Aftermath in the Media

[Quilt Fairy]

1 hour ago, toodles said:

ETA:  I checked the A &E website and they still show it scheduled.  I'm so confused.

I see it scheduled for this Monday at 8pm Central time. 

[Sew Sumi]

Pirates of the Caribbean is airing tomorrow, not Monday. The special is scheduled to air at 9 (8 central) on Monday.

[toodles]

21 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

Pirates of the Caribbean is airing tomorrow, not Monday. The special is scheduled to air at 9 (8 central) on Monday.

Thanks.  I'm old.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Jaded]

The U-Verse on screen guide finally updated. Took it long enough. 

[MaryMitch]

18 hours ago, toodles said:

Did they pull the special?  I checked my direct tv guide and they are showing pirates of the Caribbean movies instead.   I couldn't find anything on Google.  

I had the special scheduled to record a couple of weeks ago.

ETA:  I checked the A &E website and they still show it scheduled.  I'm so confused.

My cable schedule shows it from 9pm-11:04pm on Monday night. (Eastern time)

[jenrising]

Mike's blog mentions the explanation for some of the scheduling confusion: 

Quote

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the episode was only finalized last week. A&E could not promote it or schedule a final time slot until the episode was in its final form and signed off by the powers that be. It was a difficult process that in the end, Leah and I had little to do with.

A&E wanted it to air while the voting period for the Emmy’s is still open (which ends on August 29) and given those parameters there has been little promotion for the show.

[summitsw]

EW interview with Leah about the end of the series.

Can’t wait to see what stage 2 involves. Hope it’s epic. 

[SailorGirl]

And another lawsuit filed . . . 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/09/19/scientology-policy-enabled-years-of-child-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-says/

[Whimsy]

On 9/19/2019 at 2:54 PM, SailorGirl said:

And another lawsuit filed . . . 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/09/19/scientology-policy-enabled-years-of-child-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-says/

Ugh.  I went to read it and it said I had to subscribe to Tampa Times to do so.  Frustrating.  😞

[SailorGirl]

3 hours ago, Whimsy said:

Ugh.  I went to read it and it said I had to subscribe to Tampa Times to do so.  Frustrating.  😞

Yep. They have a paywall. You're limited to either 4 or 5 free articles in a month.

Try a different browser. Because I maxed out for the month there may be something in the link I posted that's saying its maxed out; try going to tampabay.com then find the artie. That should do it. 

Edited September 22, 2019 by SailorGirl

[Jaded]

5 hours ago, Whimsy said:

Ugh.  I went to read it and it said I had to subscribe to Tampa Times to do so.  Frustrating.  😞

Here's the same article free through MSN...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/scientology-policy-enabled-years-of-child-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-says/ar-AAHxFl3

[link417]

On 9/19/2019 at 2:54 PM, SailorGirl said:

And another lawsuit filed . . . 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/09/19/scientology-policy-enabled-years-of-child-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-says/

I was able to view it fine with your link. I’m glad people are starting to stand up to $camatology, thank goodness for those attorneys, too.

Just a warning, there is some detail of child sexual abuse in the article. It’s so sad, and likely only one of many such accounts.

[italianguy626]

On 9/22/2019 at 10:48 AM, Whimsy said:

Ugh.  I went to read it and it said I had to subscribe to Tampa Times to do so.  Frustrating.  😞

Clear your browser’s cache and cookies (or use a different browser you don’t normally use, as was suggested). Should let you get a new round of free articles.

[SailorGirl]

On 9/28/2019 at 10:31 PM, italianguy626 said:

Clear your browser’s cache and cookies (or use a different browser you don’t normally use, as was suggested). Should let you get a new round of free articles.

Nope -- it has to do with the IP address. 

