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Bountiful Elementary-Secondary, controlled by Jeffs, who is the head of polygamous
communities in Arizona and Utah.
Audrey Vance, of the Creston, B.C.-based Altering Destiny Through Education, wants the
government to stop funding the schools. She labels as child abuse the treatment of women,
especially the arranged marriages and a cut-off in education at an early age. Debbie Palmer,
who left Bountiful with her children in 1988, says even boys rarely get beyond grade nine.
They then go to work in one of Winston‘s companies or one owned by a church trust. Some
local officials are calling for government action to stop what they term the ―exploitation and
manipulation of these children.‖ They point to the fact that the government‘s enrollment
figures show a drop-off in students between elementary and secondary school. Of 136
children registered this year, 105 are in kindergarten to grade seven, and only 31 are in
grades eight to ten. (Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, Internet, 6/21/04)
Says Polygamy Is His Constitutional Right
Former police officer Rodney Holm, a member of the Hilldale, UT-based polygamous
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is appealing his
convictions for bigamy and sex with a wife who was a minor. He argues that polygamy is a
constitutional right that is not socially harmful, as critics claim, and that ―current
demographics, domestic relations law, and religious diversity all accommodate plural
marriage.‖
The appeal claims traditional marriage is no longer the norm in the U.S., that domestic laws
against cohabitation and fornication, for example, are anachronistic and hardly enforced
against those practicing new lifestyles. It is ironic, Holm adds, that the relevant laws are
―asserted as weapons ...against those living a traditional, family-grounded, religious-
based lifestyle.‖
Prosecutors contend that there is no constitutional right to have sex with a minor. (Pamela
Manson, Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 7/2/04)
Investigation Requested, Promised
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has called for a public investigation into
allegations of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and denial of equal rights by members of
the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS),
in the town of Bountiful. The civil liberties group stresses that the alleged abuse, not
polygamy, is the issue.
Meanwhile, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has announced it will investigate the
FLDS. The police team will include a social worker because of [what this report calls] ―the
unique challenges of dealing with victims of abuse who come from a cult-like community.‖
Investigators are especially interested in allegations that the drop-out rate at the Bountiful
Elementary-Secondary School is far greater than the rate at other provincial schools, that
students are taught blind obedience to church leaders, and that the religious curriculum is
racist and white supremacist, and discriminates against women. (Daphne Bramham,
CanWest News Service, Internet, 7/21, 22/04)
General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn
Parents Charged in Faith Healing Death
A Johnson County, IN, grand jury has decided that DeWayne and Maleta Schmidt, members
of the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, should be charged with reckless
homicide for relying on congregational prayer to cure their baby daughter, who died of a
treatable infection shortly after birth. The death was the third among untreated children in
the church. A leader of the congregation says the church doesn‘t shun members who look

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 117
for medical treatment, but that some followers believe seeking such help betrays weakness
of faith. It is ―felony neglect‖ in Indiana to deprive a child of medical care except when the
inaction stems from religious belief. (Michael W. Hoskins, Daily Journal, Internet, 7/2/04)
Gentle Wind Project
Mind Control Alleged
Former members of a Portsmouth, NH, non-profit called the Gentle Wind Project have
alleged that the organization was involved in group sex, mind control, extortion, child
neglect, and misappropriation of funds. Gentle Wind has replied by suing its accusers, Judy
Garvey and James Bergin, of Blue Hill, ME, who have taken out a mortgage on their home
to defend themselves while they continue to ―tell their stories‖ online. Garvey says alleged
―sexual rituals were primarily used to enforce the power and control of the cult leader over
participants.‖ Burgin said the group manipulated his family until they ended their
involvement four years ago.
Gentle Wind Project member Mary Miller says the organization is dedicated to education and
research aimed at ―alleviating human suffering and trauma‖ through what it calls ―healing
instruments.‖ These include a device that looks like a set of tuning forks, called a ―Puck-
Puck.‖ Says Miller: ―I know [it sounds a bit far-fetched], but we really have good research
evidence that shows the technology works well for some people — not all people. We‘re not
New Age wackos.‖
Other defendants in the Gentle Wind Project suit include Rick Ross and Steve Hassan [well-
know cult observers]. (Elizabeth Dinan, Portsmouth Herald, Internet, 7/23/04)
Gilbert Deya
Extradition of “Miracle Baby” Clergyman Sought
Kenya has asked Britain to extradite Gilbert Deya, a Kenyan minister of religion resident in
Britain who has been implicated in a ―child trafficking‖ scheme that apparently provides
kidnapped or ―lost‖ Kenyan infants to couples in England. Deya, claiming a following of
30,000 in major British cities, and more in Africa and Asia, says the ―miracle babies‖ were
produced by the power of prayer.
But the mothers do not seem to have given birth in British hospitals, or indeed anywhere.
Rather, their unrelated babies were delivered to them by third parties. One couple, Mr. and
Mrs. Odera, held a press conference to introduce 11 children between the ages of five and
two months who, they said, had been born to Mrs. Odera, 56, without sexual intercourse.
DNA tests on the children indicate, however, that not one is the biological offspring of the
Oderas.
Deya‘s wife, meanwhile, has been arrested in Nairobi for stealing a child from a Nairobi
maternity hospital. Police subsequently found nine more children at her home, although she
claims that they are her own.
Deya, who gained early note in Kenya as an exorcist-ritual healer, has defied Kenyan
authorities, warning President Kibaki and Attorney General Wako that their ―children and
grandchildren will die in the streets, the way you have left these holy children of Almighty
God to suffer and be humiliated throughout the streets of Kenya.‖
Kenyan journalist Gitau wa Nejnga says Deya inspires awe-struck belief in his mainly African
followers in Britain. ―They are brainwashed. He is a charismatic preacher. Most of the
communities in Kenya believe in witchcraft and miracles. You go to his website and you see
him with the Queen [of England] and you believe him.‖