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[mefree]

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 18/05/2010

Reporter: Steve Cannane

The daughter of the president of the Church of Scientology in Australia has spoken out against the organisation, describing it as toxic and accusing the church of tearing some families apart.

Transcript
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The daughter of the president of the Church of Scientology in Australia is speaking out for the first time about past treatment of children within the church.

In an exclusive interview with Lateline, Scarlett Hanna has described Scientology as a toxic organisation and says that many of those who've grown up in the church are damaged.

Scarlett Hanna talks of children being deprived of contact with parents and communal living conditions where 25 children lived in one unit.

Steve Cannane reports.

STEVE CANNANE, REPORTER: Scarlett Hanna was born into Scientology's elite. Her mother, Vicki Dunstan, is the president of the church in Australia. Her father, Mark Hanna, is a former director of public affairs.

As members of the Sea Org - Scientology's elite unit - they signed billion-year contracts dedicating themselves to the cause.

But according to Scarlett Hanna, this kind of dedication came at a cost to the children of the Sea Org, who grew up in what was known as the Cadet Org.

SCARLETT HANNA, FORMER SCIENTOLOGIST: The best way I can describe it is cattle. We were property of the organisation. Although they would like to say that we weren't, we were.

STEVE CANNANE: Children of Sea Org members rarely had contact with their parents. Scarlett Hanna says they lived in separate homes and were granted only 20 minutes each night with their parents.

SCARLETT HANNA: I can't describe it. It was just an incredibly lonely childhood. I had no-one to talk to or to look after to me or to ask me how I was after school or, you know, any of those things that most of us take for granted.

STEVE CANNANE: The Cadet Org was eventually disbanded around eight years ago after Sea Org members were banned from having children.

Until then, Cadet Org members lived in townhouses like this one.

SCARLETT HANNA: It' probably one of the most overcrowded birthings that we lived in. There were probably up to about 25 kids in this particular unit.

STEVE CANNANE: Being looked after by one nanny?

SCARLETT HANNA: One nanny, that's right.

SHEILA HUBER, FMR SCIENTOLOGIST: What about children? Do you ever see them? Oh, that's right: L. Ron Hubbard didn't believe parents were good for children.

STEVE CANNANE: Sheila Huber is a former executive establishment officer at the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles. At the age of 16, she signed up to the Sea Org. One of her first jobs was as a nanny.

SHEILA HUBER: I couldn't believe it. It was wall-to-wall cribs. There were just under 30 children and they were under my sole care. I had no training.

I had never really spent much time babysitting young ones like that and they were all under the age of three-years-old.

STEVE CANNANE: Sheila Huber says around 30 infants were crammed into a one bedroom apartment

SHEILA HUBER: They never got outside. Actually, they got out once - in eight months, they got out once. And that was - that took three months to get that approved.

Sorry, it's hard. We took them in a van, the children, and took them to the park and they spent so much time in their cribs, day after day, night after night, that they wouldn't go in any space larger than the size of their cribs.

They were terrified. They were terrified of sunlight.

STEVE CANNANE: Scarlett Hanna says children growing up in the Cadet Org in Australia did not receive adequate food or medical care.

She says Community Services visited on two occasions, but were deceived by the church.

SCARLETT HANNA: The furniture was dismantled by a division within the Sea Organisation that deals with labour and the kids were sent out for the day to as appear that they were living according to crowding laws.

STEVE CANNANE: Sarah McLintock, a member of the Church of Scientology, rejects every single allegation made by Scarlett Hanna.

SARAH MCLINTOCK, SCIENTOLOGIST: What I experienced with Scarlett is she was a very good friend of mine. I grew up with her. And what she is saying, I did not experience, so I don't know where she's coming from with such things.

It really doesn't make any sense to me because I grew up with her. I was there with her and I think people are giving her things to say, personally.

STEVE CANNANE: For Scarlett Hanna, the worst part of her time in the Cadet Org was the enforced separation from her parents.

Her father, Mark Hanna, was twice sent to the US to the RPF, Scientology's rehabilitation program.

According to Scarlett, her father's crime was failing to prevent a negative story about Scientology from appearing on TV.

SCARLETT HANNA: He was gone for several years, probably about two or three years.

STEVE CANNANE: What impact did that have on you, to lose your father like that for two to three years and not knowing when he would be back?

SCARLETT HANNA: Well at the time I had - I was living in a separate house to my mother. I wasn't seeing my mother at all at family time.

