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How Marc and Claire Headley’s Scientology lawsuit is being used by the NXIVM defense

[Marc and Claire Headley, Keith Raniere and Allison Mack]

In November, Smallville actress Allison Mack’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss some of the charges that she’s facing in a federal criminal prosecution of allegations that, as a top lieutenant in Keith Raniere’s bizarre cabal known as NXIVM, she coerced other women to be his sex slaves.

That court motion mentioned the 2009 Marc and Claire Headley lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, which the New York Post mentioned in a story yesterday. We were curious about how the Headley case was used in the motion, so we dug it out for you and we have it below.

Oy, Raniere. Our familiarity with this guy and his NXIVM shenanigans goes back a long way. In 2007, when we were editing the Village Voice, we helped prepare a lengthy expose on Raniere and his ongoing war with cult expert Rick Ross (whom we had first written about in 1995).

It’s been interesting to watch as the government has finally caught up with this guy, and with Mack, who became involved with NXIVM in 2010 and was allegedly helping Raniere recruit women into one particular branch of his scheme, known as “DOS.” Here’s how the government described Mack’s role in a press release it put out following the unsealing of her indictment in April:

Mack and other DOS masters recruited DOS slaves by telling them that they were joining a women-only organization that would empower them and eradicate purported weaknesses that the Nxivm curriculum taught were common in women. Mack and other DOS masters concealed Raniere’s status at the top of the pyramid from new recruits.

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As a pre-condition to joining DOS, women were required to provide “collateral,” which included highly damaging information about friends and family members, nude photographs and/or rights to the recruit’s assets. DOS slaves were told that their collateral could be released for any number of reasons, including telling anyone about DOS’s existence or leaving DOS. Many DOS slaves were branded on their pelvic areas using a cauterizing pen with a symbol which, unbeknownst to them, incorporated Raniere’s initials. During the branding ceremonies, slaves were required to be fully naked, and a master would order one slave to film the branding while the others restrained the slave being branded.

According to court filings, Mack directly or implicitly required her slaves, including Jane Does 1 and 2, as identified in the Indictment, to engage in sexual activity with Raniere. In exchange for this, Mack received financial and other benefits from Raniere. Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 believed that if they did not participate in those activities with Raniere, their collateral would be released.

In the court motion filed last month by Mack’s attorneys, they attempt to chip away at the allegations in the indictment, saying that the government wasn’t specific enough about how Mack had coerced women, about what benefits she received from it, or even that she knew the women were having sex with Raniere. And as for the “collateral” the women had been forced to submit before they could join the group, the lawyers say that none of that damaging information had ever actually been released — in other words, no harm, no foul.

“Mack’s lawyers argue that the threat of releasing naked photos and damning video confessions is not ‘serious harm,’ something required to prove someone engaged in forced labor,” wrote Frank Parlato at his website yesterday, describing the court motion.

Parlato is the owner and publisher of Buffalo’s alt-weekly newspaper, Artvoice, he once worked for Raniere as a publicist, and he’s credited with doggedly exposing Raniere and the “branding” rituals until the government took notice and went after NXIVM.

Parlato says the court motion is an indication of how the NXIVM defendants will be arguing their case in general: “This is the heart of the defense of the forced labor charges. For the ones who the prosecution will present as victims, the defense will show they were subject at most to embarrassment and that these women were intelligent adults who got into DOS voluntarily.”

And here’s how Mack’s attorneys brought up the dismissed Headley lawsuit to help make that argument…

Courts have found no serious harm threatened where the alleged victims, based on their personal circumstances and resources, were not reasonably compelled to stay in their condition. In Headley v. Church of Scientology Int’l., for example, former members of the “Sea Org” organization within the Church of Scientology brought a forced labor claim against the church. Plaintiffs had to “make a symbolic commitment to serve [Sea Org] for a billion years,” and were assigned manual labor, such as yard work or hand-cleaning dried human excrement. If a member tried to leave, other members of Sea Org discouraged them by banding together to dissuade them, and threatened that the dissenter could be declared a “suppressive person,” which is akin to being excommunicated, resulting in the loss of contact with friends and family. The Ninth Circuit rejected the plaintiffs’ claim of coercion and held that such consequences did not qualify as “serious harm” or a cognizable “threat.” In so holding, the court emphasized that the plaintiffs joined and voluntarily worked for Sea Org because they believed it was the right thing to do, and that they had numerous opportunities to leave.

