40 ICSA TODAY 38
gave contradictory and misleading testimony. The patents
were assigned to a company in Spokane, Wash.—Global
Technologies, Inc.—and listed Raniere and three others as the
inventors, records show. The patents detailed technology to
allow teleconferencing over standard telephone lines while
users could exchange data and other electronic information
without interruption. ...The court awarded $300,295 to AT&T
and $143,719 to Microsoft in attorney fees and costs. The
appellate decision was handed down as Raniere remains in the
custody of U.S. marshals in an unrelated criminal case in which
he is charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit
forced labor. Raniere has been incarcerated without bond
since he was deported from Mexico on March 25 and taken
into custody by federal law enforcement officials in Texas. He is
being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn
a hearing in his case is scheduled to take place April 27. It’s
unclear if Raniere has financial assets to pay the penalty in
the civil case. The Justice Department said that for the past 18
months Raniere had been using a credit card and bank account
in the name of a former NXIVM associate and girlfriend, Pamela
Cafritz, who died in November 2016. Federal prosecutors said
the bank account has about $8 million, but have not said
whether they would move to seize the account.” (Albany Times
Union, 04/19/18)
Heiress takes over alleged sex cult after actress’s arrest
“Now that Smallville actress Allison Mack has been arrested on
sex trafficking and forced labour charges, the so-called sex cult
she allegedly helped create has a new leader, former insiders
say. Heiress to Canadian liquor fortune Clare Bronfman is
now in charge of an estimated dozen or more ‘slaves’ spread
between New York and Toronto, according to former N[XIVM]
publicist Frank Parlato—though that could potentially
change if Mack is granted bail this week. The alleged sex cult
is an offshoot of N[XIVM], a pyramid-like self-help organization
founded by Keith Raniere. Women recruited into the secret
group were branded with Mack and Raniere’s initials and
allegedly blackmailed into unwanted sex. Women were then
required to recruit more ‘slaves’ into the group, which at one
point boasted more than 50 members. ...Raniere claims
to have one of the highest IQ scores on Earth and requires
students to call him ‘Vanguard’ and bow to him. He was
arrested in late March on sex trafficking and forced labour
charges and was not granted bail. According to a criminal
complaint and US prosecutor statements this week, Mack
helped ‘groom’ women for sex with Raniere. Her ‘slaves’ are
required to hand over naked photos as ‘collateral’ which they
believed would be released if they spoke out about the group.
The women are also kept on near-starvation diets and coerced
into free labour at all hours of the night and day—a practice
Parlato says has eased slightly in Raniere’s absence. ...Mack will
find out early this week whether or not she will be released on
bail. US prosecutors have asked for ‘substantial secured bond’
as well as house arrest and electronic monitoring ‘given the
serious risk of flight and danger to the community that the
defendant poses.’” (VICE News, 04/23/18)
Judge denies bail for founder of alleged sex cult
“A federal judge in New York has denied bail for an alleged sex
cult founder in his sex-trafficking case after questions were
raised about an heiress who has bankrolled him. Lawyers
for Keith Raniere had sought his release on Tuesday on $10
million bond, but the judge sided with prosecutors who
argued he could flee with the help of benefactors known to
include Clare Bronfman, an heiress to the Seagram’s liquor
fortune. Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza labeled a person
fitting the description of Bronfman as a co-conspirator in the
case.” (NBC News, 6/12/18)
NXIVM suspending all operations
“NXIVM announced it is suspending all operations until further
notice. The Capital Region cult says it will be in touch with
more information for anyone currently enrolled in upcoming
events and programs. ‘While we are disappointed by the
interruption of our operations, we believe it is warranted by
the extraordinary circumstances facing the company at this
time. We continue to believe in the value and importance of
our work and look forward to resuming our efforts when these
allegations are resolved.’ Actress Allison Mack, 35, of Brooklyn,
N.Y., is facing trafficking charges for her involvement in NXIVM.
Keith Raniere, 57, of Waterford, N.Y., is the leader of the cult
that masquerades as a self-[help] group, was arraigned on
similar charges. According to NXIVM, the company’s mission
is to ‘raise human awareness, foster an ethical humanitarian
civilization, and celebrate what it means to be human.’” (News
10, 6/12/18)
Scientology exhibit at city hall draws criticism
“Scientology books and iconography sat in an interfaith
display case in Edmonton’s city hall last Thursday. The religion,
which has seen controversy in some countries and that was
founded… by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has
a church in Edmonton [Canada], and is a member of the
interfaith group that runs the space in a partnership with
the city. However, when an image of the display surfaced
on the city’s subreddit, users quickly took exception to
Scientology’s inclusion in the government building. … The
Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action counts
around a dozen religions—Indigenous religions, Sikhism,
Christianity, Scientology, etc.—as members. Each member
gets around a month to showcase their faith in the cabinet,
which has been used in this capacity for around 12 years,
says John Dowds, chaplain with the City of Edmonton. ...
According to its coordinator Netta Phillet, the Interfaith
Centre requires [that] a member religion be 50 years old,
have existed in Edmonton for 25 years, [and] be practiced
on three continents—Scientology meets all these criteria.