And apparently, their takeover of downtown continues. 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/09/30/election-could-put-majority-scientologists-on-clearwater-downtown-board/

Edited September 30, 2019 by SailorGirl

[Jaded]

2 minutes ago, SailorGirl said:

Nope. 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/09/30/election-could-put-majority-scientologists-on-clearwater-downtown-board/

Here's the link to the above article free through MSN's news section.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/election-could-put-majority-scientologists-on-clearwater-downtown-board/

[SailorGirl]

16 minutes ago, Jaded said:

Here's the link to the above article free through MSN's news section.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/election-could-put-majority-scientologists-on-clearwater-downtown-board/

Thank you for finding this and reposting.  . . .:-)

[SailorGirl]

Well this is disappointing and disturbing . . . like they aren't going to use every penny of that $270K to put on events that promote their cult? 

Downtown Clearwater is never going to see any sort of successful revitalization so long as the crazies monopolize the area. . . .its a shame because it could be such a cute little vibrant "Main Street" type of area. . . 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/10/08/scientologists-win-majority-on-downtown-clearwater-board/

[SailorGirl]

So this looks to get only more contentious -- the comments are always entertaining, because, well, Florida, but one person commented the scientologist had his Nazi remarks prepared ahead of time and printed out. . . I may try to attend one of these meetings just to see the crazy first-hand. 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/10/17/clearwater-candidates-feud-with-scientology-heats-up-at-downtown-meeting/

[SailorGirl]

Hey cool kids—go check out the Tampa Bay Times website. They ran a series of articles the other day about the cult’s property grab and how much of downtown Clearwater is Co$ owned or affiliated. 

Two days later, Clearwater is innundated with a special edition of their magazine. They got access to gated, locked buildings and communities in the middle of the night, were following USPS trucks and putting the magazines in people’s mailboxes, tried to leave the magazines at government offices, etc. 

The crazy just really never stops.  If I was a resident of one pf those buildings, I’d be freaked out too.

[Diane Mars]

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2019/10/26/exp-scientology-buys-most-of-downtown-clearwater-florida.cnn and

https://www.mikerindersblog.org/cnn-on-clearwater-more-from-the-tampa-bay-times/

[alexvillage]

I don't know where to put this so it will go here.

The Kominsky Method on Netflix, the last episode of season 2, has  a little plot that makes fun of scientology in a smart way, satirizing and telling the truth. There was mentioning of scientology before, but just in passing. This time it is part of the story. I am not sure if they will keep going but it is fun to watch.

[SailorGirl]

There is no way that what this guy is saying has any truth to it if he really has family members who are part of the Sea Org. How have they not labeled him an SP if he really thinks this way? 

Its just one more way for Co$ to get their hooks further into Clearwater and continue its destruction. I wholeheartedly agree that the Imagine Clearwater project is a waste of money -- but only because Scientology is so prevalent in Clearwater. If they were gone, people's heads would spin at how fast Clearwater bounces back and thrives. 

But sorry, I'm not buying it that there's someone whose family is in the Sea Org -- family who left and WENT BACK IN! -- and who is supposedly "neutral" about scientology but isn't labelled an SP by his family? No. Way. Apparently nobody in the comments section is buying it either. 

This to me seems like just another Co$ subterfuge tactic. 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/11/12/a-candidate-with-roots-in-scientology-is-running-for-clearwater-mayor/
 

A candidate with Scientology roots is running for Clearwater mayor

Morton Myers says he’s not an active member. But with family on Scientology’s staff, he says he’s uniquely positioned to find middle ground with the church.

CLEARWATER — When Morton Myers introduces himself as the latest mayoral hopeful, he fields questions about Scientology the same way he did as a child growing up in Clearwater.

Myers, 40, said he’s always been “neutral” on religion. But his parents were dedicated Scientologists, having spent much of their adult lives in the Sea Org, the church’s military-style workforce. They left the religious order in 1983, when Myers was 3, to raise a family.

He lived an active childhood in the Wood Valley and Oak Acres neighborhoods, camping with the Boy Scouts, dirt biking with his brothers and attending public schools.

