International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010 35
Kelly, who had deprogrammed at least one
member. According to Swantko, Coates and
Kelly “prevailed on the Attorney General’s
Office and the Governor himself to adopt as
true” a collection of unreliable evidence that a
state team of investigators had gathered from a
dozen former members from around the country
(Swantko, 2004: 184). Indeed, “these two
antireligious zealots” (as Swantko called them
[Swantko, 2004: 184]), “provided the fodder for
local law enforcement to compile a 32-page
affidavit used to secure the warrant, which was
replete with unfounded stories of abuse strewn
with erroneous and sensational interpretations of
doctrine” (Swantko, 2004: 184). Nothing in
Swantko’s articles, nor in any of the articles in
which Susan Palmer was the author or
contributor, gave any credence to the possibility
that authorities acted on compelling evidence, or
that Coates and Kelly were speaking in the
community and talking to authorities because
they had genuine, well-founded concerns about
children’s welfare. Indeed, a review of media
accounts16 about the Island Pond community
before the raid paints a very different picture
than what Swantko presented—one of serious,
documented physical abuse against children, and
a religious group that was uncooperative with
authorities who were acting on behalf of
children’s welfare.
Pre-Raid Media Accounts of Child Abuse
in Island Pond’s Northeast Kingdom
Community
An article that appeared in the Hartford Courant
(and was reprinted in Florida’s St. Petersburg
Times) at the end of 1982 provided a litany of
problems that local residents were having with
the Island Pond community, all the result of
actions and policies of the Northeast Kingdom
Community itself. These actions and policies
were not things that residents learned about from
16 In one of her articles about the Northeast Kingdom Community,
Susan Palmer referred to “negative and inaccurate media reports”
that likely contributed to the “violent reactions” against the group
(Palmer, 2001: 211). Presumably, she had in mind the very media
accounts to which I am about to refer. What suggests to me,
however, that these media accounts likely were accurate is that
multiple reporters using different sources (interviews with former
members, police reports, medical reports, photographs, etc.)
identified similar accounts of severe child beatings allegedly
perpetrated by different people
anticultists they learned about them simply
from living in the same community with
members of the group (Cockerham, 1982).
Within about three years of Northeast Kingdom
members moving to Island Pond in 1979
(Palmer, 2001: 213), tensions with local
residents festered over a number of issues.
Specifically regarding the group’s care of
children, residents had figured out that the group
illegally exempted its members from normal
registry procedures involving births and deaths.
As locals realized, “the group refuses to record
births or deaths. They [sic] have a registered
graveyard on church-owned land, although no
one knows of any mortalities” (Cockerham,
1982: 6 see Harrison, 1984: 61). This refusal
was particularly troublesome regarding children,
since officials had no way of identifying or
tracking their health and safety.
Also regarding children, townspeople saw and
heard firsthand how the adults in the group
punished their children. In essence, townspeople
such as Bernard Henault observed them
“‘disciplining their own children on the street’”
(quoted in Cockerham, 1982: 6). Almost
certainly, “disciplining” often meant hitting their
children. For example, former members Charles
and Tommye Brown
decided to leave [the group] because
they objected to the way the group
treated its children. ‘The kids are
punished for almost everything, asking
for more food or not speaking to adults
they pass on the street.’ Brown and his
wife, who are childless, said the
punishment ranges from whippings to
being locked in their rooms for as long
as a week. He also said the food is
barely enough to survive on. (quoted in
Cockerham, 1982: 6)
Apparently, Tommye Brown had testified about
the beatings during a previous, high-profile
custody case, since, in late November 1982,
Newsweek reported that, during the trial,
witnesses testified that all of the
Kingdom’s children, from tots to teens,
received frequent and lengthy bare-
bottom thrashings with wooden rods—
Kelly, who had deprogrammed at least one
member. According to Swantko, Coates and
Kelly “prevailed on the Attorney General’s
Office and the Governor himself to adopt as
true” a collection of unreliable evidence that a
state team of investigators had gathered from a
dozen former members from around the country
(Swantko, 2004: 184). Indeed, “these two
antireligious zealots” (as Swantko called them
[Swantko, 2004: 184]), “provided the fodder for
local law enforcement to compile a 32-page
affidavit used to secure the warrant, which was
replete with unfounded stories of abuse strewn
with erroneous and sensational interpretations of
doctrine” (Swantko, 2004: 184). Nothing in
Swantko’s articles, nor in any of the articles in
which Susan Palmer was the author or
contributor, gave any credence to the possibility
that authorities acted on compelling evidence, or
that Coates and Kelly were speaking in the
community and talking to authorities because
they had genuine, well-founded concerns about
children’s welfare. Indeed, a review of media
accounts16 about the Island Pond community
before the raid paints a very different picture
than what Swantko presented—one of serious,
documented physical abuse against children, and
a religious group that was uncooperative with
authorities who were acting on behalf of
children’s welfare.
Pre-Raid Media Accounts of Child Abuse
in Island Pond’s Northeast Kingdom
Community
An article that appeared in the Hartford Courant
(and was reprinted in Florida’s St. Petersburg
Times) at the end of 1982 provided a litany of
problems that local residents were having with
the Island Pond community, all the result of
actions and policies of the Northeast Kingdom
Community itself. These actions and policies
were not things that residents learned about from
16 In one of her articles about the Northeast Kingdom Community,
Susan Palmer referred to “negative and inaccurate media reports”
that likely contributed to the “violent reactions” against the group
(Palmer, 2001: 211). Presumably, she had in mind the very media
accounts to which I am about to refer. What suggests to me,
however, that these media accounts likely were accurate is that
multiple reporters using different sources (interviews with former
members, police reports, medical reports, photographs, etc.)
identified similar accounts of severe child beatings allegedly
perpetrated by different people
anticultists they learned about them simply
from living in the same community with
members of the group (Cockerham, 1982).
Within about three years of Northeast Kingdom
members moving to Island Pond in 1979
(Palmer, 2001: 213), tensions with local
residents festered over a number of issues.
Specifically regarding the group’s care of
children, residents had figured out that the group
illegally exempted its members from normal
registry procedures involving births and deaths.
As locals realized, “the group refuses to record
births or deaths. They [sic] have a registered
graveyard on church-owned land, although no
one knows of any mortalities” (Cockerham,
1982: 6 see Harrison, 1984: 61). This refusal
was particularly troublesome regarding children,
since officials had no way of identifying or
tracking their health and safety.
Also regarding children, townspeople saw and
heard firsthand how the adults in the group
punished their children. In essence, townspeople
such as Bernard Henault observed them
“‘disciplining their own children on the street’”
(quoted in Cockerham, 1982: 6). Almost
certainly, “disciplining” often meant hitting their
children. For example, former members Charles
and Tommye Brown
decided to leave [the group] because
they objected to the way the group
treated its children. ‘The kids are
punished for almost everything, asking
for more food or not speaking to adults
they pass on the street.’ Brown and his
wife, who are childless, said the
punishment ranges from whippings to
being locked in their rooms for as long
as a week. He also said the food is
barely enough to survive on. (quoted in
Cockerham, 1982: 6)
Apparently, Tommye Brown had testified about
the beatings during a previous, high-profile
custody case, since, in late November 1982,
Newsweek reported that, during the trial,
witnesses testified that all of the
Kingdom’s children, from tots to teens,
received frequent and lengthy bare-
bottom thrashings with wooden rods—
