage are monumental. And they need to be exposed…
Amen to that!
His master taught him well…
“….Well, I never have been able to ‘get over it’ and at least I can finally expose the hypocrisy and criminality of the Church. I now know that this was far from an isolated incident and that the church has covered up and committed many crimes over the years. ”
BINGO. “Find out WHO Scientology REALLY IS” and you pretty much blow through Doubt in half a second.
Oddly enough when it comes to making sure you PAY YOUR TAXES the church will be all over your ass.
THANK YOU.
Something really rotten hidden just beneath the surface at the church-What a surprise. I thought Dave’s was giving us churches that were islands of calm. Instead it looks like the island may be the same one the boys landed on in Lord of The Flies and what do you know! -There’s Dave holding the conch.
This young lady may not be able to get justice in a criminal court but I wonder if someone could weigh-in on whether it could be taken up in a civil court. If my math is right she should be about 22 now.
Thank you for getting this out Robyn.
Most societies have a problem with sexual crimes. The CO$ has nothing over the Boy Scouts, the Catholic Church and society in general. Child molestation and rape happen all too often and is all to often swept under the rug. Usually, a family member is the culprit, but the living arrangements of the SO and staff to often place under 18’s in the care of adults who take advantage of the situation. Xenu dot net and whyweprotest are rife with examples of this.
The ‘chirch’ gives ‘ethics protection’ to its producing {positive cash flow} members. That culture alone lets sex crimes run rampant.
The most common reason children are admitted to a psychiatric hospital is because of abuse, usually sexual. Real research has shown that victims of sex abuse often become sex abusers themselves. The cycle can’t be broken until everyone is held responsible for their actions.
“The ‘chirch’ gives ‘ethics protection’ to its producing {positive cash flow} members. That culture alone lets sex crimes run rampant.”
Not just sex crimes, but those are the most heinous.
zemooo
Unfortunately it is not just “the cycle can’t be broken until everyone is held responsible for their actions”
but it takes auditing or otherwise effective therapy for the victim AND the perpetrator so the same vile behaviour isn’t being repeated once the perpetrator is out of jail.
Greta
How many children have suffered over the years at the hands of this predator? Rare is the pedophile who acts once with one victim. Particularly when he knows there are people who will cover it up for him. Who knows whether this silence emboldened him further. Thank you for sharing this truth Robyn. You never know, hopefully something comes of this.
Robyn says Steve Hall convinced her to go to police “some time ago”, and that nothing much happened with police. The statute of limitations for criminal child molestation charges in California is 10 years, and it happened in 2001. However, the crime can also be prosecuted in CA within one year of WHENEVER a victim reports to the police – even past the 10 year mark. So this could all change if the victim ever decides to come forward.
The point is that there are often loopholes in statutes of limitation imposed by states, especially when it involves sex crimes against children. Report the crimes, no matter how long ago they happened.
The 4 year old may not actually “remember” the crime… or understand that it actually was a crime. That memory can be pushed down with such force that the child gives itself instructions to never touch that memory. Never. That happened to me. Curiously… the first time I got a whif of what went on for me as a child was in auditing. And then I began to see the pattern of how that abuse literally informed my whole life and made relationships, love and intimacy very difficult. Unwieldy. This 4 year old may have no conscious memory of “abuse”… just residual trauma of being invaded lurking somewhere below the surface. Plus guilt about ever talking about it with anyone. Without an adult “support” of some kind, I don’t see a child coming forth to “stand for their rights.” A child that age doesn’t even know it’s wrong. It’s very, very confusing. Boundaries are not something that abused children know anything about.
This is so true Zana. These incidents can produce a huge amount of trauma. I understand exactly what you’re saying.
Ms. G, you are correct, many states have loopholes in the statutes of limitations for felony child abuse. A full list of the state statute of limitations is found here: http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/state-civil-statutes-of-limitations-in-child-sexua.aspx. The Catholic Church molestation cases, and the Pennsylvania Sandusky case, all involve decades old molestation matters. It is never a waste of time for a victim to report a childhood molestation.
Yes, Ms. G. you are correct in the reporting. Plus there are many attorneys out there who would love to make a civil case against the perpetrators and the CoS too. There may be another Narconon in the making.
Robyn,
Thank you for your willingness to take a stand and reveal the truth. That alone, if done by those that have factual information to share, would likely end the insanity of the cult much sooner than later. IMHO, it IS the Way To Happiness.
