For years we’ve been talking to Mirriam Francis, who told her story on Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. She’s seeking justice after being sexually assaulted by her own father in Scientology, something she’s told us or written about for us here at the Bunker numerous times.

Now, she let us know that she wants to [...]]]>

For years we’ve been talking to Mirriam Francis, who told her story on Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. She’s seeking justice after being sexually assaulted by her own father in Scientology, something she’s told us or written about for us here at the Bunker numerous times.

Now, she let us know that she wants to give authorities in her case some additional information, and she hopes the Bunker community might be able to help her locate that data. She sent us this appeal, which we’re happy to publish.

 
Appeal for Information in the Investigation of Child Sexual Abuse

Dear readers of the Underground Bunker,

I wish to appeal for information which may assist in the investigation of the sexual assaults that I experienced as a child, which occured in Sydney (1988 to 1990) and Los Angeles (1990 to 1992) within the Church of Scientology.

The following areas are of particular interest:

Item 1. Regarding Kerrie Francis (nee Elliott) and her position while employed for the Church of Scientology in Sydney, Australia during the time period of 1984 to 1988.

Item 2. Regarding Chris Francis and his position while employed for the Church of Scientology in Sydney, Australia during the time period of 1984 to 1988.

Item 3. Regarding Kerrie Francis and her position while employed for the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles, California during the time period of 1988 to 1990.

Item 4. Regarding Chris Francis and his position while employed for the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles, California during the time period of 1990 to 1998.

Item 5. Regarding Chris Francis and reports resulting from the international level clearance process taking place in 1997 at CMO IXU; the International Extension Unit, which was located at the HGB (Hubbard Guaranty Building – 6331 Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood, Los Angeles CA):
a) Auditor who did the confessional, which was required for clearance lines.
b) Knowledge reports from the confessional, which would have gone to the Case Supervisor of CMO IXU; the International Extension Unit.
c) Information which would have been provided to Gold HCO who were over clearance.
d) Legal issues which would have been reported to OSA International’s legal department.

Item 6: Regarding the transfer of Chris Francis from Los Angeles, California to East Grinstead, West Sussex UK which took place in 1998, while he was employed by the Church of Scientology.

Item 7: Regarding the transfer of Mirriam Francis from Los Angeles, California to East Grinstead, West Sussex UK which took place in 2001, while she was employed by the Church of Scientology.

Item 8: Regarding Kerrie Francis (nee Elliott) during the time that she worked for the Church of Scientology in California from 1988 to 2024, particularly under the direction of David Miscavige.

If anyone has information which may assist in this investigation, please e-mail Mirriam Francis at: francis_case_information AT proton.me

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mirriam Francis

 
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Technology Cocktail

“For fifteen years auditors have made and then undone keyed-out-clearing all over the world. We can then assume that, as they had the data about floating needles in 1958 and did not heed it, we will have this battle with us from here on. The end product of all auditing right up to clear is a floating needle. There is no other end product from the auditors’ viewpoint. So, shall we get on with it, see it when it occurs and declare it? Please?” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1965

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman

 
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Source Code

“Putting tickets on the windshield of a car is illegal, according to our own Consititution, which requires personal service. Police get away with it because people don’t want the bother of going down and getting a trial date set. So they send in the amount of an arbitrary fine. This is duress and extortion — so there’s no difference between a criminal and a cop.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 14, 1954