She would wake me up at midnight and walk me down to her house so I could sleep with her. I lost my father. I had no-one to talk to.

It was very humiliating because the RPF was a place where the bad guys went, you know. If your father went to the RPF, he was seen as a criminal.

STEVE CANNANE: Do you consider taking someone's parent away for a couple of years and putting them into a rehabilitation unit in another country to be a form of abuse?

VIRGINIA STEWART, SCIENTOLOGY SPOKESWOMAN: Well, I think, again, that's their personal family matter.

STEVE CANNANE: Is it a form of abuse to do it?

VIRGINIA STEWART: Well, I don't know what to say to that, I'm sorry. Because ...

STEVE CANNANE: Well, it's an organisation that you're speaking for here.

VIRGINIA STEWART: Yeah.

STEVE CANNANE: And it's an organisation who has routinely done that to parents and their children. Is it a form of abuse?

VIRGINIA STEWART: Well, I don't actually agree that it's been routinely done and I think in that instance, in that family, you would have to speak to those - to the father and the mother as to why they lived like that, why they chose to take that action.

STEVE CANNANE: But based on her experiences in the US, Sheila Huber says there's little choice involved.

SHEILA HUBER: I get surrounded by eight grown men, grown Sea Org members - eight grown men in a circle around me, telling me I am now going to the RPF. ... I can really relate to Scarlett's story, and this is something that to this day I still have nightmares about this.

And we're talking - I was on the RPF in 1986. I still have nightmares because I felt I deserted my son. ... My son, who I had full legal custody of was illegally taken from me and given to my ex-husband because he was a Sea Org member in good standing.

STEVE CANNANE: Sheila Huber was separated from her five-year-old son for a year. She was sent to the RPF for having sex with someone she wasn't married to. She was unmarried at the time.

At the age of 13, Scarlett Hanna was kicked out of the Cadet Org and sent to live with adults from the Sea Org in this home in inner Sydney.

SCARLETT HANNA: Basically, I was living unsupervised from, you know, nine in the morning till 12 at night, to midnight. I was - at the time, I was going to a very rough school, probably one of the roughest schools in Sydney.

I was being bullied and bashed and so I just stopped attending school. My parents didn't know a thing about it at the time. I started hanging out in parks because I was so socially isolated and this led me to being raped by a convicted murderer and running away.

STEVE CANNANE: Despite her experiences, Scarlett doesn't blame her parents.

SCARLETT HANNA: I think they're part of the organisation, they were part of the machine. I think the church had some very toxic ways of managing its staff and their children and I definitely blame the church as an organisation, not my parents at all.

STEVE CANNANE: Scarlett Hanna has been under immense pressure not to tell her story. Her father has even threatened to sue her.

Scarlett Hanna decided to speak out after seeing the Four Corners program on Scientology earlier this year.

SCARLETT HANNA: I just think that the church needs to take some accountability for, you know, what it was involved in. Maybe apologise to some of these people that have had such traumatising experiences.

STEVE CANNANE: Scarlett Hanna's parents declined to be interviewed for this story.

Steve Cannane, Lateline.

LEIGH SALES: And tomorrow night on Lateline, allegations that a senior figure in the Church of Scientology coached an 11-year-old sexual abuse victim about the evidence she should give to authorities.

found at http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2903129.htm

[Lorelei]

Her father is Mark "Kissin' Bandit" Hanna, who recently assaulted an Australian protester.

[wynot]

I was ruminating on the fact that Sea Ogres are not allowed to have children and stay in the org. This reminded me of the Shakers, a sect of Christianity which had some small success in the 19th century. They did not believe in sex at all, even for procreation.

Needless to say, perhaps, but the Shakers no longer exist...

til later;
wynot

[Lorelei]

They converted a few new Shakers I think, but not enough, and now are best known for their Shaker furniture.

[News Thetan]

Church of Scientology rejects neglect claims - ABC Online
19 May 2010, 2:08 am



The Australian Church of Scientology has hit back at claims by the daughter of its president that the organisation created a systematic neglect of children.
.....

the church says parents and children who grew up with Ms Hanna have rejected her comments.

It says it has received several written statements from former members who say they led "rich and fulfilling" lives at the organisation.

Sarah McClintock, who says she grew up with Ms Hanna at Cadet Org, the name of the group set up for the children of Scientology's elite unit, the Sea Org, says she is suprised by the accusations.

"I had a very good experience at the CadetOrgs," she said.