Additionally, members need to be a recognized religion in
Canada, and cannot promote hatred, Dowds says. While Phillet
has heard concerns about Scientology before, she says that
all religions in the world have a sordid history, and the centre
practices inclusion, not exclusion. ...Sociology professor at the
University of Alberta, Steven Kent has researched the Church

41 VOLUME 9 |ISSUE 3 |2018
of Scientology since the early 1980s, and suggests that the
city allowing a group that does not have recognized charity
status in Canada—as many religions do—could ‘open the
doors’ for other groups ‘of questionable legitimacy.’ ...Revenue
Canada’s website currently does not show Scientology as a
registered charitable organization in the country. A written
response from Edmonton’s Church of Scientology casts doubt
on Kent’s academic standing and honesty, in regards to the
denomination, and [states that] that the church is a registered
religion in Canada, and, indeed, meets all the criteria to be
included in the Interfaith Centre. Further, it supports the
statements made from the city and the Interfaith Centre about
their inclusion in the group, and says that singling out the
religion is ‘pure bigotry.’” (VueWeekly, 03/29/18)
FSB officers raid St. Petersburg Church of Scientology
“Searches are conducted at the premises of the Church
of Scientology of St. Petersburg, the press service of
Federal Security Service’s (FSB) regional directorate reports
Wednesday. The raids are directed to identifying more items
and documents confirming the criminality of the religious
organization leaders’ actions, according to the statement. ...
According to investigators, from 2013 to 2016, the organization
received over 276 million rubles (about $5 million) for
rendering its services. However, the Church of Scientology of
St. Petersburg has not been incorporated under the law, an FSB
representative said in court earlier. Dianetics and Scientology
are a set of religious and philosophical ideas and practices
that were put forth by L. Ron Hubbard in the US in the early
1950s. ...The Moscow Regional Court ruled in 2012 that some
of Hubbard’s books be included on the Federal List of Extremist
Literature and prohibited from distribution in Russia.” (Rapsi,
03/28/18)
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath renewed
“Leah Remini’s A&E documentary series, Leah Remini:
Scientology and the Aftermath, has been renewed for a third
season. Scientology and the Aftermath, launched in 2016,
features the actress who previously defected from the religion,
sharing stories of abuse, misconduct and retribution within
the organization. Remini co-stars on the series with former
high-ranking Scientology official Mike Rinder. ...‘We’ve
been getting an overwhelming amount of emails and people
contacting us through [social media] about other cults that are
similar [to Scientology], so I’m looking into that,’ she said. A&E’s
third season renewal comes after the Church of Scientology
recently launched their own network dedicated to the religion,
Scientology TV. The Monday launch featured a rare appearance
from leader David Miscavige.” (UPI, 03/15/18)
Scientology unveils network launch set for Monday
“The Church of Scientology on Sunday surprised the media
business by unveiling its plan to launch the Scientology
Network on platforms including DirecTV, Apple and Amazon
starting Monday. Scientology distributed a ‘network
countdown’ video Sunday afternoon via social media touting
the launch of ‘a new voice, a new network’ at 8 p.m. ET
on March 12. The two-minute video obliquely references
Scientology’s battered reputation after numerous exposes
about the church’s practices and tactics in dealing with those
who leave their orbit. ...Scientology promises the channel will
be available on Apple TV, iTunes, Roku, DirecTV, Chromecast
and Google Play, and Amazon’s Fire TV. A rep for DirecTV and
others did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The recent focus on the National Rif[l]e Assn. and gun
control laws in the wake of last month’s high school shooting
massacre in Parkland, Fla., has raised public awareness of
the growing number of corporately owned channels that
are gaining distribution on startup OTT platforms hungry for
content. Apple and Amazon have come under fire for carrying
the NRA TV channel that promotes gun ownership and the
lobbying org’s legislative agenda with numerous programs
done in the vein of traditional unscripted reality shows. ...The
grave concerns raised about Scientology’s practices and the
conduct of its leaders will also undoubtedly lead to pressure
from activists on distributors who agree to carry Scientology
Network.” (Variety, 03/11/18)
“Supreme Being,” formerly of Kansas City, Kansas, must pay
$8 million to woman for human trafficking
“A woman who spent 10 years toiling without pay for a Kansas
City, Kan., religious group has won an $8 million judgment
against the group and its leader. U.S. District Judge Daniel
Crabtree issued a 57-page ruling Wednesday, finding that
Kendra Ross was the victim of human trafficking at the hands
of Royall Jenkins and his group, which calls itself The Value
Creators. Crabtree, who referred to the group as a cult, found
that Ross was subjected to physical and emotional abuse and
years of ‘humiliating and degrading treatment.’” (Kansas City
Star, 5/24/18)
European court upholds German move to take kids from
sect
“The European Court of Human Rights has upheld Germany’s
decision to take away the children of families in a Christian
sect to protect them from being disciplined by caning. The
Strasbourg court said Thursday it found no violation of
European rules protecting four families’ right to respect for
private and family life. It said Germany’s decision to remove
the eight children in 2013 from members of the ‘Twelve
Tribes’ sect in Bavaria was justified by the ‘risk of inhuman or
degrading treatment.’ It noted that ‘the parents had remained
convinced during the proceedings that corporal punishment
was acceptable’ and that German authorities concluded ‘they
had had no other option available to them to protect the
children.’ The sect was founded by a Tennessee high school
teacher in the 1970s.” (The Associated Press, 03/22/18)