International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation Volume 6 2023 144
Pritchard’s website also includes a sovereign citizen-
style notice of “Trespass,” which demands the return of
the children to their parents. The children are referred
to as “property.” In June 2021, Prichard was formally
prohibited, by the British Columbia Supreme Court,
from presenting himself as a lawyer, practicing law, or
drafting legal documents (Lindsay, 2021). His previous
claims of “trespass” had been rejected by the courts
(Lindsay, 2021) (see Netolitzky, 2023b for a review of
Prichard’s theories and activities).
Court records indicate that child welfare has
recommended the children be permanently removed
from their parents (TL (Re), 2022 ABPC 112). The
parents’ unsubstantiated claims of child sex trafficking
seem to be the newest development in their ongoing
conflict with child welfare. These claims are likely
simply being used to garner support from like-minded,
conspiracy-oriented individuals in the pseudolaw
and QAnon communities. A recent video posted on
Telegram suggests that this approach may be working.
The video shows a group of protesters surrounding the
Calgary child protective service agency. The protesters
claim that the couple’s children are being trafficked,
and demand their immediate return. The video also
shows at least 15 police officers standing in front of the
building, attempting to keep the protesters out. The
case remains ongoing.
E. A Sovereign Citizen Cult: The Body
A website and magazine, The Body International, tracks
the activities of “The Body,” a supposed Christian
Fellowship cult, started in Alaska in 2003 (Bonny,
2022). The Body currently resides in Tonashet,
Washington, but also has active members in Australia.
The Body is led by Mark B. Warner, who claims to be
a living deity who communicates directly with God.
The Body International website alleges that within the
group, children have been subjected to sexual abuse
through a process called “washing.”
A recent article and body cam footage suggest that a
member of “The Body” was behaving in ways consistent
with sovereign citizen ideology. Christopher Coombs
is the father of a six-year-old child. Police attempted to
arrest Coombs after Coombs violated a parental order,
and for obstruction of justice. During a nearly two-
hour interaction with the police, Coombs refused to
exit his vehicle, repeatedly saying “I do not consent,”
a phrase commonly associated with the sovereign
citizen movement and its not-law theories. Coombs
also referred to his daughter as his “property” (Berlin,
2022), an idea matching the aforementioned sovereign
citizen/QAnon cases.
V. Conclusion
The main intent of this paper is to explore the emerging
overlap between QAnon and sovereign citizens, with a
specific focus on high-profile child custody cases. The
analysis has included a small sample of cases in which
parents, mostly mothers, lost custody of their children,
and then sought out alternative and unorthodox
means to retrieve their children. These alternatives
included expressing sovereign citizen-like ideas,
utilizing sovereign citizen tactics, and associating
with known leaders of the hybrid QAnon/sovereign
citizen movement. Most importantly, these parents are
utilizing the new tactic of falsely accusing CPS of the
sex trafficking of children, all proffered in the complete
absence of supporting evidence.
Previous research indicates that sovereign citizens
can be dangerous, especially when interacting with
law enforcement (Sarteschi, 2020 Sarteschi, 2021).
The most recent data available (March 2023) indicates
that QAnon-inspired crimes are responsible for 13
deaths and eight injured persons (excluding Capitol
breachers), many of whom were also involved in the
sovereign citizen movement (Jensen, 2023). This
research has documented conspiracy-oriented people,
involved with CPS, who believe in sovereign citizen
and QAnon ideas, and therefore exhibit heightened
acrimony and pose a special danger to CPS workers. A
number of workers in the cases reviewed in this study
experienced both threats and physical violence. This
pattern suggests that parents’ being adherents to both
the sovereign citizen and QAnon movements is an
elevated violence risk factor for CPS workers.
This examination should be considered in the context
of three main limitations. First, the descriptive nature
of this research can draw no definitive conclusions
about these and related issues. More research is
needed to explore the nature and consequences of
Pritchard’s website also includes a sovereign citizen-
style notice of “Trespass,” which demands the return of
the children to their parents. The children are referred
to as “property.” In June 2021, Prichard was formally
prohibited, by the British Columbia Supreme Court,
from presenting himself as a lawyer, practicing law, or
drafting legal documents (Lindsay, 2021). His previous
claims of “trespass” had been rejected by the courts
(Lindsay, 2021) (see Netolitzky, 2023b for a review of
Prichard’s theories and activities).
Court records indicate that child welfare has
recommended the children be permanently removed
from their parents (TL (Re), 2022 ABPC 112). The
parents’ unsubstantiated claims of child sex trafficking
seem to be the newest development in their ongoing
conflict with child welfare. These claims are likely
simply being used to garner support from like-minded,
conspiracy-oriented individuals in the pseudolaw
and QAnon communities. A recent video posted on
Telegram suggests that this approach may be working.
The video shows a group of protesters surrounding the
Calgary child protective service agency. The protesters
claim that the couple’s children are being trafficked,
and demand their immediate return. The video also
shows at least 15 police officers standing in front of the
building, attempting to keep the protesters out. The
case remains ongoing.
E. A Sovereign Citizen Cult: The Body
A website and magazine, The Body International, tracks
the activities of “The Body,” a supposed Christian
Fellowship cult, started in Alaska in 2003 (Bonny,
2022). The Body currently resides in Tonashet,
Washington, but also has active members in Australia.
The Body is led by Mark B. Warner, who claims to be
a living deity who communicates directly with God.
The Body International website alleges that within the
group, children have been subjected to sexual abuse
through a process called “washing.”
A recent article and body cam footage suggest that a
member of “The Body” was behaving in ways consistent
with sovereign citizen ideology. Christopher Coombs
is the father of a six-year-old child. Police attempted to
arrest Coombs after Coombs violated a parental order,
and for obstruction of justice. During a nearly two-
hour interaction with the police, Coombs refused to
exit his vehicle, repeatedly saying “I do not consent,”
a phrase commonly associated with the sovereign
citizen movement and its not-law theories. Coombs
also referred to his daughter as his “property” (Berlin,
2022), an idea matching the aforementioned sovereign
citizen/QAnon cases.
V. Conclusion
The main intent of this paper is to explore the emerging
overlap between QAnon and sovereign citizens, with a
specific focus on high-profile child custody cases. The
analysis has included a small sample of cases in which
parents, mostly mothers, lost custody of their children,
and then sought out alternative and unorthodox
means to retrieve their children. These alternatives
included expressing sovereign citizen-like ideas,
utilizing sovereign citizen tactics, and associating
with known leaders of the hybrid QAnon/sovereign
citizen movement. Most importantly, these parents are
utilizing the new tactic of falsely accusing CPS of the
sex trafficking of children, all proffered in the complete
absence of supporting evidence.
Previous research indicates that sovereign citizens
can be dangerous, especially when interacting with
law enforcement (Sarteschi, 2020 Sarteschi, 2021).
The most recent data available (March 2023) indicates
that QAnon-inspired crimes are responsible for 13
deaths and eight injured persons (excluding Capitol
breachers), many of whom were also involved in the
sovereign citizen movement (Jensen, 2023). This
research has documented conspiracy-oriented people,
involved with CPS, who believe in sovereign citizen
and QAnon ideas, and therefore exhibit heightened
acrimony and pose a special danger to CPS workers. A
number of workers in the cases reviewed in this study
experienced both threats and physical violence. This
pattern suggests that parents’ being adherents to both
the sovereign citizen and QAnon movements is an
elevated violence risk factor for CPS workers.
This examination should be considered in the context
of three main limitations. First, the descriptive nature
of this research can draw no definitive conclusions
about these and related issues. More research is
needed to explore the nature and consequences of