"I had many friends and they're still my friends today - they're part of my extended family.

"We grew up in a very healthy environment. We had a lot of love and attention and we did fantastic things together.

"We went on very many outings and we definitely had a very happy childhood."

more at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/19/2903960.htm?section=justin

[Lorelei]

The WWP thread about this points out that not only are the "children who grew up with Scarlet" unlikely to freely corroborate her claims while they are still "in," and not only are most cult members encouraged to deny deny deny any negative revelations about said cult, but at least one of those "children (who knew Scarlett)" also apparently received special favours and status, and thus HER life in Scientology was likely to be slightly less onerous.

Personally, I think that's irrelevant. We know that those who are still "in" will rush to discredit exes, even if their lies contradict each other, or fail to refute the testimony of 100s of previous exes who describe the same problems and abuses.

With so many people bailing over the past two years, the remaining culties have to find new spokespeople; sadly, they are increasingly inadequately trained for the PR job and thus they make an even bigger hash of things than usual. Uninvolved parties and exes and OGs / Anons stumbling across articles about the cult who also post comments are all quick to pick up on illogic and lies; this is most gratifying when the commenter appears to be a person who does not ordinarily protest.

[mefree]

Top Scientologist 'covered up sex abuse

By Steve Cannane
Updated 1 hour 52 minutes ago

A senior figure in the Church of Scientology has been accused of trying to cover up the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in Sydney.

In an exclusive interview for ABC1's Lateline program, a former member of the Church of Scientology says she was coached by a senior figure in the church to lie to police about the abuse at the hands of her stepfather.

Carmen Rainer's mother Phoebe was a member of the Church of Scientology and went to the organisation for advice when she learnt her daughter was being sexually abused.

Police are now investigating claims Jan Eastgate, who was in charge of a church-founded organisation at the time, told both mother and daughter to lie to police and community services about the abuse.

Ms Rainer also says the church told her the abuse, at the hands of her then-stepfather Robert Kerr, was her own fault.

"They told me it was my fault because I'd been bad in a past life - I'd probably done something bad in a past life so I pulled it in," she said.

"I believed them. As a child I believed them. I was 11. That's what I knew. I grew up believing what they believed."

more including related articles and video at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/20/2904503.htm?section=justin

[Lorelei]

Any group that would tell a little child that s/he deserved to be raped by his/her step-father (or any other member of the family by marriage or blood, or, indeed, anyone at ALL) is SICK and needs to be exposed thoroughly for the human rights abusing cult that it is.

[wynot]

This is what Scientology means when it claims to want a world without crime. Remember, per LRH, anyone who is upstat (producing  for Hubtoad then, and Shrimpy McMiscarriage now) cannot be guilty of any crime! To them, the only true crime is spreading the truth about this evil cult to the human population!

'til next time;
wynot (I am not a space alien, no matter how much fun it is to pretend!)

[mefree]

Another CoS denial:

Church of Scientology denies abuse cover-up-ABC Online

The Church of Scientology is vigorously denying accusations a senior figure in the organisation tried to cover up the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in Sydney.

It says the allegations, aired on ABC1's Lateline program, are false and highly defamatory.

A former Scientology member, Carmen Rainer, told Lateline she was coached by a senior figure in the church to lie to police about the abuse at the hands of her then stepfather, Robert Kerr.

Her mother, Phoebe, was a member and went to the organisation for advice when she learned her daughter was being sexually abused.

Police are now investigating claims Jan Eastgate, who was in charge of a church-founded organisation at the time, told both mother and daughter to lie to police and community services about the abuse.

Ms Eastgate has described the allegations as "egregiously false".

The Church of Scientology has responded to the claims, saying it was only through the intervention of the church that Mr Kerr ultimately turned himself into police.

"Not only did church staff help facilitate Carmen and her mother to report the matter to the proper authorities at the time it happened in 1985, it was only through the intervention of the church that the man responsible ultimately turned himself in to the police and was prosecuted," a church statement said.

"It is especially outrageous that they would make this false claim when the church had to send the man responsible to the police twice before the police finally prosecuted him."

Both Ms Eastgate and the Church of Scientology say Mr Kerr went to the police in 1999 at the church's insistence.

But Phoebe Rainer says Mr Kerr was told by senior scientologists he had to go to the police only after she threatened the church with legal action 13 years after the original allegations were made.

Carmen Rainer says Ms Eastgate told her to tell police she did not want her stepfather to go to jail, and to tell community services he had not touched her genitals.