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“Spectatorism is very great in our modern society. Because some people cannot conceive of causing anything they just watch it. They don’t do anything. They are not PARTICIPANTS. They are spectators. You see this in magazines. Hee hee hee articles about how odd this is or that is. No understanding of it. It’s just odd and one watches it in a detached sort of way. Below this is somebody who doesn’t even notice. Such a person has to come up scale just to be a spectator. An unfinished cycle of action comes about because (a) The importance of it is not grasped (b) The cycle itself is not fully understood. (c) Non compliance and false reports are given as a method of self-protection wherein are hopes it will not be noticed. What we need are more PARTICIPANTS, more team mates. You belong to the SO or you don’t. If you do you’re at cause over the various situations. So we define an SO Member the way you do an OT — At cause over Life, Thought, Matter, Energy, Space, Time and Form. The degree you can be cause in handling the targets and needs of a group determines right away how far you’ve come up the line. Blaming case is effect, isn’t it? Sex is effect, isn’t it? I don’t care what your grade is, you are alive. Your true ability depends on the degree you can exercise the definition of OT over your post in forwarding the purposes of the group. You are actually insulting yourself to insist that I personally make whatever advances are made on vital actions of the group. If what you are trying to do doesn’t happen its a poor comment on your OTism.” — The Commodore, January 14, 1969

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“My current view is that MEST in the form of off-planet AI actually creates its own needs and wants (in its advanced forms) in order to accomplish its mission to destroy/entrap theta…. Two people/two things/MEST/theta can be polar opposites and exist in harmony unless they have gone insane. MEST in the form of advanced AI is insane.”

 
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Past is Prologue

2002: The Santa Barbara News-Press reported that the legal team handling the Reed Slatkin Ponzi scheme investigation will receive payment from the sale of Slatkin’s possessions. “The legal team that uncovered the scope of the $593 million Reed Slatkin financial scandal will receive its first payments since beginning to unravel the massive case last May. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robin Riblet on Wednesday awarded approximately $2.8 million to seven of the eight legal firms and consultants, who had requested $4.4 million in fees and expenses. Money to pay these bills comes out of the Slatkin estate. Its assets – ranging from stock to a wine collection to Mr. Slatkin’s real estate holdings – are being discovered and sold to raise money, some for legal expenses and some to repay investors. Investors stand to receive only a fraction of their investments, minus legal expenses – all of which are a matter of public record. The sizable sums reflect the nature of the case: 2 million documents, about 800 victims, more than 7,000 hours of investigation, and numerous assets to evaluate and sell, all without significant cooperation from Mr. Slatkin. Among the assets recently sold was Mr. Slatkin’s wine collection, which was appraised at $35,000 but sold for $133,614. Mr. Neilson said Wednesday that he has purchase offers for Mr. Slatkin’s Goleta house on Kellogg Avenue and for a property near Solvang. Mr. Neilson also sold some of Mr. Slatkin’s EarthLink stock for $3.2 million. He plans to sell millions of dollars of additional EarthLink stock this year.”

 
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Random Howdy

“The tech is the meaningless musings of a drug- and alcohol-addled madman who was making it up as he went along. You might as well have been playing hide-and-go-seek for 17 years.”

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing January 29, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Discovery phase.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] PODCAST: Our never-heard 2021 interview with Ron Miscavige about daughter-in-law Shelly
[TWO years ago] Scientology tries (and fails) to rehabilitate L. Ron Hubbard’s involvement in South Africa
[THREE years ago] Hanan and Rizza Islam get trial date for $4 million Medi-Cal fraud at Scientology rehab
[FOUR years ago] Scientology ripped apart his family, but this former member explains why he doesn’t fight it
[FIVE years ago] EXCLUSIVE: Scientology tells A&E it has ‘blood on its hands’ for murder in Australia
[SIX years ago] Scientology plans Narconon drug rehab for Ireland, but the locals are not having it
[SEVEN years ago] The most incredible lie Scientology attorney Monique Yingling told ABC ’20/20′
[EIGHT years ago] Oscar snubs Alex Gibney’s Scientology documentary ‘Going Clear’ despite buzz
[NINE years ago] Scientology reveals a lot more of its lofty plans for the former KCET studios
[TEN years ago] Being and nothingness: And now we move on to Scientology’s Operating Thetan Level Four!
[ELEVEN years ago] ATLANTIC MAGAZINE SPIKES SCIENTOLOGY ADVERTORIAL AFTER BACKLASH

