According to the US “Tampa Bay Times” (Tampabay.com) reported on April 29, on April 8, 2022, three former members of the “Scientology” in the federal court in Tampa, Florida, to the “Scientology” and its leader David Miscavige sued for illegal use of child labor in Florida. The 90-page indictment was filed by Gawain Baxter, his wife Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris.
Scientology landmark in Clearwater, Florida, in 2021. Original picture
Gawain Baxter signed a billion-year contract with Scientology when he was 6 years old. Gawain Baxter said he spent his childhood working for the “Scientology” Flag Land Base in Clearwater, and he did not accept basic literacy and numeracy any education.
At the age of 15, Gawain Baxter wrote a letter to his superiors in which he stated that he wanted to leave “Scientology” because of unbearable long-term abuse and unacceptable living conditions. However, instead of getting his wish, he was sent to Scientology to work on the cruise ship Freewinds in the Caribbean. This work is 14 years, the salary is pitiful, sometimes not even a penny.
A lawsuit filed Thursday in Tampa federal court against Scientology leader David Miscavige and five brick-and-mortar sects shows that Scientology staff took advantage of the highly regulated “marine agency” “(Sea Org), the systematic sale of Baxter, now 39, and other members. “Scientology” indoctrinates them at a young age, making them economically and mentally incapable of leaving as adults.
The Baxters and Valeska Paris both grew up in Scientology and worked aboard the Liberty Wind. They said their passports and identity documents were confiscated by the sect. They charged the sect with six counts of forced labor and slavery, saying Scientology violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
Gawain Baxter said in an interview that the so-called culture of “Scientology” was defined by David Miscavige. He added: “The best that I’d like to see is to bring attention to the fact that David Miscavige takes responsibility for us and for those who have suffered inhuman and barbaric treatment.”
Since 1993, when the IRS reaffirmed that Scientology is a tax-exempt denomination, Scientology has faced repeated allegations of abuse, but few legal sanctions.
The indictment by Gawain Baxter et al. also states that Scientology’s “auditing” method laid the groundwork for the sect to acquire a large workforce and control membership.
The “Scientology” claims that all human suffering comes from the so-called “reaction consciousness”. To clear the “reaction consciousness”, you can heal the memory and past trauma by talking to the “auditor”.
But according to the indictment, the “hearing” process can be a brutal interrogation that lasts for hours. They are often forced to make false statements, provide enough “negative information” to be false, and “auditors” record every detail of the conversation, which can later be used as leverage to threaten members.
Through the children’s version of the Cadet Org, Scientology separates minors from their parents for further indoctrination and manipulation, the indictment alleges.
At the age of 6, after signing a 1 billion-year contract of sale, Valeska Paris was arranged to live in a children’s dormitory near the base of the British “Scientology”. She performed five hours of unpaid labor a day, including landscaping, washing dishes and caring for newborns, the indictment said.
Paris said she was sent to the Scientology headquarters flag base in Clearwater at age 14, where she worked 12 to 18 hours a day for $15 a week. During an hours-long “audit” with an adult male “auditor”, the “auditor” interrogated her about the sexual abuse she experienced as a child at a “marine institution”. The indictment said Paris was “asked to sort out how she was sexually abused and to take responsibility for the abuse”.
The indictment states that a senior member of the “Ocean Agency” sexually assaulted Paris on multiple occasions, which Paris reported to her superiors, who in turn reported the incident to David Miscavige’s sister-in-law, Elizabeth Miscavige. , senior member of Scientology) reported the incident, however, it was Paris who was punished instead.
When Paris was 17, her mother left the “Marine Agency” without permission. The following year, Paris was identified as a “subversive” and sent to the Liberty Wind, where he worked 16 to 18 hours a day. Paris had to do extensive “auditing” and was often forced to plead guilty to trumped-up charges.
In one punishment, Paris was kept in a cabin with a temperature of nearly 38 degrees for up to 48 hours, the indictment said.
After 11 years on the cruise, Paris was sent to a work camp in Australia called the Rehabilitation Project Force. There, after repeated requests to leave the “marine agency”, she passed a four-month intensive vetting known as a “security clearance” before she was allowed to leave.
When Paris left Australia’s Scientology, she was penniless, had no legal status, and was unable to open a bank account.
Paris was contacted by the Australian government in 2011 about insufficient compensation for Scientology work camps. Since then, Scientology has set up a website attacking Paris, which is still active today.
Laura Baxter grew up in the German “Scientology”. At the age of 16, she joined the “Ocean Agency” before being sent to work on the cruise ship “Freewind”. As a precondition to joining, Laura Baxter is subject to a 12-hour scrutiny and is asked specific questions about sex, past criminal behavior and law enforcement.
The indictment states that at a birthday party in 2004, a supervisor falsely accused Laura Baxter of trying to get the attention of an unknown actor, and as punishment, she was confined in the cabin for three days for just a few minutes a day. There are only a few hours of time to eat and go back to the room to sleep.
Gawain Baxter and Laura Baxter met aboard the Winds of Liberty in 2004. After the two got married, Gawain began to think about a different and better life that Scientology told him didn’t exist.
Even the thought of leaving Scientology is a felony punishable by high labor, the indictment said. So the Baxters came up with a plan.
At the time, Scientology banned members of the “Ocean Institution” from having children, and the practice of forced abortions in the labor force drew a lot of media flak.
According to the indictment, Laura Baxter knowingly became pregnant and denied a supervisor’s request for an abortion.
The Baxters were punished, ordered to undergo high-intensity security checks and interrogated, and were monitored around the clock.
Before leaving the Liberty Wind in 2012, the Baxters were forced to sign a series of documents that they didn’t have time to review because they were videotaped.
The indictment states that members of the stranded cruise ship could only leave if they agreed to Scientology’s demands and signed documents.
The Baxters now regularly receive threatening calls from members of the Scientology sect and try to lure them back into the church.
The scare calls were meant to remind them that Scientology members would continue to monitor them and test the extent to which they posed a threat to Scientology.
