Scientology Sex Abuse Lawsuit: Church Members Prevented From Reporting Crimes to Law Enforcement by Founder L. Ron Hubbard's Policies, It’s Claimed
Jun. 26 2023, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
The lawsuit filed by a former Scientologist against leader David Miscavige along with the man alleged to have sexually assaulted her lays bare policies written by the church founder L. Ron Hubbard which the victim says allows crimes to be covered up.
In the 38-page complaint obtained by RadarOnline.com, Jane Doe claims child sexual assault by a top church executive was hushed up by the controversial religious organization.
According to the plaintiff, the Church of Scientology is no exception to the serious problems with child abuse and the sexual exploitation of children that have engulfed religious institutions like the Catholic Church.
“The Church of Scientology International’s aggressive practices and rules forcing secrecy upon all members have kept victims from coming forward even longer than abuse victims in other religious institutions such as the Catholic Church or the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” the lawsuit alleged. “Yet, like those religious institutions … religious affiliation and doctrines do not provide a license for child abuse or sexual assault.”
As this website previously reported, Jane Doe was also one of the victims of Hollywood star Danny Masterson who in May was found guilty by a jury of rape.
In her explosive lawsuit, the woman, who was born into Scientology in 1974 and at age 14, said she became a member of the Sea Organization, a secret sect of the church which requires members to sign a billion-year pledge to symbolize their eternal commitment to the religion.
It was in the Sea Org where Jane Doe met her alleged abuser, a veteran Scientologist named as Gavin Potter.
Potter later married the woman in what she said was a forced marriage orchestrated by the church.
“The first time Gavin Potter sexually assaulted Jane Doe, he leaned over in her car and kissed her on the mouth. At the time of the first encounter, Jane Doe had never had a boyfriend or done anything of a sexual nature with anyone.”
In one encounter, she said she was in the driver’s seat of a car when Potter, in the passenger seat, began fondling her breasts over her clothes, before putting her hand up her skirt.
“Gavin Potter then digitally penetrated her vagina,” the lawsuit alleged. “Jane Doe was fearful and physically uncomfortable but could not move. The digital penetration continued for an unknown period, at which point Jane Doe looked over and noticed that Gavin Potter had a wet spot in the crotch of his pants."
“Jane Doe did not understand at that time that he ejaculated. After he ejaculated, Gavin Potter removed his hand from Jane Doe’s pants, and she proceeded to drive him home," the suit continued.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed by lawyer Graham Berry, Scientologists are “expressly prohibited from contacting the police or other emergency responders to report any crime committed by any member.”
“A policy exists within Scientology called ‘Ethics Protection,’ which details why it is okay for the church to take no action when criminal acts occur, and more alarmingly why the act of reporting such a crime to church officials or authorities is considered a ‘high crime’ subject to punishment,” Berry detailed.
“The prohibition of members from contacting authorities is so strictly enforced that phones within some Church of Scientology International facilities are reportedly disabled from dialing 911.
“Members are not allowed to make any calls without first utilizing a code so that each call may be tracked.”
Berry added the Church of Scientology instructs its membership the only answer to a crime being committed by its members, including rape, sexual abuse, or child abuse, is Scientology and the teachings of Hubbard, not law enforcement.
“If senior officials in the Religious Technology Center, Church of Scientology International, Sea Org, or any other Scientology organization received credible evidence that child sexual abuse had occurred within the church, the officials covered up the incident rather than report the abuse to local authorities,” the lawsuit said.
“In most instances, any alleged perpetrator of child abuse or sexual abuse was simply moved to a different Scientology base or location," it continued.
“Sometimes the alleged perpetrator was sent to RPF (the Rehabilitation Project Force, Scientology's program for members of its Sea Org who have allegedly violated expectations or policies), other times, no action was taken," the suit claimed. “Victims, however, are blamed for ‘pulling in’ the abuse upon themselves and are forced to either apologize to their abuser for causing the assault or undergo a program to learn how they caused the assault.”
The lawsuit went on to allege the church recorded vast amounts of information collected and recorded during auditing, the process during which the church says its members “travel to higher states of spiritual awareness” by answering “exact sets of questions asked or directions given by an auditor to help a person locate areas of spiritual distress.”
“It is highly likely that Defendants have countless pieces of evidence describing child sexual abuse, both by the perpetrators and the victims,” according to the lawsuit.
“Meanwhile, anyone who speaks out against Scientology, its practices or its members is declared a ‘Suppressive Person’ (or ‘SP’) and subjected to attacks, harassment, embarrassment, humiliation, and other means of destroying someone’s life via the Scientology tactic called ‘Fair Game’.”
As RadarOnline.com has previously reported, supposed Fair Game is a policy conceived by L. Ron Hubbard that directs members to find members to punish critics.
Church Spokeswoman Karin Pouw vehemently denied all the allegations and charge the lawsuit was filed by a determined group of individuals known for repeatedly attacking the organization.
"The suit is a con job orchestrated by the same small group of anti-Scientologists bent on harassing the Church," she told RadarOnline.com. The attorney who filed it has been declared a vexatious litigant who was suspended from the (California) bar in connection with frivolous litigation against the Church of Scientology in the past. As with previous attempted shakedowns, the Church will prevail."
"The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone—Scientologists or not—to law enforcement," she added. "Quite the opposite, Church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land. Allegations to the contrary are false."