Coop
Thank you for sharing this story. I was 14 when a 34 year old staff member committed statutory rape in the Bellevue mission. It was swept under the carpet – he was made to apply lower conditions and later got promoted to Ethics Officer.
Scientology has this “we handle our own” mentality – and never, never do they involve outside officials for an “internal” situation as it would be “out-PR” (their PR is more important to them than any person’s life).
So the correct thing to do is just keep exposing the truth.
Thank you , Robyn, for exposing this. You were so right to do so even now after time went by. Keep whistle blowing and shining light on the truth. I think you should expose the perp’s name so that people can watch out for him.
And thank you, Amy, for exposing what happened to you. And the way the church “handled” this was to eventually post him as Ethics Officer? OMG the irony! It’s the blind leading the blind and the out ethics putting in ethics on others…. pot meet kettle.
I knew a public Scn who was caught in a pedophile sting operation. He had been emailing under age young girls pretending to be a boy their age and had set up a meeting with one. When he got there the policeman who had been emailing him in the sting arrested him. I was so mad to hear that he got off on a plea bargain and never had to register as a sex offender. And I also remember that his teenage daughters had complained more than once about him “accidentally” walking in on them when they were taking baths or naked in the bathroom. And both of these teens are in the SO grown up now. And I was mad to hear nothing much was done about him in the church. He wasn’t declared or anything. I think he might have been dead filed but not sure. He is not active in the church anyway as he has no money. No money, no tickee.
And what was his name?
Who are you asking about?
You had suggested:
” I think you should expose the perp’s name so that people can watch out for him.”
And then your referred to:
“I knew a public Scn who was caught in a pedophile sting operation. He had been emailing under age young girls pretending to be a boy their age and had set up a meeting with one.”
And I asked:
“And what was his name?”
You already know his name, Coop. I told you previously in a private email when you asked me. I guess you want it public, so you asked again on the blog. It was an OT named Fred Nelson and you can research and see his arrest record on it. He hadn’t molested the girl (yet) and was caught and dealt with before it got that far, thanks to the undercover sting operation. Does that sufficiently answer your question for the second time?
Yes,in Scientology the only real crime is running out of cash.
Thanks Cindy. I asked for the benefit of the readership and your suggested advice…
“” I think you should expose the perp’s name so that people can watch out for him.”
I happen to agree with that advice.
Amy, that 34 year old staff member was my ex brother-in-law. If it’s any consolation, he is now a convicted child molester (his brother’s daughter, his daughter are the ones that got him caught) and on the sex offenders list and dying of liver cancer. Karma may be slow, but I do believe that it eventually deals a blow.
Excellent to hear that.
I wanted you all to know that there is no respect for the family as well. No one ever told me that this had happened to Amy – I found out when I read her book- though I was on course in that Mission at the time and needed and should have been included in the life decisions being made on my daughters behalf by others (OSA, the Ethics Officer, staff members). I sure didn’t know I was giving up my rights as her mother when I stepped into Scientology!
I don’t know how many other Scn parents weren’t told about similar situations, but I personally heard of two others.
So which is it, protecting the church or just complete disregard for the family? From what I’ve seen the family and the individual couldn’t matter less
Amy’s right, just keep getting the word out and exposing it all to the light.
Amy, I have read your book and have to tell you that your story really stuck with me; in fact, it was one of the reasons I am finally speaking out.
Robyn
According to facebook, josh is or was one of the “human rights” wankers. He and his cronies deserve a outing. My question: is the hyphen-capella a holdover from the marriage? If so, doesn’t this make him PTS? If so, he didn’t ‘disconnect’ his name. Tut, tut.
Mike, how often do you find out a reader has felt compelled to email one of the scilons in your posts? Like the drafters of the goofy emails or to look up guys like josh and Zing him?
Is this Josh Mooney related to Pat Mooney, the OT VIII Power FSM?
No.
Josh has culpability for sure, as do the DSA and the other org executives who also knew about and went along with this. But please also recognize that the main problem is the mindset of the church which is set largely by upper management – DM and his ilk.
I don’t think going after an individual like that is the right action. Exposing the truth and helping more people inside actually look and see what is really going on is what will stop things like this from happening.
Let’s also not make mean assumptions about people as it doesn’t help. His last name is simply his name. I only took the last half. I shouldn’t even need to explain this as it has nothing to do with anything.
To be honest, one of the things that kept me in Scientology so long was how completely nasty critics were about Scientologists. Yes, there are some awful people in Scientology, but most of the staff, SO and public are actually really good people who are working their guts out because they think they are helping others.
