38 ICSA TODAY 36
determined that blood transfusions were medically necessary.
Hospital staff called the Maricopa County Superior Court
hotline multiple times from October through December
last year to seek authorization for the blood transfusions.
The court granted three of five requests, according to court
documents. The parents filed a petition with the Arizona
Court of Appeals seeking to halt the transfusions. ...In an
opinion written by Judge Kenton D. Jones, the appellate court
concluded that the question of whether the lower court had
jurisdiction to OK emergency medical treatment was one ‘of
significant statewide importance.’ Jones noted that Arizona
law allows a Juvenile Court that has jurisdiction over a child
to order a parent or guardian to get medical treatment
for a child. However, the appellate court did not find any
such jurisdiction for a Superior Court emergency hotline. ...
Representatives of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of
New York, which filed a legal brief on behalf of the parents,
did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
A Jehovah’s Witnesses website said the religion considers
blood transfusions a ‘religious issue rather than a medical
one,’ citing multiple biblical passages. Patients who develop
certain types of cancer, such as leukemia, often require blood
transfusions as a part of treatment.” (The Republic, 04/04/18)
Nearly 300 reports of sexual abuse among Dutch
Jehovah’s Witnesses
“The number of reports of sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s
Witnesses now stands at 267, Reclaimed Voices, a foundation
that manages the hotline for this type of abuse, said to
newspaper Trouw. Reclaimed Voices was established last year
after Trouw published the stories of a number of Jehovah’s
Witnesses who were abused during their youth. One victim
called the religious group a ‘paradise for pedophiles,’ because
the Jehovah’s Witnesses elders tend to keep sexual abuse
quiet. In the first week of its existence, the hotline received
nearly 50 sexual abuse reports. According to the newspaper,
the victims of sexual abuse asked the Jehovah’s Witnesses
elders for a meeting to discuss this abuse six months ago, but
still haven’t heard anything. This has a big affect [sic] on the
victims, Frank Huiting of Reclaimed Voices said to Trouw. ‘They
are angry, they haven’t known where they stand for some
time and feel disappointed about the entire process. They still
aren’t being heard, is what it comes down to.’ Minister Sander
Dekker for Legal Protection also instructed the leaders of the
Jehovah’s Witnesses to start a conversation with the victims.”
(NL Times, 05/02/18)
Doomsday cult leader in central Utah pleads guilty to
child bigamy, sodomy charges
“The leader of a doomsday cult in central Utah has struck a
plea deal with prosecutors. John Alvin Coltharp, 34, pleaded
guilty to felony charges of child bigamy and sodomy. In
exchange, prosecutors dismissed charges of kidnapping and
obstruction of justice. ‘I plead guilty,’ Coltharp told the judge
to both charges. Prosecutors allege Coltharp is a member of
the ‘Knights of the Crystal Blade,’ a small apocalyptic-based
group near Spring City with about a half-dozen members.”
(Fox 13 News, 6/13/18)
Mindfulness meditation impairs task motivation but not
performance
“A state of mindfulness is characterized by focused,
nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment. The
current research experimentally investigated how state
mindfulness influences task motivation and performance,
using multiple meditation inductions, comparison
conditions, tasks, and participant samples. Mindfulness
inductions, relative to comparison conditions, reduced
motivation to tackle mundane tasks (Experiments 1–4)
and pleasant tasks (Experiment 2). Decreased future focus
and decreased arousal serially mediated the demotivating
effect of mindfulness (Experiments 3 and 4). In contrast
to changes in motivation, inducing a state of mindfulness
did not affect task performance, as seen in all experiments
but one (Experiments 2–5). Meta-analyses of performance
experiments, including unreported findings (i.e., the file
drawer), supported these conclusions. Experiment 5’s serial
medi[t]ation showed that mindfulness enabled people
to detach from stressors, which improved task focus.
When combined with mindfulness’s demotivating effects,
these results help explain why mindfulness does not alter
performance.” [Hafenbrack, A.C., &Vohs, K. D. (July 2018).
Mindfulness meditation impairs task motivation but not
performance, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, 147, 1–15.] (Science Direct, 5/23/18)
NXIVM cofounder arrested, charged in federal complaint
“Keith Raniere, the co-founder of the NXIVM corporation,
a secretive Colonie-based organization that an expert has
called an ‘extreme cult,’ was arrested in Mexico this week by
the FBI based on a federal criminal complaint filed in the
Eastern District of New York. The complaint, filed recently in
connection with an ongoing federal grand jury investigation
being headed by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn,
charges Raniere with multiple counts of sex trafficking and
forced labor. ...The federal court filings cast Raniere as a
manipulative figure who overstated his intelligence and
systematically exploited women, including creating a secret
slave-master sex club within NXIVM. … Federal prosecutors,
in pressing their case to have Raniere held without bond, said
he ‘has spent his life profiting from his pyramid schemes and
has otherwise received financial backing from independently
wealthy women.’
...Raniere, in statements previously posted on NXIVM’s
website, had characterized the slave-master group as a
consenting, private ‘sorority’ and he said that he and the
corporation had no role in it. But the federal complaint said
that emails seized from Raniere’s private messaging accounts
‘support the conclusion that Raniere created’ the club, which
was known as ‘Dominus Obsequious Sororium,’ which
means ‘Master Over the Slave Women.’ ...The federal criminal
complaint filed against Raniere said the slaves understood
that if they left the club, publicly spoke about it, or failed in

39 VOLUME 9 |ISSUE 3 |2018
their obligations, their collateral could be released. ‘Some of
the masters gave their slaves assignments that either directly
or implicitly required them to have sex with Raniere, which
they then did,’ the complaint states. ‘Other assignments
appeared designed to groom slaves sexually for Raniere.’