Ah yes, we remember well Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain’s decision from the Ninth Circuit in 2012 to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of the Headley case. O’Scannlain was very clear that he had no doubt that the Headleys had been put through a hellish existence as Sea Org workers, but his ruling turned on very fine considerations of law.

The Headleys, for example, had lived off campus when they worked at Int Base. Every morning, they left their apartment and went to the base, where they were subjected to horrific treatment — why didn’t they just turn the car the other way and leave? With that opportunity to make an escape, the Headleys failed to make a claim that worked under the definitions of forced labor in the law they were suing under.

As attorney Scott Pilutik pointed out when we reported O’Scannlain’s verdict, the court ignored a report by a psychologist who tried to explain the nature of undue influence that goes on in a group like Scientology. Sure, it appeared that the Headleys had the opportunity to walk away, but anyone who knows what Sea Org indoctrination is like knows that the situation is far more complex.

As we’ve pointed out many times, the US courts simply aren’t set up to understand the depravity of a group like Scientology. And it’s really not too surprising that attorneys for NXIVM would be looking to Scientology’s court strategies for inspiration.

Here’s the full document from Mack’s attorneys. We’ll be interested to see if the court is persuaded by these arguments. And we’ll keep checking Frank Parlato’s blog.

US vs. Keith Raniere, Aliso… by on Scribd

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Scientology Lit: How much strain is your bookshelf under at this point?

 

 
In May we had a little inspiration. We noticed Marc Headley posting online a wonderful anecdote that also appears in his very entertaining book, Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology. Marc’s story of escape from Scientology’s Int Base was published back in 2009, and is maybe the best of the books written by former Sea Org members about fleeing their former lives.

We asked Marc if there was another fun excerpt from his book that we might post to remind people just how good his book was, and thus a Saturday regular feature was born. We called it “Scientology Lit,” and each week we brought you an excerpt from a previously published book about Scientology or we reviewed a new book coming out.

So today, as we continue our year in review, we thought we’d compile a list of all the books we reviewed or excerpted in Scientology Lit this year. How many have you read?

 

May 11: Marc Headley, ‘Blown for Good’ (2009)

Marc’s book “tells us so much about the Orwellian world of Int Base, Scientology’s secretive international management compound near Hemet, California, and its extreme paranoia about controlling the lives of workers and cutting them off from the outside world.”

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May 19: Jefferson Hawkins, ‘Counterfeit Dreams’ (2010)

“A compelling story about Jefferson’s rise in the organization, and what it was like to work at some of Scientology’s most secret locations and up close with church leader David Miscavige.”

 

May 26: Karen Pressley, ‘Escaping Scientology’ (2017)

“Pressley wants us to understand the Orwellian world of Int Base, and what it was like to live at the whims of a madman like Scientology leader David Miscavige. We think she did a bang-up job.”

 

June 2: Janis Gillham Grady, ‘Commodore’s Messenger’ (2017)

“Our thanks to Janis for such an extended look at her book, which follows her harrowing journey as a child in Australia caught up as one of Hubbard’s personal indentured servants!”

 

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June 11: Lori Hodgson, ‘A Mother’s Heartbreak’ (2018)

“Lori’s children, Jessica and Jeremy, disconnected from her when she left Scientology. The father of the children and Lori’s former husband, Jim Leake, is still in the church. For years, Lori has struggled to get any information she can about her kids, and then one night she got a scare in a really unusual way…”

 

June 16: Chris Shelton, ‘Scientology: A to Xenu’ (2015)

“Chris is interested in more than telling you his experiences in the Sea Org or its prison detail, the Rehabilitation Project Force. What Chris really wants to do is provide a guide to the ideas and policies and history of Scientology that will be useful to the outsider.”

 

June 23: Amy Scobee, ‘Scientology — Abuse at the Top’ (2010)

“Amy was one of several high-ranking executives who came out of Scientology in the 2000s and changed the way the church is viewed by the media.”

 

June 30: Chris Shugart, ‘Fractured Journey’ (2018)

“We specifically asked for this portion of the book, which practically drove us nuts when we read it. Couldn’t Chris see the disaster he was walking into? Ah, Scientologists.”

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July 7: Nancy Many, ‘My Billion-Year Contract’ (2009)

“Nancy is the only former church member who has written about the ‘messianic project’ of the late 1970s, and we’re glad she gave us this section to show you.”

 

July 14: Kay Rowe, ‘Over the Edge’ (2017)

“Kay is giving us a look at the world of asking other Scientologists for money, which is a neverending quest under David Miscavige.”