Derisive terms like ‘clam’, ‘scilon’, etc. serve only to negate your arguments to the people who most need to see them – those still stuck inside. Same with throwing around the xenu story.
Robyn,
While I agree that derogative labels do not add value to the conversation (at least not for the targets – it certainly helps some of us let off some steam!), I believe the time has long since passed when it was okay to ignore the obvious because you didn’t like the language it’s dressed up in. Maybe it passed 10 years ago. With the Internet awash with information, you have to wilfully not want to know what is going on. I do not believe there are that many innocents running around with their head in the clouds and nary the faintest idea that anything is wrong.
So those people who stay in because critics confirm by their words and actions everything they have been told about SPs? Let the IAS and other $$$ campaigns bleed them dry. If that’s what it takes to wake up, so be it.
After all, as you are probably already aware, when it comes to defending it’s assets, scientology inc. gets ceepy psycho vicious.
Robyn, absolutely no offense, but OF COURSE THIS SICK, DEPRAVED, MONEY MAKING, FAMILY BREAKING, FORCED ABORTIONS, HUMAN (VOLUNTEER) TRAFFICKING, INHUMAN LIVING CONDITIONS, THOUGHT CONTROLLED CULT IS GOING TO HAVE SOME OUTSPOKEN CRITICS! Heard about Lisa? How about RPF PUNISHMENTS? Stealing money under the guise of eternal salvation?
DollarMorgue and CobGatYour$$, I couldn’t reply directly to your comments but hope you will see this.
I didn’t say this because I can’t tolerate ‘mean things’ or name calling. And I am certainly not saying that outrage isn’t justified.
That said, I think it’s important that the mindset is really understood as that will better inform a critical approach. In this way, more people will realize it’s okay to look. More people will open their eyes. Take a look at the throngs who left after Debbie Cook’s email. After Mike, Marty, and all of the others spoke out.
Plus, I think DollarMorgue greatly underestimates the level of control the church has on the people still inside and the intensity of the indoctrination. The church has a great internal propaganda campaign. Many inside still think that Scientology is creating a better world; they can’t see that the emperor has no clothes.
For the longest time, I refused to open my eyes because I thought that Scientology was the solution to the problems in this world. I was, like everyone else, fully indoctrinated to believe that people saying negative things about Scientology were bad, evil people who wanted the world to go down in flames.
I believed the propaganda of the church over that of the critics and that belief was shored up by how many critics acted toward me and others. Many would also spout things that were misunderstandings of writings or technology and that made them that much less credible. Also, focusing on the OT levels is frankly the wrong target for critics, but yet so many did. And that alone kept Scientologists by the thousands from looking – while giving OSA all the more ammunition against them.
Rob yn,
I did, and I do, use “clam” to describe someone who keeps their mouth shut when they shouldn’t.
Robyn,
I do not underestimate the level of control the church has. I overcame that fear myself, and went on the Internet to learn the truth. In fact, I first went to ESMB, where you find an even wider range of opinions voiced than here, and sometimes in far more colourful language. I know the fear intimately. I just don’t happen to believe that “living in fear of your church” is an indicator of a good group. But then I grew up in the cadet org – perhaps I know the group better than some, on a personal level.
I really do understand what it is like to think you are contributing to a great group, that in fact holds mankind’s only hope in its hands. There are so many layers to that onion that on the way out, you have no idea how far in you are. Even further out, you tend to forget what it’s like. That may be what spurred my comment. Perhaps I forgot what it’s like subjectively to submit to that level of control (lucky me). But perhaps it’s also because I see so many pathetic e-mails published here, crying out for money, money, money, and I know exactly what kind of pressure people are put under to get it.
So honestly? Your call for a more civilised conversation has been heard, at least by me. But Mike remains the one who gets to censor any communication on this blog. Censored thoughts and communication are two things I’ve had enough of.
Oh, and the OT 3 materials? I guess I’d already “ruined my case” in life, but I was just tired of the not know and went and read the stuff. Then I laughed, and realised the joke was on me.
You know the feeling when two pieces of information don’t add up? Like, you are a virtually indestructible thetan who (per the factors) has created this universe, yet reading some words could ruin you irretrievably or -gasp- kill you? Or the ideal org programme, but then you leaf through the green volumes and see mainly talk of central orgs, and they sound completely different? See fundraising and check out vol 3 to find that was VERBOTEN by LRH himself?
That funny feeling has a name. It’s called cognitive dissonance. Maybe you already know about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance
One source of major cognitive dissonance for me was everything I knew about psychologists, and then actually meeting one. Major brain meltdown right there. Since then I’ve found it incredibly healthy to challenge my assumptions about people. Maybe I’m doing so right now?