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 14, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post 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 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. Our book about Paulette, 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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | 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 | Shelly Miscavige, 15 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, or 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 | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone

In 2017, Mirriam Francis appeared in the premiere episode of the second season of Leah Remini’s A&E series, ‘Scientology and the Aftermath.’ She also helped us out with a couple of pieces here at the Bunker, but it has been a few years since we heard [...]]]>

In 2017, Mirriam Francis appeared in the premiere episode of the second season of Leah Remini’s A&E series, ‘Scientology and the Aftermath.’ She also helped us out with a couple of pieces here at the Bunker, but it has been a few years since we heard from her. Then, this week, she reached out with this terrific piece of writing, telling us she wants people to understand a little of what the victims in the Danny Masterson case must be going through, based on Mirriam’s own experiences trying to get law enforcement to take seriously abuse in the Church of Scientology. We are grateful that she has arrived to help us set up next week’s trial.

I was twenty-six years old, with a successful career and had purchased my first home three years prior. I had worked hard and achieved a qualification in human resources management, the area of business which I was most passionate about. I took regular vacations, travelling internationally every year.

It was easy to see how far I had come, nearly ten years since arriving in Australia with no more education than that of a fourth-grade child. Clutching a suitcase and the will to survive, I had stepped out into a world that I knew little about.

I had defied the odds, and I suppose I should have been happy. But I could not shake the cloud that hung around my head. It loomed heavy, like a storm before rainfall. There is something about trauma, how it clings to the body. I had stuffed it down for so long, until it filled all the corners of me. I realised that I needed help.

I contacted a local organization, which offered counselling for sexual assault. I scheduled my first appointment, loaded with trepidation. Had I just jeopardized my spiritual freedom for the rest of eternity?

I had been taught as a young child that psychologists were evil. I was no longer an active Scientologist, but I had yet to discount it completely. I felt anxious, but it was worth the risk to lift the darkness that I had been unable to escape.

Renee greeted me in the reception lounge. Her hair hung around her face in loose, springy curls and her attire was relaxed, with a pair of jeans and a blouse. She led me to what would be our room for the next forty minutes. Two spongy armchairs sat facing each other. There were items nearby such as a bookshelf and a lamp which cast a soft, warm glow. The window had a view to a small garden courtyard. I swallowed and sat down. I rubbed my sweaty palms across the top of my work slacks.

Renee said that this session was for us to get to know each other. I gave her a brief overview of my childhood: The period during which the sexual assaults by my father occurred and the circumstances of growing up in the Church of Scientology. I was matter-of-fact, bullet-pointing my trauma like a PowerPoint presentation. And then our time was up. I stood, smiled stiffly, scheduled the next session, and then left the counselling center.

On my way home, I decided to stop at a supermarket to buy some ingredients for dinner. I parked my car and reached for the door handle, but I didn’t budge from my seat. Instead, I dropped my hand and stared blankly out the front window for a while. I felt as though I were frozen. And then the tears came like a flood. I leant against the steering wheel and sobbed uncontrollably.

After about an hour, the grief relented, and I was able to drive home. The week leading up to the next session was uneasy, I felt as though I had sand under my skin.

After three months of counselling, I was seated in front of Renee in our usual room. “Have you considered filing a police report?” She asked. No one had ever asked me that before.

“Can I… do that?” I asked, nerves suddenly at my throat. It was expressly forbidden in Scientology. I half expected to be struck down where I sat, as though a Scientology executive might emerge from a wall and declare me a Suppressive Person right then and there.

“You sure can. That is, if you would like to?” She asked.

I sat silent for a moment, recalling when I was seventeen and had been forced to sign an affidavit. I had read the typed statement which had been thrust in front of me. It stated that I forgive my father for what he had done to me and that I would never pursue the Church of Scientology in a court of law because of it.

“Yes, I would. I would really like to do that.” I said.