 

July 21: Sands Hall, ‘Flunk. Start.’ (2018)

“Sands, a veteran musician and writing instructor, may not have been a Sea Org member or high-ranking Scientology executive, but we found her book to be one of the best for explaining the ‘tech’ that members encounter and the ways that Scientology affects the mind.”

 

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July 28: Robert Dam, ‘The Defector’ (2011)

“Robert gives us a look inside Scientology’s operation in Copenhagen, its headquarters in Europe, where he spent some of his 20 years in Scientology before leaving the organization in 2004. We hope this intriguing chapter gives you some idea of how much the authoritarian nature of Scientology is consistent around the world.”

 

August 4: Ron Miscavige, ‘Ruthless’ (2016)

“Ron sent us the key chapter when he and his wife, Becky Bigelow, finally made their escape from Scientology’s Int Base which was run by Ron’s son, Scientology supreme leader David Miscavige.”

 

August 11: John Sweeney, ‘Church of Fear’ (2013)

“Sweeney wrote about his experiences making two BBC documentaries about the church, 2007’s ‘Scientology and Me,’ and 2010’s ‘The Secrets of Scientology.’ In this chapter, he’s being handled by Scientology’s two spokesmen — Tommy Davis and Mike Rinder — as he conducts interviews for his 2007 Panorama episode at the Hollywood Celebrity Centre.”

 

August 18: Jon Atack, ‘A Piece of Blue Sky’ (1990)

“One of the truly monumental books about Scientology, Jon Atack’s ‘A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed’ came out in 1990 and was nearly sued out of existence. We were fortunate to come across a copy in the 1990s as we were just beginning a career investigating Scientology stories.”

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August 25: Janis Gillham Grady, ‘Commodore’s Messenger II’ (2018)

“Janis has generously shared with us a short excerpt from her many adventures aboard the ship Apollo with the Commodore and, in this case, on land in Tangiers in 1972.”

 

September 8: Michelle LeClair, ‘Perfectly Clear’ (2018)

“Michelle LeClair’s book got a nice boost this week as it was featured on the cover of People magazine ahead of its September 11 publication date, and we expect it’s going to continue to get a major media push. But now that we’ve read the book, we’re having some mixed feelings about that.”

 

September 22: Nathan Rich, ‘Scythe Tleppo’ (2018)

“Nathan Rich really made an impression on us with his appearance on Leah Remini’s series discussing his time at the Mace-Kingsley Ranch. But then he really knocked our socks off with his book.”

 

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September 29: Jesse Prince, ‘The Expert Witness’ (2018)

“Our thanks to Jesse for allowing us to reproduce this excerpt. It takes place a couple of years after Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard had gone into permanent seclusion in February 1980. After that Scientology was run by Hubbard through ‘advices’ he sent out from his hiding place to his lieutenants Pat Broeker and David Miscavige, who were gaining power because of their control of information.”

 

October 6: Péter Bonyai, ‘Money, Power, Servitude’ (2015)

“In the first excerpt, Péter gives us a glimpse about what it’s like to be the target of Scientology’s secret police, OSA. And in the second, he has some great insights about the start of the ‘Ideal Org’ program, the special obsession of Scientology leader David Miscavige.”

 

October 13: Kate Bornstein, ‘A Queer and Pleasant Danger’ (2012)

“One of our favorite stories at the Village Voice was the chance we got to write about Kate Bornstein’s unique journey in Scientology and later as a well-known New York transgender performance artist, captured in the 2012 memoir, ‘A Queer and Pleasant Danger’.”

 

October 20: Alec Nevala-Lee, ‘Astounding’ (2018)

“For science fiction aficionados, this book is a real treat, narrating with deep research a crucible of the genre’s development: Astounding magazine editor John W. Campbell and his work with three of his most famous writers.”

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October 27: Russell Miller, ‘Bare-Faced Messiah’ (1987)

“Still the best biography of Scientology’s founder and perhaps the best book about Scientology of them all, Russell Miller’s Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard, was difficult to find in this country for a long time. The book is back in print now.”

 

November 3: L. Ron Hubbard Jr., ‘A Look Into Scientology’ (1972)

“For several weeks in the late summer of 1972, Nibs worked with Paulette to produce a 63-page manuscript about the origin of Scientology…The entire 63-page, 15,000-word essay has never been made public. But now, inspired by Alec Nevala-Lee, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

 

November 10: Bent Corydon, ‘L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman?’ (1987)

“Bent was a mission holder in Riverside, California who lost his mission but fought successfully to hold on to the building it was in. He also had to fight litigation from the church over his book, and also had to deal with his co-writer, L. Ron Hubbard Jr., pulling one of his flip-flops and turning on him.”

