International Cultic Studies Association
News Summaries: group

Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002

News Summaries: February 01-15, 2002

Children

Principles Clash in Attleboro Sect Case

Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, By Globe, 2/3/02, Internet

The ''independent'' investigator appointed by Attleboro Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nassif to assess whether David and Rebecca Corneau were fit parents is a self-styled cult buster committed to luring members away from ''aberrant religious groups.''

The Rev. Robert T. Pardon heads The New England Institute of Religious Research, a ''mission'' he founded to provide ''training in ministering to those caught up in such destructive groups.'' His Web site names the sect to which the Corneaus belong as one such cult.

The court's choice of Pardon to make an ''impartial'' assessment of parental fitness bolsters the couple's contention that bias might have skewed the court's custody decisions. ''Who cares if he's biased,'' responds Carol Yelverton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services. ''He's not some nut; he was educated at Princeton. Our focus is that two babies are dead and we don't want any more.''

The Corneaus are the focus of a debate that pits an individual's right to practice religion against the state's responsibility to protect children. The couple's four known children are in the custody of DSS, placed there after Nassif found them in need of protection from ''a bizarre and dangerous cult.''

. . . Nassif already has awarded custody to the state. ''We can't take chances with a baby's life,'' says Yelverton. ''Given the history, we have to take every precaution. We would do that in any case.''

Well, not every case. Just last week, Eric E.G. James of Roxbury was charged with an assault that left his 2-month-old son near death. James had history. In October 2000, he was living with his girlfriend when her 1-month-old son was beaten to death. That homicide case is still open. DSS found evidence of abuse, but did not keep tabs on Christine Carreiro's roommates or her reproductive state. ''We can't wait by the door to see if a couple has another baby,'' says Yelverton. But didn't DSS do just that in the Corneau case? ''No,'' she says. ''We were called by people who saw her pregnant and in active labor.''

The vigilance of our child protection system, then, is dependent on the presence or absence of nosy neighbors? Or a judge and a guardian ad litem with an agenda.

The conventional role of guardian ad litem is to provide an independent evaluation of a family's situation to the court. Pardon clearly had other interests in October 2000 when Nassif named him guardian for Katerina Corneau, the baby born in a prison hospital after Nassif jailed Rebecca for refusing to submit to medical exams prohibited by her religious beliefs.

''I can testify to you that your beliefs and practices are not consistent with His Word, nor, more profoundly, with His character,'' Pardon wrote to the Corneaus on Dec. 10, 2000, after they declined to meet with him. ''One day all of us will stand before Him and give an account of our lives and the choices we have made ... Lives are being destroyed, David, and all in the Name of God. How God must weep over your decisions.''

Youth Prisons in California Called Abusive

A suit filed in federal court in Sacramento against the California Youth Authority on behalf of 11 prisoners, contends inhumane conditions are pervasive. It describes such practices as the use of cages as classrooms and the forcible injection of mind-altering drugs to control the behavior of inmates. . .  It contends that prisoners with disabilities are sometimes isolated in dungeon-like holes splattered with feces and blood and that the inmates live in fear of physical and sexual violence.

Instead of rehabilitation and education, the system of 11 prisons and four camps, with about 6,300 prisoners, had become known for brutality and other abuses. Reports that mentally ill youths were stripped to their underwear and isolated in cages 23 hours a day, that prisoners were subjected to biomedical experiments and sexually and physically abused by guards, and other problems led the state inspector general, Steven White, to conclude that "it would be impossible to overstate the problem." As a result, the California Board of Corrections ordered a review of the Youth Authority by more than 100 experts. (New York Times, 1/26/02, Internet)

Child Rape Charge for Mormon Fundamentalist

Tom Green, the man with five wives, 31 children and two more on the way, is set to be charged with the child rape of one of his wives. Green, 53, a Mormon fundamentalist from Utah, was jailed for five years last August after being convicted of bigamy and failure to pay child support. He was tried and found guilty in May and sentenced to five years in prison for living with five wives at the same time and fraudulently collecting $150,000 in welfare. (Daily Telegraph, 1/12/02, Internet)

News Summaries - group

___________________________________________^

International Cultic Studies Association
News Summaries: group

Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002

News Summaries: February 01-15, 2002

Children

Principles Clash in Attleboro Sect Case

Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, By Globe, 2/3/02, Internet

The ''independent'' investigator appointed by Attleboro Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nassif to assess whether David and Rebecca Corneau were fit parents is a self-styled cult buster committed to luring members away from ''aberrant religious groups.''

The Rev. Robert T. Pardon heads The New England Institute of Religious Research, a ''mission'' he founded to provide ''training in ministering to those caught up in such destructive groups.'' His Web site names the sect to which the Corneaus belong as one such cult.