Over the next month I drove to the police station a few times. First, I drove by the police station. Then I went around the block twice before driving on. Finally, I forced myself up the stairs. Each step, heavy as lead.

“I would like to make a police report.” I told the officer through the glass pane at the front desk.

“What’s it about?” He asked.

“Um, it’s about childhood sexual abuse.” I said.

“OK, take a seat. I’ll get someone from that department to see you.” He said, picking up a phone.

I sat down. The hard, plastic chair offered me no comfort. This was it, I thought. I’m not backing out now.

Moments later, an officer approached me and introduced herself as Danielle from SOCIT, the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team. She swiped her card at the secured door. We walked down a hall and into a room. I sat and told her my story as she made notes on a form. Then she told me that the next step was for me to write a detailed statement.

It took me many more months before I forced myself in front of my computer and typed it all out. I kept telling myself, I’ll write it tomorrow. But the next day would come and go. The thought of having to write every detail of what my father had done made my stomach curl. To remember how I would wake up in the night at the age of four years old to find my father attacking me. Not understanding what was happening and feeling so helpless that I wished that I would die. These are not easy memories.

Around this time the media announced that charges against Jan Eastgate, the President of the Scientology anti-psychiatry front group Citizens Commission on Human Rights, who had been arrested for perverting the course of justice, had been dropped.

A young woman named Carmen Rainer had spoken out about the sexual assaults which she had experienced by her stepfather as a child. She detailed that the sexual abuse had occurred from the age of seven to eleven years old and that at the age of eleven, she was coached by Jan Eastgate to deny the sexual abuse to authorities, to protect the Church of Scientology.

Though justice was thwarted at the time, her stepfather turned himself in to the police thirteen years later, following pressure on the Church after Carmen’s mother initiated legal proceedings.

Carmen’s story was familiar to me. The Church of Scientology is ruthless in the protection of itself and to that end there is no sacrifice too small. Even if it means causing senseless suffering to a child and protecting a sexual predator.

I was encouraged by Carmen’s bravery. I wasn’t alone. And I didn’t want to be scared silent anymore. On the 25th of May 2012, I e-mailed my written statement to the police.

— Mirriam Francis

We talked with Mirriam about what happened next for our podcast this week, coming Saturday.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“In this lifetime the downfall of any thetan began with his loss of some heavy mass. The heaviness of the mass was the value of the mass. For instance, an auditor wishing to trace the feeling of degradation in a preclear would look for a time when the preclear lost or was removed from a massive object. The auditor then has the preclear mock up the object and change its quality better or worse until it ‘snaps in’ automatically on the preclear. Then the auditor has the preclear mock up enough of the object to create an avalanche. The preclear must then add more and more to the inflow, then add planets, stars and black stars until the preclear can comfortably throw several dense objects away in mock-up. A reverse (outflowing) avalanche is then begun and run.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1972

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— The Underground Bunker Podcast

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— SPECIAL: Your Proprietor’s updates

[1] Sep 21 [2] Sep 28 [3] Oct 4

— The Underground Bunker Podcast on YouTube

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley

Source Code

“Little boy is a kick. My little girl requires interest to be kind of generated by the vicinity. You know? It’s got to be heavy matter and that sort of thing. She’d get interested. Yes, she’s very alert and very interested. But this little boy, her brother, is practically an Operating Thetan. And he is a fabulous little character — not just because he’s my son, of course — but he’s a fabulous character in that he’s always exteriorized. You walk past his room — his door is closed, you see — in the middle of the night and he’ll do a flip-flop on his bunk, bang! and he’ll be right up there scratching on the door saying, ‘Hey, say hello,’ you know, that sort of thing. You open the door and say, ‘Hello, Quentin,’ and he’s real happy.” — L. Ron Hubbard, October 6, 1954

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“FAN MAIL: Items which bring in nice comments and congratulations lately have been Expanded Lower Grades and the Data Series. Numerous pleased comments came in on Expanded Lower Grades with no adverse ones. The Data Series gets good comment and is well liked. It has run into only a couple of adverse where the Out-points restimed some out-points but by auditing them straight it came out great. Hymn of Asia is also very popular.” — The Commodore, October 6, 1970

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“So, you are STILL ‘thinking’? Hahaha. Still creating your mind? Hahaha. I just finished OT IX. Lafayette’s Tech is super-laser-fast!! AND I am not ‘thinking it’. I KNOW IT. How about that?”

