34 ICSA TODAY 32
getting caught.” Prosecutors have asked judges to keep the
following men in custody, arguing they are likely to flee and try
to hide in the group's elaborate network of houses throughout
the United States, Mexico, and Canada: Lyle Jeffs, who runs
day-to-day operations in the community by carrying out orders
from his imprisoned brother Warren Jeffs Seth Jeffs, another
brother who runs the group’s South Dakota compound John
Wayman, a confidant of Warren Jeffs who handles legal and
tax issues and Nephi Steed Allred, an accountant who set up
corporations and helped move around the group’s money.
Prosecutors say the polygamists likely would use aliases,
disguises, false identification, and prepaid cellphones to avoid
being caught—just as Warren Jeffs did in the mid-2000s. (ABC
News, 02/27/16)
Fraud arrests may be turning point for FLDS
In Hildale, Utah, Andrew Chatwin, former member of the
FLDS, watches as police and agents surround an FLDS outpost
he says he’s been waiting for this moment. “According to
prosecutors, the businesses were key players in a high-desert
conspiracy that siphoned millions of dollars in food-stamp
benefits from the pockets of American families to bank
accounts controlled by the polygamist sect, whose leaders—
most prominently, the jailed Warren Jeffs—follow a self-styled
form of Mormonism and dictate where followers live, how
much they eat and whom they marry. ..The arrests are only
part of the legal troubles confronting the sect and its home-
base communities, accused in a federal civil rights trial in
Phoenix of denying housing, utilities, and adequate policing
to nonbelievers. In closing arguments. ..,the defense argued
that the government was using the towns as scapegoats to
seek revenge against a religion it abhors.” (The New York Times,
03/2/16)
Alberta toddler’s meningitis death a warning to parents
who spurn conventional treatments
In Alberta, Canada, Ezekiel Stephan was only 19 months old
when he passed away from meningitis. His parents, David
and Collet Stephan, refused to take their son to seek medical
attention. Instead they tried natural home remedies and took
him to see a naturopath. A nurse at Lethbridge Naturopath
Clinic told them to take Ezekiel to see a doctor because she
feared he had viral meningitis. Medical ethicist Arthur Caplan
says Ezekiel’s slow and tragic death is an example “of the harm
alternative medicine does” and that the child suffered for his
parents’ beliefs. The couple finally called 911 after their son
stopped breathing. Ezekiel was airlifted to Alberta Children’s
Hospital in Calgary and died 5 days later after being taken off
of life support. David and Collet Stephan have pleaded not
guilty in the death of their son and say they did all they could.
They now stand trial and are awaiting a verdict. (National Post,
03/10/16)
Woman says refusal to learn Scientology got her fired
Annie R. Lee is suing her former Pasadena, California-based
employer, Lusida Rubber Products Inc., and two company
executives, Wayne Chin and William Johonnesson. Annie
worked with the company from June through December
2015 as a customer-service representative. Her lawsuit
claims religious discrimination, failure to prevent religious
discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination. Annie
alleges that she was forced to take a required 30-minute class
based on the Church of Scientology teachings of L. Ron
Hubbard. The courses were initially given three times a week
and then became almost daily. Annie says she began feeling
pressured and brainwashed. She was fired on December 18,
2015, for poor performance reviews. Later on, other employees
who had the same complaints as she did were fired, as well.
“Interestingly, most, if not all, employees who have replaced
the terminated employees have been members of the Church
of Scientology,” the suit says. (Pasadena Star-News, 12/09/15)
Man accused of threatening to kill Scientology leader,
members
Andre Barkanov of Illinois is accused of making threatening
phone calls to the Church of Scientology in California, stating
that he would kill David Miscavige and every single church
member. David Miscavige took over the Church of Scientology
after L. Ron Hubbard’s death in 1986. Barkanov called several
different times with threats, and the Church started recording
the calls. Several calls made to the Church were from a blocked
number, but LAPD police were able to track down the number
through Barkanov’s Skype account, which led them to the
house of a woman in Wisconsin whose wireless Internet
account he had been using. The woman lived next to a bar
and had no protection on her Wi-Fi, so anyone could use it.
The bartender recognized Barkanov as the Russian who lived
next door to him in Chicago, and gave the police his apartment
address. Barkanov was charged with 12 felony counts of
making criminal threats and one count of stalking, according
to the complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district
attorney’s office he was extradited and is being held in an
LA County jail in lieu of $600,000 bail. Barkanov’s motives are
still unclear, although it has been suggested that his actions
appear to have been incited by anti-Scientology propaganda.
(Los Angeles Times, 01/6/16)
Scientologists Appeal to Texas Supreme Court
“The Church of Scientology asked the Texas Supreme
Court to review a judge’s rejection of its First Amendment
argument in a lawsuit from a woman they filmed, surveilled
and outside of whose home they protested for 199 days
...Monique Rathbun sued the Church of Scientology
International, its leader David Miscavige, and four people
she accused of harassing her, in 2013. Her husband, Marty
Rathbun, was known as Scientology’s number two executive
behind Miscavige, before he walked away in 2004 after 27
years on the inside, according to court records ...The church
acknowledges that it conducted surveillance of the Rathbuns
via private investigators who are not Scientologists. It claims it
did this to collect information for pre-litigation investigation
of the Rathbuns’ alleged trademark infringements ...The
church claims Marty Rathbun defamed it in an attempt to
create his own version of ‘Independent Scientology’ using
Scientology intellectual property ...The state Supreme Court
getting caught.” Prosecutors have asked judges to keep the
following men in custody, arguing they are likely to flee and try
to hide in the group's elaborate network of houses throughout
the United States, Mexico, and Canada: Lyle Jeffs, who runs
day-to-day operations in the community by carrying out orders
from his imprisoned brother Warren Jeffs Seth Jeffs, another
brother who runs the group’s South Dakota compound John
Wayman, a confidant of Warren Jeffs who handles legal and
tax issues and Nephi Steed Allred, an accountant who set up
corporations and helped move around the group’s money.