...Copies of some of the American Express credit card
statements associated with that account, which belonged to
Pamela Anne Cafritz, who died in November 2016, indicate
there were numerous purchases made with that card after
her death. The statements, shared with the Times Union last
year, indicate the account was used to make purchases from
iTunes and Amazon, as well as to make payments to a Saratoga
Springs chiropractor. ...The Times Union reported in December
that the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation is also
examining NXIVM’s business dealings, including its practice
of recruiting members from abroad. A federal grand jury
empaneled in Brooklyn has been reviewing evidence in the
case, according to people who testified before the panel.
Among those who provided testimony are women who
claimed they were lured into the secret club that required
them to consent to being branded.
...On Sunday, the Times Union reported that New York Attorney
General Eric Schneiderman’s office is investigating a nonprofit
foundation associated with NXIVM that allegedly sponsored
brain-activity and other human behavioral studies without any
apparent oversight, according to court records. The nonprofit
Ethical Science Foundation was formed in 2007 by [Clare]
Bronfman, who owns a horse farm in Delanson and is listed in
public records as the trustee and donor of the foundation. A
state Supreme Court justice recently signed an order directing
Bronfman and Dr. Brandon B. Porter, who is involved with
NXIVM and conducted the human studies, to turn over all
documentation associated with the research, including any
written communications, videos, conclusions, consent forms
and the names and addresses of ‘individuals associated with
Ethical Science Foundation who participated in any manner
with the studies.’”(Albany Times Union, 03/26/18)
AG suspends probe of NXIVM nonprofit
“The state attorney general’s office has suspended its
investigation of a nonprofit foundation associated with the
NXIVM corporation due to an ongoing federal criminal probe
of the organization. The attorney general’s office notified a
state Supreme Court justice last week that its case against
Clare W. Bronfman and Dr. Brandon Porter, who are both
associated with a foundation that conducted brain-activity
studies on behalf of NXIVM, will be put on hold temporarily.
The notification was made a day before Porter and Bronfman
had been ordered to produce documents in the case. ...The
state investigation focused on the nonprofit Ethical Science
Foundation that was formed in 2007 by Bronfman, an heiress
of the Seagram Co. business empire who has described herself
as the operations director of NXIVM. Bronfman is listed in
public records as the trustee and donor of the Ethical Science
Foundation. Internal Revenue Service records indicate the
Ethical Science Foundation acquired more than $145,000
worth of computers, medical equipment and brain-activity
monitors several years ago. ...The criminal charges accuse
[Keith] Raniere of organizing a secret group within NXIVM
in 2015 in which women were lured into a slave-master
club and some were allegedly coerced into having sex with
Raniere. NXIVM issued a public statement last year denying
any connection between the secret club and Raniere or NXIVM,
but federal prosecutors allege Raniere founded the club,
in which multiple women were branded with the initials of
Raniere and Allison Mack, an actress and Raniere’s confidante.
The state Health Department faced scrutiny last year when
it was reported that the agency had brushed off complaints
about the brain studies and the branding, which was done by
a licensed medical doctor, Danielle Roberts, associated with
NXIVM.” (Albany Times Union, 04/09/18)
Smallville actor arrested in connection with alleged sex cult
“[Allison] Mack, who played Chloe on the superhero show,
is due to appear in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Friday.
She was arrested by the FBI, but as of this writing it’s unclear
what charges she faces. It’s expected that they’ll be related to
recruitment of women into the group, and potentially aiding
in organizing NXIVM (pronounced ‘Nexium’). ...According to
the filed complaint, [Keith] Raniere (who was known in the
group as ‘The Vanguard’) oversaw the functioning of NXIVM,
which operated under an archaic system: women were told
the best way to advance was to become a ‘slave’ watched over
by ‘masters.’ ...Raniere, 57, posted an open letter to the NXIVM
website, ruing ‘the picture being painted in the media’ about
his group and denying any accusations levied against him. ...
Investigators said Raniere preferred exceptionally thin women,
so ‘slaves’ had to stick to very low-calorie diets and document
every food they ate. As punishment for not following orders,
women were forced to attend classes where they were ‘forced
to wear fake cow udders over their breasts while people
called them derogatory names,’ or threatened with being put
in cages, court papers say. ...Raniere and NXIVM have been
the subject of criticism for years, dating back to at least 2012
when the Times Union of Albany published a series of articles
examining the organization and allegations that it was like
a cult. Other rumoured celebrity members include former
Battlestar Galactica star Nicki Clyne and Canadian actor Kristen
Kreuk. Clyne has not commented publicly on her involvement,
while Kreuk did confirm her affiliation with NXIVM in the past,
though she emphasized that she had ‘minimal contact’ with
the group after she left it five years ago.” (Entertainment Global
News, 04/20/18)
Court orders Raniere to pay $444,000 in legal fees
“A federal appeals court in Texas has ordered NXIVM founder
Keith Raniere to pay more than $444,000 in attorneys’ fees
to AT&T and Microsoft in a case in which he claimed the
companies had marketed teleconferencing services using
technology from patents that he owned. A federal judge
threw out the case last year and ordered Raniere to pay the
two companies’ legal fees after finding that Raniere offered
no evidence that he owned the patents and allegedly