Thank you for speaking up!
Thank you for posting this. I am sure it was difficult. I want you to know that filing a report with the police was Not in vain. Child molesters are known to be repeat offenders. Now authorities have the name of the perp. I almost wish he was named so that others who may have been a victim and were also silenced might find their voice too. If this person is still around, those who have children around him might be alerted.
The conditioning inside the orgs was such that scientologists were superior to laws and law enforcement and that was the justification for obstruction of justice. Some layers are harder to peel back than others. This is one of them. I thank you again for speaking up. It is Never too late to speak and it is never in vain.
Thanks for the support. I have been wanting to do this forever, but kept being convinced that this would end up just hurting the victim more, which is the LAST thing I’d want to do. I also kept being assured that the perpetrator was fully ‘cleaned up’ and had not and wasn’t going to do anything like this again. I wanted to hope that at least was true because of my then-belief in Scientology. But now, I don’t know.
Thank you for your courage. I support you completely. I am so glad you came forward and spoke out. You are so right, how important it is. These abuses, have got to come to an end. It’s a double standard on Human Rights, which Scientology public pay money to the IAS for their campaigns. Yet right in the back-yard of the Church
is happening what they say they are dealing with on the “4D campaigns”
The classic abusive cycle shines through. Scientology is its own abusive family. Put a smile on and cover up the bruises, it’s nobody’s business but ours.
Thank you Robyn. I sincerely believe that by speaking out, not only will you be helping others but your feelings of regret as well. You’re doing the right thing. Bravo.
I was thinking of doing an expose on the half a dozen friends I had growing up in the church who committed statutory rape and got off with conditions. I suppose I can’t name their names on this blog, but a couple of these individuals are luminaries among the church public now and everyone is aware of their actions in the past.
Hi Nick – doing an expose sounds like a good idea and there may be a reason why you are inspired to do this. Follow your instincts and good luck.
It’s good that you bring this up. People get away with this in part because teenagers are generally considered to be adults Scientology. Many people did not bat an eye when an adult would date a 16-17 year old. Happened to me in the SO — I was 16 and had a ‘relationship’ with a guy who was about 22. He preyed on another girl about my age at the same time and then left. I got in trouble for having sex without being married.
Be careful. You would open yourself up to civil lawsuits by publicly naming people who have not been charged with crimes.
Excellent point. Thanks for making this here. It’s important. Even though the facts may be accurate, alleging someone is a criminal when they have not been charged and convicted is shaky ground to walk on.
True Nick, that you can’t name names (you did suppose that). However, you could get people who had these experiences say ‘this is what happened to me when I joined the SO as a minor/teen” and tell their stories, without naming the perpetrators. It might open up the door to more information coming out and you never know where it could go from there.
Recently I saw a photograph of two prepubescent kids getting off the Sea Org bus in the alley at Flag base. One was a boy and one was a girl. I immediately wondered who those kids were and where were their parents. Children are still being recruited into this cult, where they are then vulnerable to abuse. It needs to stop.
Nick, pass your info along to a responsible journalist – Tony Ortega comes to mind – and let that person run with it. Shield laws will protect you as the source of the journalist’s info should that moment come, and a responsible journalist will know how to use the info legally without recrimination in the first place.
Though late, congratulations for coming forward. You’ve highlighted, once more, that children are not entitled to any special treatment, training, schooling or protection in this “church”. I know of several instances of pedophilia which went completely unhandled, generally the staff member simply being transferred elsewhere to someplace the “flap” couldn’t follow. Hubbard’s paranoia saw to it that the “czerch” was never to be endangered…at ANY cost. Unfortunately, the prices paid were often in pain, suffering and being discarded from the group. And those folks, children included, were the VICTIMS!
Hey Dave, Yesterday, the Prez’s helicopter buzzed the California coastline along Carbon Beach and Malibu close enough to read the words “United States of America” along its sides. It brought back fond memories of the Apostate Air Force during your ribbon yanking at the SP building in Clearwater, not so long ago.
Do you suspect that the Air Force may be reactivated to fly banners with the FBI human trafficing phone number over the Fort Harrison? Perhaps they will open an FBI information kiosk on the front lawn of the pink church next to the Fort Harrison?
Meanwhile, maybe you can use your political clout to have several bus loads from Texas of underage refugees sent to the Clearwater bus station, with your recruiters standing by. This could help feed your cult’s appetite for VICTIMS.