The court's choice of Pardon to make an ''impartial'' assessment of parental fitness bolsters the couple's contention that bias might have skewed the court's custody decisions. ''Who cares if he's biased,'' responds Carol Yelverton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services. ''He's not some nut; he was educated at Princeton. Our focus is that two babies are dead and we don't want any more.''

The Corneaus are the focus of a debate that pits an individual's right to practice religion against the state's responsibility to protect children. The couple's four known children are in the custody of DSS, placed there after Nassif found them in need of protection from ''a bizarre and dangerous cult.''

. . . Nassif already has awarded custody to the state. ''We can't take chances with a baby's life,'' says Yelverton. ''Given the history, we have to take every precaution. We would do that in any case.''

Well, not every case. Just last week, Eric E.G. James of Roxbury was charged with an assault that left his 2-month-old son near death. James had history. In October 2000, he was living with his girlfriend when her 1-month-old son was beaten to death. That homicide case is still open. DSS found evidence of abuse, but did not keep tabs on Christine Carreiro's roommates or her reproductive state. ''We can't wait by the door to see if a couple has another baby,'' says Yelverton. But didn't DSS do just that in the Corneau case? ''No,'' she says. ''We were called by people who saw her pregnant and in active labor.''

The vigilance of our child protection system, then, is dependent on the presence or absence of nosy neighbors? Or a judge and a guardian ad litem with an agenda.

The conventional role of guardian ad litem is to provide an independent evaluation of a family's situation to the court. Pardon clearly had other interests in October 2000 when Nassif named him guardian for Katerina Corneau, the baby born in a prison hospital after Nassif jailed Rebecca for refusing to submit to medical exams prohibited by her religious beliefs.

''I can testify to you that your beliefs and practices are not consistent with His Word, nor, more profoundly, with His character,'' Pardon wrote to the Corneaus on Dec. 10, 2000, after they declined to meet with him. ''One day all of us will stand before Him and give an account of our lives and the choices we have made ... Lives are being destroyed, David, and all in the Name of God. How God must weep over your decisions.''

Youth Prisons in California Called Abusive

A suit filed in federal court in Sacramento against the California Youth Authority on behalf of 11 prisoners, contends inhumane conditions are pervasive. It describes such practices as the use of cages as classrooms and the forcible injection of mind-altering drugs to control the behavior of inmates. . .  It contends that prisoners with disabilities are sometimes isolated in dungeon-like holes splattered with feces and blood and that the inmates live in fear of physical and sexual violence.

Instead of rehabilitation and education, the system of 11 prisons and four camps, with about 6,300 prisoners, had become known for brutality and other abuses. Reports that mentally ill youths were stripped to their underwear and isolated in cages 23 hours a day, that prisoners were subjected to biomedical experiments and sexually and physically abused by guards, and other problems led the state inspector general, Steven White, to conclude that "it would be impossible to overstate the problem." As a result, the California Board of Corrections ordered a review of the Youth Authority by more than 100 experts. (New York Times, 1/26/02, Internet)

Child Rape Charge for Mormon Fundamentalist

Tom Green, the man with five wives, 31 children and two more on the way, is set to be charged with the child rape of one of his wives. Green, 53, a Mormon fundamentalist from Utah, was jailed for five years last August after being convicted of bigamy and failure to pay child support. He was tried and found guilty in May and sentenced to five years in prison for living with five wives at the same time and fraudulently collecting $150,000 in welfare. (Daily Telegraph, 1/12/02, Internet)

News Summaries - group

___________________________________________^

International Cultic Studies Association
News Summaries: group

Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002

News Summaries: February 01-15, 2002

Children

Principles Clash in Attleboro Sect Case

Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, By Globe, 2/3/02, Internet

The ''independent'' investigator appointed by Attleboro Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nassif to assess whether David and Rebecca Corneau were fit parents is a self-styled cult buster committed to luring members away from ''aberrant religious groups.''

The Rev. Robert T. Pardon heads The New England Institute of Religious Research, a ''mission'' he founded to provide ''training in ministering to those caught up in such destructive groups.'' His Web site names the sect to which the Corneaus belong as one such cult.

The court's choice of Pardon to make an ''impartial'' assessment of parental fitness bolsters the couple's contention that bias might have skewed the court's custody decisions. ''Who cares if he's biased,'' responds Carol Yelverton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services. ''He's not some nut; he was educated at Princeton. Our focus is that two babies are dead and we don't want any more.''

The Corneaus are the focus of a debate that pits an individual's right to practice religion against the state's responsibility to protect children. The couple's four known children are in the custody of DSS, placed there after Nassif found them in need of protection from ''a bizarre and dangerous cult.''

. . . Nassif already has awarded custody to the state. ''We can't take chances with a baby's life,'' says Yelverton. ''Given the history, we have to take every precaution. We would do that in any case.''