About a year after his mother died in 1999 from melanoma, Myers’ father returned to the Sea Org. His youngest brother, then 12, joined too. His other brother joined a few years later at age 20.

Myers chose a different life. He married his high school sweetheart and blended with her family, a clan he described as “devoted Christians.” He has run a slew of businesses over the years and now owns the Dairy Kurl ice cream shop and Tampa Bay Pawn, both on Gulf to Bay Boulevard.

While Myers says he is “not an active member of Scientology,” his family roots in the organization bring a rare, if not unprecedented, dynamic to the mayoral campaign. Throughout Scientology’s history in Clearwater — from its arrival in 1975 with written plans to take over, to the recent flood of commercial real estate purchases downtown — no candidate for City Council has spoken as openly about having ties to the church.

Myers said he decided to run for mayor in the March election over concerns about the city’s proposed spending on Imagine Clearwater, a $64 million plan to transform the waterfront and revitalize the depressed downtown. He said he wants to keep three key city-owned waterfront parcels out of the hands of developers.

His priority is to be a voice to neighborhoods outside of downtown that he sees as overlooked.
 

“I’m not here to campaign for Scientology," Myers said. "I have nothing to do with their agenda. I’m actually here for the people of Clearwater.”

But Myers said his family’s involvement in Scientology gives him an insight no other candidate could provide when dealing with the church.

In October, the Tampa Bay Times reported that companies tied to Scientology spent $103 million since 2017 buying nearly 100 commercial properties around the downtown waterfront and Scientology’s international spiritual headquarters. The push has given the church decisive control over the future of the retail district.

Myers said his background positions him to be able to communicate with the church about its plans.

“I think they might actually talk to me because of my relations,” Myers said. “I don’t find myself as an ally, but I don’t think I’d be looked at as an enemy.”

Just like when he was a child growing up in Clearwater, Myers has had to explain a complicated balance to voters: He is not a practicing Scientologist, but he maintains that parishioners like his father and brothers “are just trying to be happy.” He said he has read news reports over the years about alleged human trafficking, abuse and financial exploitation but has never seen it firsthand.

 

“With the Church of Scientology, you have a group of people that are trying to do their own thing and they are protected by the First Amendment," he said. “There’s been a lot of prejudice in this city towards their group, so I can understand why they would do things on their own.”

Myers is the fourth candidate to announce a run for the mayor’s office, which is one of five equal seats on the City Council in the city manager form of government. He joins environmental advocate Elizabeth “Sea Turtle” Drayer, former mayor Frank Hibbard and former council member Bill Jonson. Myers has until Friday to submit the required 350 voter petition cards to qualify for the race.

He first ran for City Council in 2013, inspired by a desire to campaign against the Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s proposal to build a new facility on the city-owned downtown bluff property. He dropped out two months after filing paperwork to focus on his businesses.

This time, Myers said he’s advocating on similar ground. While he supports Imagine Clearwater’s goal to improve the waterfront for the public, he disapproves of spending $64 million.

The plan calls for developers to build housing with ground-floor retail on the former Harborview and City Hall sites. Myers said he opposes leasing or selling the bluff properties to any developer.

 

Instead, he is proposing a city-run community center for the Harborview site. Myers said the city should build a parking garage on its 1.4 acre vacant lot across the street from City Hall; the aquarium sold the lot to the city in 2017 for $4.25 million after Scientology offered $15 million for the site.

As for the City Hall property, Myers said the city should preserve the building and convert it into an arts center or museum. He also proposes building an on-ramp to the Memorial Causeway Bridge through the City Hall property to re-direct traffic through downtown via Drew Street and Osceola Avenue.

In 2005, the city completed the new bridge to Clearwater Beach that rerouted beach traffic from downtown’s main artery of Cleveland Street to Court and Chestnut streets a few blocks south. Myers considers that move “the final straw that killed downtown” businesses.

“If I could move the bridge back I would,” he said.

