68 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 3, 2012
to the act itself, couples had to chant 50 rounds
on their prayer beads (Daner, 1976, p. 57). The
Krishna movement’s ideal figure was a man
who, toward the end of his life, renounces sex
and becomes a celibate swami or sannyasi
(renunciant). Only people who were devotees in
the organization were allowed to be married, and
in an attempt to ensure that men did not seek sex
outside of marriage, the Krishna community in
New Vrindaban, West Virginia allowed girls
during the 1970s to marry when they were as
young as 13 years old (Rochford with Heinlein,
1998, p. 25 St. John, 1988, p. 3). Amidst a
theology that was deeply patriarchal, male
celibacy remained the behaviour that Krishna
theology held as the most godly.
Repeated problems occurred, therefore, when
Krishna devotees failed to live up to the
theological ideal (not to mention the concession
to marriage). The manner in which at least one
prominent (and eventually expelled) Krishna
leader responded to information about alleged
sexual failings by some members reveals how a
theology that denigrates sex even between
consenting adults can become one that is unable
to identify degrees of sexual impropriety.
The guru in question, Kirtanananda Swami
Bhaktipada, oversaw what at the time was the
jewel of the North American Krishna
movement—the community of New
Vrindhaban. Here the movement was building
its palatial monuments to Krishna, but a series of
murders, assaults, and fraud investigations
suggested that serious problems existed among
both community members and leaders. When
one mother (Susan Hebel) learned from her 13-
year-old son that a schoolteacher had molested
him and others, she stormed into Kirtanananda’s
office and relayed the information to him. A
critical book on the Krishnas reconstructed the
conversation as follows, beginning with the
distraught mother’s angry lament:
‘I feel so betrayed... All these years,
I’ve given up my children. I sent them
to the [school] when they turned five,
trusting that they would be loved and
taken care of and would become
devotees. I never imagined that anyone
would molest them.’
‘You stupid woman,’ Kirtanananda
interrupted. ‘You don’t have any right to
say that. Sex is sex. How much sex
have you had?’
‘Kirtanananda, you can’t equate sex
between a husband and wife and
teachers molesting defenseless little
boys,’ Susan said.
‘Sex is sex,’ Kirtanananda said once
again. Besides, [the teacher] has
rectified himself. He got married.’ (in
Hubner &Gruson, 1988, p. 344 also
see Hubner, 1987, p. 11 St. John, 1988,
p. 3)
It appears, therefore, that Kirtanananda held an
indiscriminate view that all sex was equally
fallen, so that any sex was a sign of spiritual
weakness. Moreover, he seems to have assumed
that the impulses behind homosexual pedophilia
would be met within the confines of a
constricted, heterosexual Krishna marriage. For
her part, Hebel and her husband were so
unsatisfied with Kirtanananda’s response to their
son’s plight that they complained to civil
authorities. The resulting investigation led to
the guilty plea of the assistant schoolmaster
(Fredrick Di Francisco) to third-degree sexual
assault of the boy when the victim was between
7 and 12 years old (Fitzgerald, 1988). The case
stands as just one of many child sexual-abuse
convictions of adults in or associated with the
Krishna movement and its offshoots. Worth
mentioning, too, is the fact that a former
member testified in a 1991 case (involving
racketeering and fraud charges against
Bhaktipada) that the guru had fondled him
(when he was around sixteen) four times in 1986
(Formanek, 1991, p. 1).
Conclusion: The Implication of Child
Sexual Abuse in Alternative Religions
Documenting the variety and depth of child
sexual abuse in alternative religions is important
for a number of reasons, not the least of which is
because very little of this information has
entered the wider discussion among academics
and policy makers concerning child sexual abuse
in general. A review, for example, of articles in
the respected journal, Child Abuse and Neglect
to the act itself, couples had to chant 50 rounds
on their prayer beads (Daner, 1976, p. 57). The
Krishna movement’s ideal figure was a man
who, toward the end of his life, renounces sex
and becomes a celibate swami or sannyasi
(renunciant). Only people who were devotees in
the organization were allowed to be married, and
in an attempt to ensure that men did not seek sex
outside of marriage, the Krishna community in
New Vrindaban, West Virginia allowed girls
during the 1970s to marry when they were as
young as 13 years old (Rochford with Heinlein,
1998, p. 25 St. John, 1988, p. 3). Amidst a
theology that was deeply patriarchal, male
celibacy remained the behaviour that Krishna
theology held as the most godly.
Repeated problems occurred, therefore, when
Krishna devotees failed to live up to the
theological ideal (not to mention the concession
to marriage). The manner in which at least one
prominent (and eventually expelled) Krishna
leader responded to information about alleged
sexual failings by some members reveals how a
theology that denigrates sex even between
consenting adults can become one that is unable
to identify degrees of sexual impropriety.
The guru in question, Kirtanananda Swami
Bhaktipada, oversaw what at the time was the
jewel of the North American Krishna
movement—the community of New
Vrindhaban. Here the movement was building
its palatial monuments to Krishna, but a series of
murders, assaults, and fraud investigations
suggested that serious problems existed among
both community members and leaders. When
one mother (Susan Hebel) learned from her 13-
year-old son that a schoolteacher had molested
him and others, she stormed into Kirtanananda’s
office and relayed the information to him. A
critical book on the Krishnas reconstructed the
conversation as follows, beginning with the
distraught mother’s angry lament:
‘I feel so betrayed... All these years,
I’ve given up my children. I sent them
to the [school] when they turned five,
trusting that they would be loved and
taken care of and would become
devotees. I never imagined that anyone
would molest them.’
‘You stupid woman,’ Kirtanananda
interrupted. ‘You don’t have any right to
say that. Sex is sex. How much sex
have you had?’
‘Kirtanananda, you can’t equate sex
between a husband and wife and
teachers molesting defenseless little
boys,’ Susan said.
‘Sex is sex,’ Kirtanananda said once
again. Besides, [the teacher] has
rectified himself. He got married.’ (in
Hubner &Gruson, 1988, p. 344 also
see Hubner, 1987, p. 11 St. John, 1988,
p. 3)
It appears, therefore, that Kirtanananda held an
indiscriminate view that all sex was equally
fallen, so that any sex was a sign of spiritual
weakness. Moreover, he seems to have assumed
that the impulses behind homosexual pedophilia
would be met within the confines of a
constricted, heterosexual Krishna marriage. For
her part, Hebel and her husband were so
unsatisfied with Kirtanananda’s response to their
son’s plight that they complained to civil
authorities. The resulting investigation led to
the guilty plea of the assistant schoolmaster
(Fredrick Di Francisco) to third-degree sexual
assault of the boy when the victim was between
7 and 12 years old (Fitzgerald, 1988). The case
stands as just one of many child sexual-abuse
convictions of adults in or associated with the
Krishna movement and its offshoots. Worth
mentioning, too, is the fact that a former
member testified in a 1991 case (involving
racketeering and fraud charges against
Bhaktipada) that the guru had fondled him
(when he was around sixteen) four times in 1986
(Formanek, 1991, p. 1).
Conclusion: The Implication of Child
Sexual Abuse in Alternative Religions
Documenting the variety and depth of child
sexual abuse in alternative religions is important
for a number of reasons, not the least of which is
because very little of this information has
entered the wider discussion among academics
and policy makers concerning child sexual abuse
in general. A review, for example, of articles in
the respected journal, Child Abuse and Neglect
