Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 107
use a number of techniques,‖ he said, ―but no physicality [sic] whatsoever [as in the
Colorado case].‖ (WRAL TV (NC), 12/1/03)
Satanism
Trial for Ritual Murder of Boys
A trial has begun in Belém, Brazil, of five members of a satanic sect accused of sexually
mutilating and murdering young boys in the Amazon town of Altimara more than a decade
ago. One of the defendants is Valentina Andrade, ―clairvoyant‖ leader of an ―occult‖
―pagan‖ sect in Argentina, and two are doctors.
The 19 victims were all poor boys between the ages of eight and fourteen six were found
dead with their sexual organs removed, allegedly for use in ―black magic‖ rites. (Jan Rocha,
BBC, 8/27/03)
Scientology
Appeal Denial of Tax Exempt Status
Scientology in St. Louis is appealing a decision by St. Louis County to deny tax-exempt
status to the group‘s Delmar Boulevard property. The county Board of Equalization has ruled
that the former Anchor Masonic Temple is not ―regularly used exclusively for religious ...
(or) charitable‖ purposes as required by law. (Deb Peterson, St. Louis Post Dispatch,
Internet, 6/30/03)
Manipulating the Web
It was discovered last year that Scientology had created a mass of websites known as ―link
farms,‖ many consisting of nothing but links and duplicated data, in an attempt to ensure
that its website, Scientology.org, scored as the top website on Google. This use of the
Google Page Rank system ―has long been a target for abuse by devious webmasters
desperate for a high listing on Google.‖
Scientology sites are actually outnumbered on the web by sites critical of the ―cult,‖ which
led Scientology to threaten Google with legal action if it did not remove links to one of the
more prominent anti-Scientology sites. Scientology critics and ―conspiracy theorists‖ note
that the Open Directory Project, a major feeder of new links to search engines, readily
accepts pro-Scientology URLs but ignores or delays the addition of links critical of the
church. (Graham Hammond, Sunday Herald and Weekly Times, Australia, Internet,
6/29/03)
Beware of Getting Too Close to Scientology
Scientology should not be shocked that its recent survey of 300 shoppers at a St.
Petersburg mall indicated that four out of five queried had negative opinions of the church,
using words like ―cult,‖ ―scam,‖ ―strange,‖ and ―brainwashing‖ to characterize it.
Indeed, Pinellas County residents are well informed about Scientology. They remember the
years of ―shenanigans‖ that preceded the current public relations campaign and increasing
involvement in Clearwater economic development and politics.
―Clearwater officials would do well to review the results of the Scientology survey and
consider whether an informed and wary public would be comfortable seeing them hold
hands with the Church of Scientology.‖ (Editorial, St. Petersburg Times, Internet, 6/9/03)
Agreement on Proselytizing
Responding to public complaints and a request from civic leaders, Scientology has agreed
not to flood Ybor City (Tampa, FL) streets with recruiters. Members of the public have also
complained about the intensity of Scientology proselytizing on the eve of the grand opening

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 108
of its ―Life Improvement Center‖ in the neighborhood. And some local business owners
complain that Scientologists have followed customers into their shops.
―I don‘t care if it‘s Church of Scientologists [sic] or census takers,‖ said Ybor civic leader
Vince Pardo. ―If you have too many people approaching people for questionnaires or money
or religious conversion it becomes harassment.‖
Scientology says that it wants to be sensitive to neighborhood concerns without limiting its
own rights. (Corey Shouten, St. Petersburg Times, Internet, 6/7/03)
Lawyer Pays only $4,500 of $2 Million Claim
A Pinellas County (FL) jury has ordered attorney Ken Dandar to pay $4,500 to Scientology,
which sued him for more than $2 million saying he turned a ―garden variety‖ wrongful death
suit against them into ―a frontal attack on an entire religion.‖ The amount Scientology
wanted was an estimate of what Dandar‘s clients paid to pursue the wrongful death suit.
Dandar brought the lawsuit on behalf of family and friends of Lisa McPherson, a
Scientologist who died in 1995 after 17 days of care at Scientology offices in Clearwater.
Scientology said that Dandar‘s attempt to add as defendants top Scientology officials led to
bad publicity that devastated Scientology and violated an agreement not to add defendants.
Dandar said the Scientology suit was an attempt to ruin him and suppress the wrongful
death suit. A trial date for the latter case is likely to be announced next month. (Robert
Farley, St. Petersburg Times, 8/20/03 AP, Internet, 8/21/03)
Girl Denied Right to Attend Course
A French judge in Nantes, following an appeal from the child‘s aunt and grandmother, has
banned 14-year-old Marion Chauchreau from going to Denmark to enroll at a Scientology
school in Copenhagen. The girl‘s mother is a longtime Scientologist, her brother teaches at
a Scientology school, and she herself grew up in Scientology.
Social service agencies, in light of the court order, are investigating Marion‘s social,
psychological, and psychiatric situation as a prelude to judging the potential for harm that
entering the Copenhagen school might entail. In 2001, France passed a law envisioning the
banning of groups whose leaders are convicted of crimes like the manipulation of minors.
(Copenhagen Post, Internet, 8/8/03)
Safe Harbor Called Scientology Front
Safe Harbor, a Scientology organization recently founded in Hamburg and aiming to
recruit doctors, nutritional scientists and environmental physicians, is a Scientology front ―to
infiltrate new social groups [according to the author of this report] and to spread the crazy
ideas of Ron Hubbard, the sect‘s founder.‖ Says Rüdiger Hintze, of the Working Group on
Scientology of the state‘s Department for Domestic Affairs: ―We can see here what cunning
methods Scientology now uses to tie people to the organization and to spread Hubbard‘s
ideology.‖
Melanie Hoff, who recently returned from London, where she studied nutritional therapy for
psychiatric problems — Scientology adamantly opposes mainline psychiatry and drug
therapy — tells how she was courted by Safe Harbor and then presented a professional
paper on the subject to a Safe Harbor meeting. But, ―I soon thought the people and what
they were saying were pretty strange, and so I did some research on the Internet.‖ She
realized that she had unwittingly become a pawn of the Scientologists. (Olaf Wunder,
Hamburger Morgenpost, Internet, 8/2/03)