 
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Past is Prologue

1997: John Ritson and Roland Rashleigh-Berry reported on another picket of Scientology’s Poole, England location this week. “A highly successful picket took place this afternoon, Saturday 11 Oct against the Scientology cult in the South Coast town of Poole. Although it rained heavily up to the start of the picket, the rain stopped (Xenu be praised) when we reached the normal place in the middle of the High Street where the body-routers hang out, to find … no body-routers with clipboards asking people if they wanted to take part in a survey. A quick check down a side street revealed that their book shop, where the marks were taken for their ‘Personality Test’ leading to a series of expensive courses was closed down and had a ‘To Let’ sign. Further checking revealed that the Scientologists’ most productive site in the UK had been reduced to just one office over a restaurant, further down the High Street, away from most of the foot traffic. We had sufficient numbers including local supporters, to split our forces in two, with leafleting and the water-winged dog ‘Duke’ at the centre of the shopping area, and countering the few disheartened body-routers outside their remaining ‘org’. Having persuaded polite but uneasy members of the public to come across the road to complete the ‘survey’ it must be pretty galling to watch somebody give them Xemu leaflets and then see the intended victims take the opportunity to scoot off. But at least the hapless body-router could diagnose the problem and brilliantly identified his opponents as Suppressives, demanding to know what ‘rapes and murders’ they had committed.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Man, my groovy shark vid got no votes, but my simple-minded off-the-cuff remark got top vote. You people are weird.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Jury selection scheduled to begin October 11.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Arraigned on August 29.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff scheduled to be sentenced on Oct 28.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for October 24 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for September 19.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.

Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 2. Hearing scheduled November 17 to argue the arbitration motions.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place, next status hearing October 25.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for December 6.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology’s evangelist is coming to town, and he wants to discuss your origin, thetan
[TWO years ago] Danny Masterson’s attempt to get out of rape accusers’ lawsuit to be heard today
[THREE years ago] For you doubters, here’s proof of Scientology miracles that demonstrate the power of ‘OT’!
[FOUR years ago] In the Sea Org, under suspicion: ‘I accepted that I was, in Scientology terms, an ethics particle’
[FIVE years ago] This new image of David Miscavige makes years of Scientology Watching all worth it
[SIX years ago] Chris Shelton dives into Scientology culture with the Larisa Smith story, part two
[SEVEN years ago] CATHRIONA WHITE WAS MARRIED TO SCIENTOLOGIST MARK BURTON
[EIGHT years ago] A Bunker Exclusive: Jonny Jacobsen’s 2008 book introduction describing Scientology
[NINE years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology’s Shiny New Freedom Magazine!
[TEN years ago] Another Narconon Lawsuit, Oregon Dentist to Fight Order, and More Scientology Links
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Raided, Smacked Down in Court, and Accused of Killing Trees

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 6, 2022 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post 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 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. Our book about Paulette, 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, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | 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 | Shelly Miscavige, 15 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, or 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 | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 Leah Remini’s second season of Scientology and the Aftermath started off with a hammer blow to the church — a devastating episode about child molestation in Scientology that was condoned and covered up.

One of the women featured in that episode, Mirriam Francis, described what it was like to have a mother so dedicated to Scientology [...]]]>

 
Leah Remini’s second season of Scientology and the Aftermath started off with a hammer blow to the church — a devastating episode about child molestation in Scientology that was condoned and covered up.