Besides working to keep the city’s bluff properties from developers, Myers said he is running to bring more resources to other parts of the city, like shelters and bathrooms in neighborhood parks. He wants to help simplify city codes to make it easier for entrepreneurs to open businesses in long-vacant buildings.

Although Scientology has a policy that forces members to shun family, friends and associates who act against the church, Myers said he would not be influenced by Scientology as mayor.

“We need a new angle," he said. "You get a guy that has seen both sides of the fence and can, you know, have friends on both sides. ... My family is who they are and I am who I am. I’m throwing myself out there. I hope not to get caught up in the crossfire of what feels like a battle downtown.”

[Quilt Fairy]

On 9/22/2019 at 4:46 PM, Jaded said:

Here's the same article free through MSN...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/scientology-policy-enabled-years-of-child-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-says/ar-AAHxFl3

It's bizarre to see a CO$ follower referred to as "a parishioner". 

[Jaded]

[SailorGirl]

Hmmm . . . wonder what this is really about . . . 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2019/11/25/clearwater-officials-met-with-scientology-leader-david-miscavige-this-month/

[juliet73]

Not sure where to put this so it's going here.  I thought this was interesting and here's hoping that if the Mormon church gets investigated by the IRS, that the case against Co$ will be reopened.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/18/us/latter-day-saints-charity-funds-complaint/index.html

Edited December 18, 2019 by juliet73

[SunnyBeBe]

I just saw this.  Some sexual assault survivors are suing COS.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8470009/Church-Scientology-sued-four-women-attempting-cover-sexual-assault-allegations.html

[diana]

I just saw Leah and Mike have a podcast now. Just downloaded and started listening...I think it will be good! I love hearing them talk. It's called Scientology: Fair Game

[wendyg]

On 11/14/2019 at 9:48 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

It's bizarre to see a CO$ follower referred to as "a parishioner". 

Trust me, it's even more bizarre when you have to write it.

[Sew Sumi]

On 7/21/2020 at 1:08 PM, diana said:

I just saw Leah and Mike have a podcast now. Just downloaded and started listening...I think it will be good! I love hearing them talk. It's called Scientology: Fair Game

Podcast is on Apple's Top 10 list! 

eta Mike's post.

 

Edited July 24, 2020 by Sew Sumi

[laurakaye]

On 7/21/2020 at 4:08 PM, diana said:

I just saw Leah and Mike have a podcast now. Just downloaded and started listening...I think it will be good! I love hearing them talk. It's called Scientology: Fair Game

I don't quite understand how these two play so well off of each other but as far as I'm concerned, they are gold, and they are heroes.  I adore them both.

[chediavolo]

Can we discuss the new podcast here? I am done thru part 2 and the references to Kelly Travolta, Lisa Presley, and of course in part 1 Danny Masterson where there but I think, for legal reasons there was more to be said.  Although they got the point across very well. I love this podcast. 

[Cobb Salad]

1 hour ago, chediavolo said:

Can we discuss the new podcast here? I am done thru part 2 and the references to Kelly Travolta, Lisa Presley, and of course in part 1 Danny Masterson where there but I think, for legal reasons there was more to be said.  Although they got the point across very well. I love this podcast. 

@chediavolo I started a topic about the podcast. 

[chediavolo]

2 hours ago, Cobb Salad said:

@chediavolo I started a topic about the podcast. 

Thank you...

[MaryMitch]

The show won an Emmy for "Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series Or Special category"!

 

 

[SailorGirl]

Well, I for one sure believe they're not trying to take over Clearwater, how about you? This is all coincidence! Clearwater will never have a viable downtown area until the Cult is gone. Its such a shame because the downtown area is really cute and there's lots of potential to make it into something. There's also a lot of empty land/vacant overgrown lots that no one is doing anything with. Why? Because they're owned by the Church. Its really sad to see as you're driving through. 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2020/10/07/downtown-advisory-board-election-brings-more-scientologist-candidates/

[laurakaye]

Is anyone doing a re-watch of Aftermath on Netflix?  I plan on re-watching the entire thing.  I LOVE that Netflix picked up the show - this is a HUGE market and I hope with all my heart that very soon Scientology is brought to its knees, Miscavige ends up in jail for the rest of his life, and that we finally find out where Shelly is.