"'Just say 'no', she kept repeating that. 'You remember that you can't tell them'," Ms Rainer said.

"Don't say yes because otherwise you will be taken away from your parents and you'll never see your family again because [Department of Community Services] will take me and my brother away from my mum and that I needed to just say no."

Ms Rainer also says the church told her the abuse was her own fault.

"They told me it was my fault because I'd been bad in a past life - I'd probably done something bad in a past life so I pulled it in," she said.

"I believed them. As a child I believed them. I was 11. That's what I knew. I grew up believing what they believed."

But the organisation says Carmen's mother spoke extensively to a social worker at the time and elected not to pursue the matter. It says that decision was not at the church's urging.

"It is also a matter of police records that in 1999, at the church's insistence, the perpetrator again made a complete confession to the police. However, at the time, Carmen's mother again chose not to pursue charges," the church said.

"Then, in 2001, Carmen chose to make a formal complaint to the police, resulting in criminal action and the matter concluded in 2002.

"The allegations that Ms Jan Eastgate interfered in any way with the reporting of the matter to the proper authorities are highly defamatory."

At the time, Ms Eastgate was head of the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) in Australia - an organisation founded by the church that campaigns against psychiatry.

She is now the international head of the CCHR, which is based in Los Angeles.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/21/2906243.htm

[wynot]

QUOTE:"She is now the international head of the CCHR, which is based in Los Angeles."

See what you get when you do as you're told, and let children be molested (as long as the molesters are upstat)?

'til hell freezes over, if that's how long it takes;
wynot

[ethercat]

I was ruminating on the fact that Sea Ogres are not allowed to have children and stay in the org.

This was an order from 1986, after Miscavige took over. 

From Mary Tabayoyon's Affidavit: http://www.caic.org.au/psyther/sci/abortion.htm

BEGINNING IN 1986, MEMBERS OF THE SEA ORG WERE FORBIDDEN TO HAVE ANY MORE CHILDREN IF THEY WERE TO STAY ON POST AND THE HUBBARD TECHNOLOGY WAS APPLIED TO COERCIVELY PERSUADE US TO HAVE ABORTIONS SO THAT WE COULD REMAIN ON POST.

7. On September 28, 1986, Gillaume Leserve, the Executive Director International ("ED Int"), put out an order binding on all Sea Org members. Within the Sea Org, these binding orders were called Flag orders. The September 28, 1986 Flag Order No. 3905 forbade Sea Org members from having any more new children. The reason given by ED Int. was that the Sea Org simply did not have the time, money and resources to raise children properly. In the event Sea Org members elected to disobey this Flag Order, they would be exiled to a non Sea Org Scientology organization of the Class IV level until the Child reached 6 years of age. Once the unauthorized child achieved 6 years of age, the parents could return to the Sea Org.

8. On April 3, 1991, an addition to this Flag Order was issued. Part of that supplement provided that anyone who did get pregnant would be sent to a non-expanding Class IV Org. The Commanding Officer of CMOI, Marc Yager, endorsed application of this supplement to all crew at the base and added to it. It stressed that Sea Org members were the top echelon of the Sea Org. As such Yager admonished us that we had the responsibility on our shoulders for the expansion of Scientology and freeing mankind. Scientology's Senior management determined, we, at this high level, could not afford the time and resources it would take to raise children. Having children was found to undermine our production and our purpose. It became an Ethics matter. An Ethics matter is an offense against Scientology. An ethics matter arises when a Scientologist does something which detracts from the spreading of Scientology. Ethics matters are dealt with through Scientology rituals administered to those who have "wandered off the straight and narrow". (See definition of "out ethics", attached as Exhibit 1).

9. Furthermore, Sea Org members would be exiled, would be sent to a non-Sea Org, lower organization called a Class IV Org to serve as a staff member. The only concession to our years of devoted service was the fact that we were entitled to keep our membership in the Sea Org.

10. The Flag Order established that Sea Org members who disobeyed it and chose to have children would not be allowed to choose which Class IV organization they would serve. Rather, Scientology's senior management would send the offending Sea Org members to a Class IV organization that was failing. This is a severe punishment. In a failing Class IV Org an exiled Sea Org member would have to fend for himself or herself and try and raise a child on the nominal compensation provided to the staff of a failing Class IV Org. In addition, the exiled Sea Org members would be obligated to revive the failing Org or suffer more Ethics conditions.