 

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November 17: Cyril Vosper, ‘The Mind Benders’ (1971)

“It was the first book by a former Scientologist to expose the organization, beating Robert Kaufman’s Inside Scientology, which came out the next year. Long out of print, Vosper’s book is worth tracking down for its sense of humor as well as its cutting insights into L. Ron Hubbard and his ideas.”

 

November 24: Robert Kaufman, ‘Inside Scientology’ (1972)

“Robert Kaufman, a talented Broadway piano player, ditched his life as a musician to chase ‘Clear’ and beyond in Scientology, leaving Manhattan for what was then the newly opened ‘Advanced Org’ in Edinburgh, Scotland. He came home a broken man, checked himself into a mental hospital, and then began writing about his experience in Scientology as a form of therapy.”

 

December 8: Donald Westbrook, ‘Among the Scientologists’ (2018)

“This is a book that takes potshots at consummate professionals like Russell Miller and Lawrence Wright and then admits that its 69 interviews with Scientologists were arranged by the church’s own notorious Office of Special Affairs.”

 

December 15: Steve Cannane, ‘Fair Game’ (2016)

“One of the best researched and written books about Scientology in any era, Steve covered a vast amount of territory.”

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We expect the flood of new books to continue in 2019, so we’ll probably have plenty more opportunity for ‘Scientology Lit’ to continue. OK, now back to our year in review, looking at the stories of September 2018…

 
September certainly had a fun surprise for us: A couple of upstate New York chiropractors were charged in an $80 million Medicare scam, but what news reports left out was that Jay and Jeff Spina were major, longtime Scientologists, and we dug into their history with the church. The Spina brothers (and two others) have a scheduled court hearing in January, and we’ll keep watching this case.

A few days later, we put up one of our favorite stories of the year. A tipster had taken the time to decode David Miscavige’s chest ribbons based on an internal document, and the results were a lot of fun. Captain Miscavige, for example, had a commendation for “A/V Specialist” on his quasi-naval uniform. It was so precious!

The next day, we had some sad news. William Newman, the father of Tayler Tweed, had ended his life, distraught, his son said, over Tayler’s own suicide. Newman was a former Scientologist.

On September 11, we heard from Jeffrey Augustine, who related an odd encounter he had with a private investigator. It turned out it had to do with an upcoming episode of Scientology and the Aftermath, and after it airs, we’ll revisit this strange incident.

A couple of days later, we carried the sensational account of a person who had worked in a Scientologist-owned chiropractor operation that was cashing in on the “wellness” initiatives at large Silicon Valley firms. Our tipster described a fraudulent scheme that is taking millions out of these unsuspecting companies.

It was also in September that we began giving Scientology TV a run for its money with our own foray into moving pictures. With Underground Bunker TV we’re putting out very short videos that explain some of the more important topics we cover here. We hope they’re useful, especially to newbies.

Sunny Pereira did it again, stunning us with another glimpse of her past as a child growing up in Scientology, and losing her mother to disconnection.

Jeffrey Augustine took an entertaining look at Scientology’s private cruise ship, the Freewinds, and its colorful past before the church got its hands on it.

The next day, we had a very unique item. An obituary for a Scientology enforcer — something like the Marty Rathbun of Hungary — written by one of his bullying targets, Péter Bonyai. In his generous remembrance Péter said, “either I write something or he will be totally forgotten, as if he never existed.”

And we pointed out the unfortunate irony of the US government adopting a Russian Scientologist as a “prisoner of conscience” after a KGB crackdown.

 
MOST-READ STORIES OF SEPTEMBER 2018:

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1. Finally, Captain David Miscavige’s faux-military Scientology ribbons, described and decoded!
2. FEDS CHARGE SCIENTOLOGISTS IN NEW YORK FOR $80 MILLION MEDICARE SCAM
3. Scientology ‘disconnection’ and the incalculable damage it does to children
4. Scientology rewards the celeb who bolted when her co-star went rogue
5. Giving Scientology TV a run for its money — it’s the premiere of the Bunker network!