Leah's badassery is on full display from Season One, Episode One.  And I could not possibly adore the relationship between her and Rinder any more than I already do.  They were perfect together from the very beginning.

Edited November 2, 2020 by laurakaye

[Guest]

On 11/2/2020 at 9:06 AM, laurakaye said:

Is anyone doing a re-watch of Aftermath on Netflix?  I plan on re-watching the entire thing.  I LOVE that Netflix picked up the show - this is a HUGE market and I hope with all my heart that very soon Scientology is brought to its knees, Miscavige ends up in jail for the rest of his life, and that we finally find out where Shelly is.

Leah's badassery is on full display from Season One, Episode One.  And I could not possibly adore the relationship between her and Rinder any more than I already do.  They were perfect together from the very beginning.

I'll probably re-watch the first two seasons. I didn't enjoy Season 3; it felt to me like they were out of material and really compelling stuff so they were stretching to fill episodes.

[Kromm]

Church of Scientology received PPP loans worth around $4 million for at least 30 congregations and affiliated groups including the controversial substance abuse facilities Narconon

[SailorGirl]

So this happened . . . I think the tour idea is hysterical. I do feel for the restaurants that aren't run by Scientologists, but most likely the rent checks they are writing go to Scientologists. The guy who runs the tours does seem to be a bit of a problem child based on what the article writes about his previous employment. Crazy attracts crazy . . . 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2021/03/16/cult-city-a-new-tour-of-downtown-clearwater-raises-ire-and-eyebrows/

 

[blondiek237]

Just heard Ron Miscavige has passed from Cancer

[deirdra]

On 7/1/2021 at 9:37 AM, blondiek237 said:

Just heard Ron Miscavige has passed from Cancer

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2021/06/28/ron-miscavige-who-renounced-scientology-the-church-his-son-leads-dies-at-85/

[Angeleyes]

Moved to the other thread

Edited September 29, 2021 by Angeleyes

[Pi237]

I miss this show. Has any progress been made?

[blondiek237]

On 11/12/2021 at 11:36 PM, Pi237 said:

I miss this show. Has any progress been made?

Leah and Mike have a podcast.  

[TakomaSnark]

Leah has posted a thread (10 tweets long) on the occasion of being accepted into NYU. Here are the first two - just click on the timestamp to see the rest via Twitter.

 

[SailorGirl]

Well this could be interesting . . birthday party on the Freewinds for an "unnamed actor". . . . hmmm, wonder who that could be. A six-year-old is somehow responsible for her own molestation?? 

This suit might actually have some legs. . . .

 .  https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2022/04/28/3-former-scientology-workers-sue-saying-they-were-trafficked-as-children/

Gawain Baxter was 6 years old when he signed a contract agreeing to work for the Church of Scientology for 1 billion years.

He said he spent his childhood doing manual labor at Scientology’s Flag Land Base in Clearwater, and getting no education beyond basic reading, writing and math.

At 15, Baxter attempted to leave by writing a letter to a superior about constant abuse and intolerable living conditions. Instead, he said, church officials sent him to Scientology’s Freewinds ship in the Caribbean, where he worked for little or no wages for 14 years.

Through its highly regimented Sea Org workforce, Scientology officials systematically trafficked Baxter, 39, and others by indoctrinating them as children and making it financially, physically and psychologically impossible for them to leave as adults, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Tampa federal court against Scientology leader David Miscavige and five church entities.

