A lawsuit against the Church of Scientology accuses a high-ranking recruiter of sexually assaulting a minor and failing to report it.
According to court documents obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, Scientology leader David Miscavige, recruiter Gavin Potter, and three church entities are accused of fostering a culture enabling sexual abuse through policies authored by founder L. Ron Hubbard.
A woman now in her 40s, identified only as Jane Doe, claimed that she was subjected to grooming and sexual abuse by Potter during a series of car rides while she was enrolled in the Sea Organization, which oversees the church’s operations, under a “billion-year contract.”
The alleged incidents occurred in California, where the legal age of consent is 18. At the time, the victim was 16, DailyMail reports. According to Doe, when she reported the incidents, she was given two options: either spend five years at a labor camp or marry Potter.
Since California law required a judge’s approval for the marriage of a minor, Doe’s “port captain” allegedly orchestrated her travel to Las Vegas with Potter, where they married. At 19, she became pregnant. She subsequently “escaped with her daughter” in 1997 when she was 23 and divorced Potter, according to the lawsuit.
Doe asserts that Scientology officials facilitated Gavin Potter’s sexual abuse after he convinced her to stay in the Sea Organization full-time workforce, through fear tactics and grooming.
The lawsuit also contends that the Scientology community imposes a prohibition on its members reporting crimes committed by fellow members to the police. Minors are particularly susceptible to sexual abuse within Scientology, as the organization perceives them as “adults inhabiting child bodies.”
According to Hubbard’s teachings, each person is an eternal being who has lived through numerous lifetimes spanning billions of years.
“The church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement,” an attorney for the church, William Forman. told the Tampa Bay Times.
“Quite the opposite, church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land. Allegations to the contrary are false.”
Doe’s lawsuit was filed in December and had remained sealed until recently. She’s represented by Los Angeles-based lawyers, Graham Berry, and attorneys with the Edwards Pottinger and Motley Rice law firms.
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[Feature Photo: FILE – The Scientology Cross is perched atop the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016/(AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)]