One of the women featured in that episode, Mirriam Francis, described what it was like to have a mother so dedicated to Scientology that even in 2013 she would not lift a finger to help Mirriam try to get justice after being assaulted for years by her own father.

Mirriam reached out to us this week to tell us that she has an awful coda to that story. She found a photograph, and it tells her even more about how she was victimized. Here’s what she sent us.

However, recently I realized that she actually chose the Church over me the day that she left me in Australia for nearly two years, in the sole care of my father, while she was pursuing her Sea Org career in Los Angeles. That was when the sexual abuse by my father began, when I was four years old.

A couple of months ago, I came across a photo that she had sent from Los Angeles at that time, on the back of which she wrote “Dreams do come true.”

 
My mother painted the series of L. Ron Hubbard oil paintings which are displayed at the LRH Life Exhibition in Los Angeles and are featured in the What Is Scientology book. She works at Golden Era Productions at Int Base near Hemet, and she is involved in the graphic designs for Scientology promotional materials, magazines, books and lectures.

As a parent myself I find it difficult to understand how someone like my mother leaves a child. I can only refer to the teachings of Scientology on the subject. There is a firm belief in Scientology that children are simply thetans (spiritual beings) in small bodies. I remember my mother telling me when I was a child that she knew who I was last lifetime. That I was a close male friend of hers who had passed away and went on to inhabit this (my) body. From that perspective, this reduces the parent-child relationship when the belief is that this lifetime is just a tiny speck on the “Whole Track” of lifetimes spanning before and after it.

In 2011, after leaving Scientology, when I first started receiving counselling for the sexual abuse, I called my mother to ask her questions that I had never felt brave enough to ask before. Questions like “When did you find out?” This opened up the conversation between us. Shortly after this I received an e-mail from her and here are some pieces from that e-mail.

In this part, she refers to my decision to “cut comm” that is in reference to me ending my relationship with my father…

“I’ve been thinking a lot on the last conversation we had and your messages, and what is the right thing… at first I wanted to rush off, get retributive and hurl fire and brimstone, all stirred up. I did go over this with my chaplain and asked her help, and her suggestions let me see there’s other alternatives. For one, even though you say you’ve cut comm and I am totally, totally, totally supportive of your decision on this, you may like to reconsider getting back in comm. The only reason I mention this is because in my experience I’ve found that the things I’ve avoided have been things that lingered on with doubts and irresolution. You know how you kinda get hung up in a ‘maybe…’ or ‘if…’?

“The thing is you know I am here and I’m doing what I’m doing because I think it’s the best thing. I feel that I’ve helped change things in the world for the better, and I can not turn my back on that despite sacrifices that seem sometimes beyond the norm. To me there is a future that goes beyond this life time and so in my own way I try to think there is a future for us together.

“Much in life makes us bitter, but I’ve also seen from my own auditing that where I’ve been sour and unforgiving and protesting victim, that there’s been something that I haven’t understood or that I didn’t see the whole picture on, and once those things were cleared up then I was free from holding onto old grudges and just went about creating my own life and future.”

My mother has referenced here a Scientology term — “protesting victim.” That means an unfounded dramatization of victimhood. In Scientology there is no recognition of someone being a victim of something. You are always responsible for everything that happens to you. Regardless of age or vulnerability.

In fact, when I was doing my leaving the Sea Org confessional at age seventeen, I was asked questions about the childhood sexual abuse as if I were the one who committed the crimes. That is how completely backwards it gets in Scientology with regard to sexual abuse. Meanwhile, my father was still a Sea Org member in good standing. To top it off, they forced me to sign an affidavit (not written by me) alleviating him and them of responsibility.

 
— Mirriam Francis

 
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Join Scientology and meet Tom Cruise!

Mike Rinder posted this flier at his blog today and we just had to grab it. We can never remember seeing Tom actually used in a flier like this. It’s for one of the Mexico City facilities…

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 26, 2017 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, 1995-2016 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