Prosecutors say the polygamists likely would use aliases,
disguises, false identification, and prepaid cellphones to avoid
being caught—just as Warren Jeffs did in the mid-2000s. (ABC
News, 02/27/16)
Fraud arrests may be turning point for FLDS
In Hildale, Utah, Andrew Chatwin, former member of the
FLDS, watches as police and agents surround an FLDS outpost
he says he’s been waiting for this moment. “According to
prosecutors, the businesses were key players in a high-desert
conspiracy that siphoned millions of dollars in food-stamp
benefits from the pockets of American families to bank
accounts controlled by the polygamist sect, whose leaders—
most prominently, the jailed Warren Jeffs—follow a self-styled
form of Mormonism and dictate where followers live, how
much they eat and whom they marry. ..The arrests are only
part of the legal troubles confronting the sect and its home-
base communities, accused in a federal civil rights trial in
Phoenix of denying housing, utilities, and adequate policing
to nonbelievers. In closing arguments. ..,the defense argued
that the government was using the towns as scapegoats to
seek revenge against a religion it abhors.” (The New York Times,
03/2/16)
Alberta toddler’s meningitis death a warning to parents
who spurn conventional treatments
In Alberta, Canada, Ezekiel Stephan was only 19 months old
when he passed away from meningitis. His parents, David
and Collet Stephan, refused to take their son to seek medical
attention. Instead they tried natural home remedies and took
him to see a naturopath. A nurse at Lethbridge Naturopath
Clinic told them to take Ezekiel to see a doctor because she
feared he had viral meningitis. Medical ethicist Arthur Caplan
says Ezekiel’s slow and tragic death is an example “of the harm
alternative medicine does” and that the child suffered for his
parents’ beliefs. The couple finally called 911 after their son
stopped breathing. Ezekiel was airlifted to Alberta Children’s
Hospital in Calgary and died 5 days later after being taken off
of life support. David and Collet Stephan have pleaded not
guilty in the death of their son and say they did all they could.
They now stand trial and are awaiting a verdict. (National Post,
03/10/16)
Woman says refusal to learn Scientology got her fired
Annie R. Lee is suing her former Pasadena, California-based
employer, Lusida Rubber Products Inc., and two company
executives, Wayne Chin and William Johonnesson. Annie
worked with the company from June through December
2015 as a customer-service representative. Her lawsuit
claims religious discrimination, failure to prevent religious
discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination. Annie
alleges that she was forced to take a required 30-minute class
based on the Church of Scientology teachings of L. Ron
Hubbard. The courses were initially given three times a week
and then became almost daily. Annie says she began feeling
pressured and brainwashed. She was fired on December 18,
2015, for poor performance reviews. Later on, other employees
who had the same complaints as she did were fired, as well.
“Interestingly, most, if not all, employees who have replaced
the terminated employees have been members of the Church
of Scientology,” the suit says. (Pasadena Star-News, 12/09/15)
Man accused of threatening to kill Scientology leader,
members
Andre Barkanov of Illinois is accused of making threatening
phone calls to the Church of Scientology in California, stating
that he would kill David Miscavige and every single church
member. David Miscavige took over the Church of Scientology
after L. Ron Hubbard’s death in 1986. Barkanov called several
different times with threats, and the Church started recording
the calls. Several calls made to the Church were from a blocked
number, but LAPD police were able to track down the number
through Barkanov’s Skype account, which led them to the
house of a woman in Wisconsin whose wireless Internet
account he had been using. The woman lived next to a bar
and had no protection on her Wi-Fi, so anyone could use it.
The bartender recognized Barkanov as the Russian who lived
next door to him in Chicago, and gave the police his apartment
address. Barkanov was charged with 12 felony counts of
making criminal threats and one count of stalking, according
to the complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district
attorney’s office he was extradited and is being held in an
LA County jail in lieu of $600,000 bail. Barkanov’s motives are
still unclear, although it has been suggested that his actions
appear to have been incited by anti-Scientology propaganda.
(Los Angeles Times, 01/6/16)
Scientologists Appeal to Texas Supreme Court
“The Church of Scientology asked the Texas Supreme
Court to review a judge’s rejection of its First Amendment
argument in a lawsuit from a woman they filmed, surveilled
and outside of whose home they protested for 199 days
...Monique Rathbun sued the Church of Scientology
International, its leader David Miscavige, and four people
she accused of harassing her, in 2013. Her husband, Marty
Rathbun, was known as Scientology’s number two executive
behind Miscavige, before he walked away in 2004 after 27
years on the inside, according to court records ...The church
acknowledges that it conducted surveillance of the Rathbuns
via private investigators who are not Scientologists. It claims it
did this to collect information for pre-litigation investigation
of the Rathbuns’ alleged trademark infringements ...The
church claims Marty Rathbun defamed it in an attempt to
create his own version of ‘Independent Scientology’ using
Scientology intellectual property ...The state Supreme Court