The 90-page complaint was filed on behalf of Baxter, his wife, Laura Baxter, and Valeska Paris, who all were raised in Scientology and worked on the Freewinds, where they said the church confiscated their passports and identification documents. They allege six counts of forced labor and peonage in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

“The culture of the church is defined by Miscavige,” Gawain Baxter said in an interview. “The best thing I could really hope for is to try and create awareness and try to hold him accountable for, in my opinion, the inhumane and barbaric treatment that people go through, that we’ve gone through.”

Church of Scientology spokesman Ben Shaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Since the IRS reinstated Scientology as a tax exempt religion in 1993, the organization has faced persistent allegations of abuse but rarely met legal consequences.

In November, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that sent a California couple’s fraud lawsuit against Scientology into the church’s religious arbitration because they had signed various contracts while members. But in a separate case in January, a California appeals court ruled that plaintiffs who sued Scientology and actor and parishioner Danny Masterson for stalking and harassment should not be bound to religious arbitration contracts they signed years earlier.

The three plaintiffs in the Tampa human trafficking complaint are being represented by a team of law firms with extensive records in human rights and anti terrorism litigation. One of them, Kohn Swift and Graf P.C., is also representing 80 plaintiffs in a civil case against the founder of the Nxivm cult, who was sentenced in 2020 to 120 years in prison for sex trafficking and other crimes.

Another firm, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, has represented Indonesian villagers in litigation against ExxonMobil for human rights abuses and the families of Columbian banana workers and political organizers killed by a terrorist group funded by Chiquita Brands International.

The Tampa complaint alleges that Scientology counseling, called auditing, lays the groundwork for the church to subjugate a large workforce and gain control over its members.

Scientology teaches that a so called reactive mind is the source of all human pain and suffering, and that a person can clear the reactive mind by talking through memories and past traumas with an auditor.

But auditing sessions can become brutal interrogations that last hours, according to the lawsuit. It says subjects are often pressured into giving false confessions when they haven’t disclosed anything sufficiently compromising. Auditors record every detail discussed in order to obtain information that can later be used as leverage, the lawsuit states.

The auditing process “induces experiences of dissociation, which is intended to normalize the extremely abusive superior-subordinate dynamic that is central to (Scientology’s) operations,” according to the complaint.

Through the Cadet Org, the version of the Sea Org for children, Scientology separates minors from parents to further indoctrinate and manipulate its members, according to the lawsuit.

After signing a 1 billion year contract at age 6, Valeska Paris lived in a dormitory for children in England near Scientology’s United Kingdom base. She did five hours of unpaid work a day like landscaping, washing dishes and providing childcare for newborns, according to the lawsuit.

At age 14, Paris said she was sent to the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, where she worked 12 to 18 hours per day for $15 per week. During hours-long counseling sessions with an adult male, the lawsuit states, the auditor interrogated her about sexual abuse she experienced as a child in the Sea Org. It said Paris “would be required to work out how she had caused the abuse and accept responsibility for causing it.”

A senior Sea Org member repeatedly sexually assaulted her, according to the lawsuit. Paris reported it to a superior, who reported it to Elizabeth Miscavige, David Miscavige’s sister-in-law, who was a senior officer. However, the lawsuit states Paris was punished instead.

When she was 17, Paris’ mother fled the Sea Org without authorization. The next year, the lawsuit states, Paris was deemed subversive and sent to the Freewinds, where she worked 16- to 18-hour days. She also was subjected to intensive auditing, constantly forced to confess to alleged crimes.

For one punishment, Paris was confined for 48 hours in the engine room, where the temperature was over 100 degrees, according to the lawsuit.

After 11 years on the ship, she was sent to a work camp in Australia called the Rehabilitation Project Force. There, following multiple requests to exit the Sea Org, she was permitted to leave by going through four months of intensive interrogation called security checks.

When she left Scientology in Australia, “she had no money, no official identification and no ability to even open a bank account because she was not legally in the country in which (Scientology) had sent her for punishment,” according to the lawsuit.

The church launched a website attacking Paris after the Australian government contacted her in 2011 about inadequate compensation at Scientology’s work camp, according to the lawsuit. The website remains active today.

