30 ICSA TODAY 28
As a service to members, the ICSA News Desk sends out,
approximately once a week, an email that contains a noteworthy
article. If you have not signed up to receive the News Desk email,
please write ICSA at mail@icsamail.com In each ICSA Today issue,
the News Desk provides summaries and excerpts from recent
news articles. These articles are available to members in the ICSA
E-Library.
High court says ex-Aum cult member not guilty in parcel
bombing
Naoko Kikuchi, a 43-year-old former member of Aum
Shinrikyo, was released from prison after being found not
guilty of a 1995 parcel bombing at the Tokyo metro government
building. The Tokyo High Court overruled a lower court sentence
of 5 years’ imprisonment. In May of 1995, the parcel bomb was
sent to disrupt a police investigation and prevent an arrest of
the founder of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, Chizuo Matsumoto. The
defense counsel claimed that Kikuchi didn’t have any idea that
the chemicals that she took to the cult’s hideout were going to
be used to harm anyone. “A number of Aum members including
Asahara have been found guilty in a series of crimes, including
a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in March 1995
that killed 13 people and made more than 6,000 others ill.”
(Japan Today, 11/27/15)
Montenegro’s deportation of Japanese cult leaves
unanswered questions
In Montenegro, 43 Russians, seven Belarusians, four Japanese,
three people from Ukraine, and one person from Uzbekistan
are reportedly members of the terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo.
The individuals have been deported for lacking temporary-
residence permits that would allow them to reside in the Balkan
nation. The members of the group told police that they were in
Montenegro as tourists. No arrests were made the individuals
were just deported. (Deutsche Welle, 03/29/16)
Mass raids, arrests target followers of Aum Shinrikyo in
Russia
“Russian police have raided 25 premises linked to the Japanese
Aum Shinrikyo cult in Moscow and St. Petersburg, detaining
several members. This comes after authorities in Montenegro
deported 58 suspected cult followers, 44 of them to be sent to
Russia. The raids targeted the homes and places of worship of
suspected cultists of Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday religion that is
banned in Russia.” (RT, 4/5/16)
New charges allege religious leader with ties to the Duggars
sexually abused women
“Ten women on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Bill Gothard,
who for decades was a major force in the conservative Christian
homeschooling movement, charging him and leaders in his
ministry with sexual abuse, harassment and cover-up. Gothard,
who urged Christians to shun things like short skirts and rock
music, is accused of raping a woman. The same woman says
she was raped by one of the ministry’s ‘biblical counselors.’ The
lawsuit is part of a battle between dozens of women and the
Institute in Basic Life Principles, which was until recently
an influential homeschooling ministry, and its charismatic
leader Gothard, who urged Christians to focus on their ‘biblical
character’ and have large families. Gothard has never been
married. Gothard, 81, resigned from the ministry in 2014 after
more than 30 women had alleged that he had molested and
sexually harassed women he worked with, including some
who were minors.” Gothard denied the charges. “Gothard’s
ministry was once a popular gathering spot for thousands of
conservative Christian families, including the Duggar family
from TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting. Gothard’s Advanced Training
Institute conferences, where families would learn from Gothard’s
teaching, were popular among homeschooling families. He has
also rubbed shoulders with Republican luminaries like former
Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.” (The Washington Post,
1/6/16)
Victims of German pedophile sect in Chile seek justice
Winfried Hempel, 38, escaped the group Colonia Dignidad 18
years ago and now is a lawyer heading a lawsuit against the
German and Chilean states for the suffering that members went
through in the group. Hempel says both countries allowed the
abuse to happen at the ironically named Dignity Camp, founded
by Paul Schaefer, a German later convicted as a pedophile.
Schaefer and a group of fellow German immigrants founded
Colonia Dignidad in 1961. Hempel says that the group is “one
of the worst sects that have existed in the history of humanity.”
Hempel “is bringing a joint lawsuit on behalf of 120 former
residents of the colony who blame the Chilean state for allowing
it to operate for years, during which time they say numerous
victims were abused and enslaved.” In one case, “he is seeking
$1.0 million from the Chilean state in compensation for each
victim. ..He is bringing a parallel case against Germany” for
“negligently failing to help its nationals” whom the colony
abused. Gabriel Rodriguez, who lives in a nearby village, was
held in Colonia Dignidad for a week as a prisoner of the Pinochet
regime. Rodriguez said that “promoting tourism in a place
whose memory is one of death, torture, slavery and mutilation
seems to me an aberration ...It is an insult to the memory of
those who suffered and died there.” (NDTV, 01/27/16)
“Spanking pastor” facing jail after being found guilty of
sexual assault
Howard Curtis, 73, former senior minister at Coulsdon
Christian Fellowship (CCF), “spanked ‘completely naked’
women in his congregation as part of a doctrine known as
‘Christian Domestic Discipline.’ ...During a trial at Croydon
Crown Court, Curtis claimed the assaults—which included
‘hitting or tapping his victims in the genitals’—formed part of
a mental health treatment inspired by a ‘spiritual’ interpretation
of the Bible. ...a jury [has] unanimously found Mr. Curtis guilty
of seven counts of sexually assaulting a female and one count of
child cruelty during his time at the CCF between the early 1980s
News Desk
As a service to members, the ICSA News Desk sends out,
approximately once a week, an email that contains a noteworthy
article. If you have not signed up to receive the News Desk email,
please write ICSA at mail@icsamail.com In each ICSA Today issue,
the News Desk provides summaries and excerpts from recent
news articles. These articles are available to members in the ICSA
E-Library.