 
A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2017: On national television, Leah Remini and her mother Vicki Marshall exposed OT 8 for the shameful scam it is. And then we posted the actual New OT 8 materials for the first time to prove it. Clarissa Adams told us her disconnection story. John Brousseau, Karen Pressley, and Paul Haggis appeared on Aftermath, and Haggis answered Marty Rathbun’s smears. And we said goodbye to Bernie Feshbach.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2016: Marty Rathbun goes on the attack against Ron Miscavige and Louis Theroux. The anonymous drone pilot begins premiering his footage of Scientology bases. Jason Lee ditches Scientology. And Steve Cannane’s excellent book Fair Game comes out.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2015: We marked a full decade since Shelly Miscavige first vanished. Alex Gibney’s documentary Going Clear took home three Emmy awards. And we broke the news that Jim Carrey’s girlfriend, Cat White, was a Scientologist on the SRD when she killed herself.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2014: Nancy Cartwright makes perhaps the creepiest Scientology ad ever. Jim Jackson remembers Lyman Spurlock. And Scientology crows about getting money from Google.

A LOOK BACK AT SEPTEMBER 2013: Scientology’s private dancer, live-blogging at the Monique Rathbun temporary restraining order hearing, and day two’s live-blog which set a then-record number of comments for a single blog post at the Bunker (3,442).

 
Six of our favorites from the most-upvoted comments of September 2018

September 8: org-rat 1003
In Scientology if someone is upset because their friend has committed suicide they go and get auditing so they can feel ABSOLUTEY NOTHING by the end of the day. Any mention of the friend’s name at a later date is met with the words, “He/she wasn’t willing to confront his/her problems” (which means get auditing) and a blank facial expression or maybe even a creepy, gleeful smile. Everything in Scientology is expressed as the person being unwilling to confront something. If a man is gay for example, it’s because he was female in his last life and is unwilling to confront that he is now male in this life.

September 12: Observer
Tom DeVocht’s relating of Miscavige’s design has my jaw on the floor. I’m not surprised by much anymore, but the idea that Ideal Orgs were intended to be unstaffed so that nobody would have to soil themselves through contact with wogs and even public has me scratching my head. So he thought that people would go in, dump piles of money, and then leave again without inconveniencing him? For Xenu’s sake, Miscavige is nuts.

September 19: Phil Jones
When I was a young teenager and lured into Scientology it was the promise of Clear and OT that caught me. If I’d known how lame the wins and ‘abilities’ gained were I don’t think I would have joined. In the end it was realizing there were no Clears or OTs that got me out.

September 23: Mat Pesch
I have talked to many people who did OT 8 on the i>Freewinds. Pretty much, one for one, they were upset and very disappointed when they saw what OT 8 was. Because they were at sea there was no way they could just leave. Any upset they showed resulted in more time and expense to “correct” them. Eventually they pretended all was well just to be allowed to leave the ship. I believe that is a more likely reason Hubbard wanted his most affluent and devoted suckers to do OT 8 at sea.

September 24: Andrew Robertson
Péter Bonyai is a compassionate and good-hearted man to write that eulogy. I doubt that many who’d suffered under Scientology’s yoke in Hungary would have been so thoughtful.

September 29: Sunny
Hubbard repeatedly showed all his members how to love, especially in the family unit. His kindness and understanding of family values was passed on to all his followers, who in turn showed true love and care for the family model. What a great example he is for all of us!

 
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

[Erika Christensen, Ethan Suplee, and Juliette Lewis]

We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!

 
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Now on sale: Twice the Miss Lovely!

 
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. What a pleasure it is for us to work with her on this after we wrote about her ordeal as a victim of Scientology’s “Fair Game” campaigns in our 2015 book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, which is also on sale in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions.

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology sues Laura DeCrescenzo in latest plot to kill her 8-year forced-abortion claim
[TWO years ago] The disturbing detail other media missed about TMZ’s Scientology scoop yesterday
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s 2015 in review: In September, Erika Christensen was out of this universe
[FOUR years ago] One Scientologist is out to teach HBO a lesson for its upcoming documentary
[FIVE years ago] Scientology’s 2013 in review: A summer of delicious scoops!
[SIX years ago] Scientology’s 2012 in Review: Parting Shots from a Year David Miscavige Won’t Soon Forget

 
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Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,313 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 1,444 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 1,946 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,426 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 489 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 377 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 3,684 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,552 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,326 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,100 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,446 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,012 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 6,932 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,099 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 2,680 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,940 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,980 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,692 days.
Ginger Sugerman has not seen her three children in 1,465 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,218 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,307 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,447 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,767 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,623 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,742 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,098 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,400 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,506 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 1,909 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,780 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,363 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 1,858 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,112 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,221 days.

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3D-UnbreakablePosted by Tony Ortega on December 29, 2018 at 07:00

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 can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2017), 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 | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates

Join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news

 

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