Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2006, Page 41
whom she‘d been corresponding. After two months away, she called to say that the
practitioner headed a religious sect that was keeping her captive and ritually beating her.
Chapel Hill Harvester Church
Former leaders of Bishop Earl Paulk’s Chapel Hill Harvester Church, in DeKalb, GA,
have filed a sexual misconduct suit against him, and a judge has ruled that he must face
questioning in the matter. Mona and Bobby Brewer allege that he coerced Mona into an
affair that lasted 14 years. Paulk has faced such charges three other times in his career. He
was accused in 1992 by his former ghostwriter of manipulating her into a sexual
relationship, and in 2001 he settled out of court with a former liturgical dancer who said he
molested her when she was between the ages of seven and 11 and later as a teenager.
Charles Manson/Leslie Van Houten
The California parole board has refused, for the fifteenth time, to release Leslie Van Houten,
convicted in two of the murders committed by Charles Manson‘s cult in 1969. The two-
member panel praised Van Houton‘s spotless disciplinary record, and her work tutoring
fellow inmates, adding that they would review her case once again next year.
Christ of the Hills Monastery
An investigation into alleged criminal sexual activity at Christ of the Hills Monastery, in
Blanco Hills, TX, now includes a probe into allegations that the ―weeping icon,‖ a supposed
―miracle of God,‖ is a fraud that the monks perpetrated in order to gather donations to
preserve the area where they say the miracle took place.
Church of Cognizance
Founders Dan and Mary Quaintance have stepped down as leaders of Arizona‘s Church of
Cognizance, which uses marijuana as a sacrament. They say pending federal criminal
charges over use of the drug make it impossible to fulfill their roles. Church lawyers say the
charges should be dropped in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that New
Mexico had no right to seize the hallucinogens used in the rites of a church there. But
prosecutors question the Quaintances‘ sincerity. Arizona has in the past prosecuted
Cognizance members, and some have served time in prison, but none of their cases has
been considered by federal courts. The church has 72 ―monasteries‖ in members‘ homes
nationwide. They don‘t grow the marijuana themselves but rely on deliveries from church
―couriers.‖
Church of the Lamb of God
Jacqueline LeBaron, daughter of the late leader of the polygamous Church of the Lamb
of God, has been put on the FBI‘s ―Most Wanted‖ list. She is suspected of involvement in a
number of murders and suspicious deaths of persons on a hit list made up before the death
of her father, who was convicted of murdering a rival and sentenced to prison, where he
died in 1981. Renewed interest in her arose recently when Texas authorities received new
information about her, reportedly from a half brother, who says he found Jesus in prison.
Colonia Dignidad
The recently discovered recording of a 1985 phone conversation among leaders of Colonia
Dignidad suggests that the group conspired with the Pinochet dictatorship in the detention
and death of Penn State professor Boris Weisfeiler, a Russian-born U.S. citizen who
disappeared while hiking in Chile. Weisfeiler‘s sister, who has spent two decades trying to
find out what happened to her brother, has been assisted lately by her Congressman,
Barney Frank, of Massachusetts. The last lead in the case dates to 1987 when a Chilean
military informant told U.S. embassy officials that he was part of a patrol that arrested a
whom she‘d been corresponding. After two months away, she called to say that the
practitioner headed a religious sect that was keeping her captive and ritually beating her.
Chapel Hill Harvester Church
Former leaders of Bishop Earl Paulk’s Chapel Hill Harvester Church, in DeKalb, GA,
have filed a sexual misconduct suit against him, and a judge has ruled that he must face
questioning in the matter. Mona and Bobby Brewer allege that he coerced Mona into an
affair that lasted 14 years. Paulk has faced such charges three other times in his career. He
was accused in 1992 by his former ghostwriter of manipulating her into a sexual
relationship, and in 2001 he settled out of court with a former liturgical dancer who said he
molested her when she was between the ages of seven and 11 and later as a teenager.
Charles Manson/Leslie Van Houten
The California parole board has refused, for the fifteenth time, to release Leslie Van Houten,
convicted in two of the murders committed by Charles Manson‘s cult in 1969. The two-
member panel praised Van Houton‘s spotless disciplinary record, and her work tutoring
fellow inmates, adding that they would review her case once again next year.
Christ of the Hills Monastery
An investigation into alleged criminal sexual activity at Christ of the Hills Monastery, in
Blanco Hills, TX, now includes a probe into allegations that the ―weeping icon,‖ a supposed
―miracle of God,‖ is a fraud that the monks perpetrated in order to gather donations to
preserve the area where they say the miracle took place.
Church of Cognizance
Founders Dan and Mary Quaintance have stepped down as leaders of Arizona‘s Church of
Cognizance, which uses marijuana as a sacrament. They say pending federal criminal
charges over use of the drug make it impossible to fulfill their roles. Church lawyers say the
charges should be dropped in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that New
Mexico had no right to seize the hallucinogens used in the rites of a church there. But
prosecutors question the Quaintances‘ sincerity. Arizona has in the past prosecuted
Cognizance members, and some have served time in prison, but none of their cases has
been considered by federal courts. The church has 72 ―monasteries‖ in members‘ homes
nationwide. They don‘t grow the marijuana themselves but rely on deliveries from church
―couriers.‖
Church of the Lamb of God
Jacqueline LeBaron, daughter of the late leader of the polygamous Church of the Lamb
of God, has been put on the FBI‘s ―Most Wanted‖ list. She is suspected of involvement in a
number of murders and suspicious deaths of persons on a hit list made up before the death
of her father, who was convicted of murdering a rival and sentenced to prison, where he
died in 1981. Renewed interest in her arose recently when Texas authorities received new
information about her, reportedly from a half brother, who says he found Jesus in prison.
Colonia Dignidad
The recently discovered recording of a 1985 phone conversation among leaders of Colonia
Dignidad suggests that the group conspired with the Pinochet dictatorship in the detention
and death of Penn State professor Boris Weisfeiler, a Russian-born U.S. citizen who
disappeared while hiking in Chile. Weisfeiler‘s sister, who has spent two decades trying to
find out what happened to her brother, has been assisted lately by her Congressman,
Barney Frank, of Massachusetts. The last lead in the case dates to 1987 when a Chilean
military informant told U.S. embassy officials that he was part of a patrol that arrested a