Laura Baxter was raised in Scientology in Germany, joined the Sea Org at age 16 and was sent to work on the Freewinds. As a prerequisite, the lawsuit states she was subjected to interrogations that lasted 12 hours at a time, where she was asked explicit questions about sex, past criminal behavior and any affiliations with law enforcement.

During a birthday celebration on the ship for a celebrity in 2004, the lawsuit states a superior falsely accused Laura Baxter of trying to monopolize the unnamed actor’s attention. As punishment, the lawsuit states she was confined to the engine room for three days, “allowed to leave for only a few minutes at a time for meals and to return to her room for a few hours of sleep.”

She was also assigned to what Scientology calls a lower condition, where she was subjected to forced confessions and not paid for her manual labor.

Gawain Baxter and Laura Baxter met on the Freewinds in 2004. After they got married, the lawsuit states Gawain “began to consider the possibility of a different and better life in the world that Scientology had taught him to distrust.”

But the lawsuit explains that even considering leaving Scientology is a high crime, punishable by intense physical labor. So the couple hatched a plan.

At the time, Scientology had a ban on Sea Org members having children. Forced abortions among the workforce was getting negative media attention.

According to the lawsuit, Laura Baxter deliberately became pregnant by her husband and refused superiors’ orders to get an abortion.

As punishment, the Baxters were ordered to undergo intense security check interrogations and put under full-time surveillance, according to the lawsuit.

Before being allowed to leave the ship in 2012, the Baxters were compelled to sign a series of documents that they did not have time to review while being video taped.

“They were trapped on the ship, and the only way off was to submit to the demands of (Scientology) and sign the documents,” the lawsuit states.

Today the Baxters “are regularly intimidated by phone calls from Scientologists” soliciting them to resume participation in the church, according to the lawsuit.

“These calls are intended to remind them that (church officials) continue to monitor them and test the extent to which they pose a risk” to Scientology, the complaint states.

 

[summitsw]

Another article about the suit. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/scientology-accused-of-child-trafficking-forced-labour-of-australians-20220427-p5aghi.html

 

Three Australian residents have accused Scientology of child trafficking, covering up multiple sexual assaults, forced labour and other abuses in a significant legal claim lodged in a Florida court overnight.

The plaintiffs, Australian Gawain Baxter and residents Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris, are seeking significant “compensatory and punitive damages” against Scientology leader David Miscavige and five Church-related organisations for alleged human trafficking.

The three were part of Scientology’s “Sea Org” and “Cadet Org” entities that involved them signing billion-year contracts to provide free or cheap labour to Scientology. The lawsuit alleges that their pay was sometimes withheld or set at a maximum of $US50 per week.

They say they endured years of emotional, physical and psychological abuse, in particular while spending more than a decade aboard Scientology’s Freewinds cruise ship in the Caribbean in what the lawsuit described as “a world filled with abuse, violence, intimidation and fear”.

One of the plaintiffs alleged they were confined to a hot engine room for days after being accused of “monopolising” the attention of a prominent celebrity who had their birthday on the ship in 2004, and who is believed to be actor Tom Cruise. There is no suggestion Cruise was aware of the plaintiff’s situation.

The case, brought by leading US plaintiff law firms, alleges the free labour on the cruise ship allowed Scientology leader Miscavige to “maintain a facade of legitimacy, a luxurious lifestyle … and influence over members including celebrities”.

Scientology was founded by US science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s and has long attracted celebrities including Elisabeth Moss, John Travolta and Cruise. Some former adherents have accused it of being a dangerous money-focused cult. Scientology has been approached for comment.

The 86-page legal claim from US law firms Kohn, Swift & Graf, Preti Flaherty and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, details allegations of how children as young as six years old were separated from their parents who relinquished custody to the “Cadet Org” and later “Sea Org”, with family visits limited to once a week.

