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Notorious Tennessee Scientology facility shut down when patients found held against their will

[One of the bucolic cabins of the Woodbury facility]

We’ve written several articles about a highly questionable mental-health facility that was run by Scientologists in rural Tennessee, and now, the local newspaper in Cannon County there reports that operator Marc Vallieres was charged with two felony counts of facilitation of kidnapping after patients were found being held there against their will. The Cannon Courier also reports that the sheriff has announced that the facilities have been shut down.

We just confirmed with the Cannon County Circuit Court clerk that the Courier story is correct. The clerk told us Vallieres entered a diversion program and was sentenced to state probation for two years. Two other employees, initially charged with false imprisonment, pled to misdemeanors.

“The Cannon County Sheriff’s Department would like to make the general public of this county aware that the Scientology facilities are closed and not operating in Cannon County,” the sheriff stated.

In 2015, we told you the shocking story of a woman with severe mental health issues who was “treated” with Scientology’s pseudoscientific techniques at the Woodbury, Tennessee facility that Vallieres called Life Center for a New Tomorrow. The woman was later moved to the basement of a house in Arkansas, where she had to be rescued by local authorities.

 

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[Marc Vallieres]

We also told you about a Scientologist named Barbara Cordova Oliver, whose mother, Arlene, told us that after Barbara suffered a mental breakdown, she was taken to Life Center, and Arlene was convinced that her daughter was a prisoner there.

Here’s how the Courier describes what happened when the Cannon County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call at the facility.

A 911 emergency phone call provided the Sheriff’s Office with the opportunity to go inside the facility which they described as a double-wide trailer with several tiny cabins located behind it.

“We proceeded up the hill through a gated, makeshift paddock that is secured externally with a steel latch.” The officers reported the individual who called them was looking out through a Plexiglas window.

“He is locked inside the cabin with no way to remove himself from the building. The caretaker unlocks the door and lets us enter the cabin.

“The cabin is bare there is a small pile of sheets in the corner, there are no obvious amenity for life, ” the officers reported.

The man being held there tells the officers he is being held against his will and is given unknown medications. He explains that he is there to have rehab and get cleansed though Scientology.

“He states that he has been there for nine months and is being mistreated and falsely imprisoned and all he wants is to go home.” the officers said.

The man and another patient, a woman, were rescued, and the Courier reports that three people at the facility are facing criminal charges: “Denis Flamand and Hans Snyder Lytle entered guilty pleas in General Sessions Court on two counts of false imprisonment,” and Vallieres was facing two felony counts, the paper says.

After the charges were filed, Circuit Judge David Bragg ruled that the facility should be closed.

Um, wow. A notorious house of horrors being run by Scientologists gets shut down when local authorities take the time to find out what’s going on there. It’s amazing, isn’t it?

 
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Countdown to Denver!

 

 
HowdyCon 2017: Denver, June 23-25 at the Residence Inn Denver City Center. Go here to start making your plans, and book your room soon!

 
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Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 4,739 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 1,842 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,336 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,376 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy in 1,088 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 614 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 4,703 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 1,843 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,163 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,138 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 494 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin in 4,796 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 903 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis for 1,305 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,178 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 759 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike in 1,264 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 1,508 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 12,617 days.

 
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3D-UnbreakablePosted by Tony Ortega on May 3, 2017 at 12:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

 

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