Three defectors from the Church of Scientology are suing its leader, claiming they were victims of child trafficking and labor.
The Church of Scientology and its leader David Miscavige is facing a lawsuit from three defectors who allege they were trafficked as children and forced into "dangerous" labor on the controversial Sea Org ships. Gawain Baxter, his wife Laura and Valeska Paris together filed a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology in Tampa, Florida this week, and claimed that they were forced to work on the ships at the age of six and sign contracts that promised "one billion years" of service to the church with "low and even no pay."
According to the Daily Mail, the lawsuit said that Gawain Baxter's parents placed him in a Sea Org nursery when he was as young as two months old. He was forced to sign a contract when he was six, when he went on to live in a Cadet Org dormitory with up to a hundred other children.
"Children over six years old are considered to be and are frequently told that they are adults and that they should act and expect to be treated as adults," the lawsuit claimed. "They are now even called children; rather they must be referred to as 'Cadets.'"
The Christian Post reported that the lawsuit that was filed in a Florida federal court last week accuses Miscavige of six counts of forced labor, while five Church of Scientology entities were accused of violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
The lawsuit also claims that the three plaintiffs were "systematically trafficked through "indoctrination and other methods to hobble them from both physical, financial and psychological perspectives."
Baxter claims that between the age of six and 14, eh was not allowed to attend any accredited public or private school. Instead, schooling was limited to basic reading, writing, and math in a classroom with thirty other children, who were supervised by Linda Hilton, Cadet Coordinator's spouse. From the age of 10, Baxter was forced to spend an hour or two daily in Scientology indoctrination courses. These courses were made to appear as debts that Baxter would owe in the event he left Cadet Org or Sea Org.
Baxter recounted how when he was 14, he was forced to perform 12 hours worth of labor, renovating and cleaning properties, causing him to become "sleep-deprived" and having "inadequate time to eat." He was also "verbally abused by his adult supervisors."
Meanwhile, Paris alleges that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a Sea Org supervisor. She was also forced into child labor, as when she was younger, she was tasked to do landscaping and care for newborns who were born to other Church of Scientology members. When Paris was 17, her mother left the church and she was left there to be punished as a result. Baxter's wife, Laura, claims she had endured similar abuse.
The Church of Scientology was founded by American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1955 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. As per the group's website, it "has no set dogma concerning God that it imposes on its members."