While public members of Scientology can live in their homes, members of “Orgs” work as indentured labour both on sea and on land, the lawsuit alleges. They accumulate large debts from their time in the Orgs, which is then held over them if they ever leave.

Gawain Baxter was raised a Scientologist and in 1982, at only a few weeks old, his family moved from Australia to Scientology’s Flag Base in Clearwater Florida. He became a Cadet Org member at six while living in a dormitory with 100 other children.

By the age of 10 he saw his parents for only three hours a week and received very little education while labouring five to 10 hours unpaid a day including food preparation, landscaping and garbage removal, he alleges.

He says he was regularly verbally and physically abused by adults connected to Scientology and subject as a teenager to explicit questions about his sexual experiences by adult Sea Org leaders.

While living on the Freewinds – which never docks in US ports or territorial waters – he had his passport confiscated and worked 16 to 24 hours a day in unsafe working conditions, he alleges. That included repainting pipes, cleaning the ship decks and cleaning fuel tanks without safety equipment. He claims after working with blue asbestos and concrete dust he later coughed up blood.

“To this day, there are completely defenceless minors being mistreated by Scientology leadership. Just as I was, they are isolated from family and have no way to protect themselves,” Baxter said in a statement. “Scientology must be held accountable for the human rights abuses and trauma it has inflicted without a shred of remorse.”

Baxter and co-plaintiff Laura Baxter, who married, were later able to leave Freewinds after they came up with a plan to get pregnant to escape. They were told to terminate the pregnancy but refused and were later let off the boat after weeks of punishment and isolation, the lawsuit alleges.

In 2004 Laura Baxter alleges she was punished and confined to a hot engine room on the ship for three days, only allowed to leave for short periods at a time, after being accused of “monopolising” the attention of a celebrity during their birthday celebrations. Tom Cruise had a party for his 42nd birthday on Freewinds in 2004.

The other plaintiff, Valeska Paris, who now lives in Australia, had parents who were Sea Org members and was brought up as a Scientologist. By six years old she was in the Cadet Org and over more than a decade was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions as a minor, she claims.

She alleged the physical and sexual abuse was commonplace in the Cadet Org, and she had witnessed an adult Sea Org member masturbate on a boy’s bed. She said she was reprimanded for reporting the behaviour.

Paris alleged a senior Sea Org member rubbed his erect penis against her genitals. She said she had to relive her sexual assaults with adult male interrogators and was punished for reporting them and forced, on one occasion, to do the laundry of her alleged abuser.

Paris said she was a personal assistant to Miscavige and worked 16-hour days as a 15-year-old and was “sleep-deprived, poorly fed and constantly verbally abused by adult supervisors”.

She said she became suicidal and eventually ended up doing forced labour at a Scientology site in Australia and had her passport confiscated. Scientology has been accused of running a “penal colony” at a western Sydney site.

“Scientology is a system that is designed to perpetuate fear, and I continue to struggle with the trauma. No person – child or adult – should have to go through the daily abuse and manipulation I faced,” said Paris.

The lawsuit describes how Org members have to self-report deviant thoughts and behaviour during repeated interrogations, material that is then later used against them.

“Scientology cannot be allowed to continue exploiting the labour of its members and inflicting emotional and physical abuse without facing justice,” said Ted Leopold, a lawyer for the plaintiffs from Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll.

A 2021 investigation by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald uncovered some of the most detailed financial information available anywhere in the world on Scientology. It found it had shifted tens of millions of dollars into Australia, which has become an international haven and makes tax-free profits with minimal scrutiny.

[summitsw]

Prosecutors can’t find Miscavige to serve him in trafficking suit

[Jaded]

41 minutes ago, summitsw said:

Prosecutors can’t find Miscavige to serve him in trafficking suit

Tom Cruise probably knows exactly where he is. I hope that damn cult will eventually get brought down to it's knees. That article says Scientology apparently thinks 6yr olds are old enough to make decisions like signing billion year contracts.