High court says ex-Aum cult member not guilty in parcel
bombing
Naoko Kikuchi, a 43-year-old former member of Aum
Shinrikyo, was released from prison after being found not
guilty of a 1995 parcel bombing at the Tokyo metro government
building. The Tokyo High Court overruled a lower court sentence
of 5 years’ imprisonment. In May of 1995, the parcel bomb was
sent to disrupt a police investigation and prevent an arrest of
the founder of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, Chizuo Matsumoto. The
defense counsel claimed that Kikuchi didn’t have any idea that
the chemicals that she took to the cult’s hideout were going to
be used to harm anyone. “A number of Aum members including
Asahara have been found guilty in a series of crimes, including
a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in March 1995
that killed 13 people and made more than 6,000 others ill.”
(Japan Today, 11/27/15)
Montenegro’s deportation of Japanese cult leaves
unanswered questions
In Montenegro, 43 Russians, seven Belarusians, four Japanese,
three people from Ukraine, and one person from Uzbekistan
are reportedly members of the terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo.
The individuals have been deported for lacking temporary-
residence permits that would allow them to reside in the Balkan
nation. The members of the group told police that they were in
Montenegro as tourists. No arrests were made the individuals
were just deported. (Deutsche Welle, 03/29/16)
Mass raids, arrests target followers of Aum Shinrikyo in
Russia
“Russian police have raided 25 premises linked to the Japanese
Aum Shinrikyo cult in Moscow and St. Petersburg, detaining
several members. This comes after authorities in Montenegro
deported 58 suspected cult followers, 44 of them to be sent to
Russia. The raids targeted the homes and places of worship of
suspected cultists of Aum Shinrikyo, a doomsday religion that is
banned in Russia.” (RT, 4/5/16)
New charges allege religious leader with ties to the Duggars
sexually abused women
“Ten women on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Bill Gothard,
who for decades was a major force in the conservative Christian
homeschooling movement, charging him and leaders in his
ministry with sexual abuse, harassment and cover-up. Gothard,
who urged Christians to shun things like short skirts and rock
music, is accused of raping a woman. The same woman says
she was raped by one of the ministry’s ‘biblical counselors.’ The
lawsuit is part of a battle between dozens of women and the
Institute in Basic Life Principles, which was until recently
an influential homeschooling ministry, and its charismatic
leader Gothard, who urged Christians to focus on their ‘biblical
character’ and have large families. Gothard has never been
married. Gothard, 81, resigned from the ministry in 2014 after
more than 30 women had alleged that he had molested and
sexually harassed women he worked with, including some
who were minors.” Gothard denied the charges. “Gothard’s
ministry was once a popular gathering spot for thousands of
conservative Christian families, including the Duggar family
from TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting. Gothard’s Advanced Training
Institute conferences, where families would learn from Gothard’s
teaching, were popular among homeschooling families. He has
also rubbed shoulders with Republican luminaries like former
Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.” (The Washington Post,
1/6/16)
Victims of German pedophile sect in Chile seek justice
Winfried Hempel, 38, escaped the group Colonia Dignidad 18
years ago and now is a lawyer heading a lawsuit against the
German and Chilean states for the suffering that members went
through in the group. Hempel says both countries allowed the
abuse to happen at the ironically named Dignity Camp, founded
by Paul Schaefer, a German later convicted as a pedophile.
Schaefer and a group of fellow German immigrants founded
Colonia Dignidad in 1961. Hempel says that the group is “one
of the worst sects that have existed in the history of humanity.”
Hempel “is bringing a joint lawsuit on behalf of 120 former
residents of the colony who blame the Chilean state for allowing
it to operate for years, during which time they say numerous
victims were abused and enslaved.” In one case, “he is seeking
$1.0 million from the Chilean state in compensation for each
victim. ..He is bringing a parallel case against Germany” for
“negligently failing to help its nationals” whom the colony
abused. Gabriel Rodriguez, who lives in a nearby village, was
held in Colonia Dignidad for a week as a prisoner of the Pinochet
regime. Rodriguez said that “promoting tourism in a place
whose memory is one of death, torture, slavery and mutilation
seems to me an aberration ...It is an insult to the memory of
those who suffered and died there.” (NDTV, 01/27/16)
“Spanking pastor” facing jail after being found guilty of
sexual assault
Howard Curtis, 73, former senior minister at Coulsdon
Christian Fellowship (CCF), “spanked ‘completely naked’
women in his congregation as part of a doctrine known as
‘Christian Domestic Discipline.’ ...During a trial at Croydon
Crown Court, Curtis claimed the assaults—which included
‘hitting or tapping his victims in the genitals’—formed part of
a mental health treatment inspired by a ‘spiritual’ interpretation
of the Bible. ...a jury [has] unanimously found Mr. Curtis guilty
of seven counts of sexually assaulting a female and one count of
child cruelty during his time at the CCF between the early 1980s
News Desk