Well, not every case. Just last week, Eric E.G. James of Roxbury was charged with an assault that left his 2-month-old son near death. James had history. In October 2000, he was living with his girlfriend when her 1-month-old son was beaten to death. That homicide case is still open. DSS found evidence of abuse, but did not keep tabs on Christine Carreiro's roommates or her reproductive state. ''We can't wait by the door to see if a couple has another baby,'' says Yelverton. But didn't DSS do just that in the Corneau case? ''No,'' she says. ''We were called by people who saw her pregnant and in active labor.''

The vigilance of our child protection system, then, is dependent on the presence or absence of nosy neighbors? Or a judge and a guardian ad litem with an agenda.

The conventional role of guardian ad litem is to provide an independent evaluation of a family's situation to the court. Pardon clearly had other interests in October 2000 when Nassif named him guardian for Katerina Corneau, the baby born in a prison hospital after Nassif jailed Rebecca for refusing to submit to medical exams prohibited by her religious beliefs.

''I can testify to you that your beliefs and practices are not consistent with His Word, nor, more profoundly, with His character,'' Pardon wrote to the Corneaus on Dec. 10, 2000, after they declined to meet with him. ''One day all of us will stand before Him and give an account of our lives and the choices we have made ... Lives are being destroyed, David, and all in the Name of God. How God must weep over your decisions.''

Youth Prisons in California Called Abusive

A suit filed in federal court in Sacramento against the California Youth Authority on behalf of 11 prisoners, contends inhumane conditions are pervasive. It describes such practices as the use of cages as classrooms and the forcible injection of mind-altering drugs to control the behavior of inmates. . .  It contends that prisoners with disabilities are sometimes isolated in dungeon-like holes splattered with feces and blood and that the inmates live in fear of physical and sexual violence.

Instead of rehabilitation and education, the system of 11 prisons and four camps, with about 6,300 prisoners, had become known for brutality and other abuses. Reports that mentally ill youths were stripped to their underwear and isolated in cages 23 hours a day, that prisoners were subjected to biomedical experiments and sexually and physically abused by guards, and other problems led the state inspector general, Steven White, to conclude that "it would be impossible to overstate the problem." As a result, the California Board of Corrections ordered a review of the Youth Authority by more than 100 experts. (New York Times, 1/26/02, Internet)

Child Rape Charge for Mormon Fundamentalist

Tom Green, the man with five wives, 31 children and two more on the way, is set to be charged with the child rape of one of his wives. Green, 53, a Mormon fundamentalist from Utah, was jailed for five years last August after being convicted of bigamy and failure to pay child support. He was tried and found guilty in May and sentenced to five years in prison for living with five wives at the same time and fraudulently collecting $150,000 in welfare. (Daily Telegraph, 1/12/02, Internet)

News Summaries - group

___________________________________________^

International Cultic Studies Association
News Summaries: group

Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002

News Summaries: February 01-15, 2002

Children

Principles Clash in Attleboro Sect Case

Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, By Globe, 2/3/02, Internet

The ''independent'' investigator appointed by Attleboro Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nassif to assess whether David and Rebecca Corneau were fit parents is a self-styled cult buster committed to luring members away from ''aberrant religious groups.''

The Rev. Robert T. Pardon heads The New England Institute of Religious Research, a ''mission'' he founded to provide ''training in ministering to those caught up in such destructive groups.'' His Web site names the sect to which the Corneaus belong as one such cult.

The court's choice of Pardon to make an ''impartial'' assessment of parental fitness bolsters the couple's contention that bias might have skewed the court's custody decisions. ''Who cares if he's biased,'' responds Carol Yelverton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services. ''He's not some nut; he was educated at Princeton. Our focus is that two babies are dead and we don't want any more.''

The Corneaus are the focus of a debate that pits an individual's right to practice religion against the state's responsibility to protect children. The couple's four known children are in the custody of DSS, placed there after Nassif found them in need of protection from ''a bizarre and dangerous cult.''

. . . Nassif already has awarded custody to the state. ''We can't take chances with a baby's life,'' says Yelverton. ''Given the history, we have to take every precaution. We would do that in any case.''

Well, not every case. Just last week, Eric E.G. James of Roxbury was charged with an assault that left his 2-month-old son near death. James had history. In October 2000, he was living with his girlfriend when her 1-month-old son was beaten to death. That homicide case is still open. DSS found evidence of abuse, but did not keep tabs on Christine Carreiro's roommates or her reproductive state. ''We can't wait by the door to see if a couple has another baby,'' says Yelverton. But didn't DSS do just that in the Corneau case? ''No,'' she says. ''We were called by people who saw her pregnant and in active labor.''

The vigilance of our child protection system, then, is dependent on the presence or absence of nosy neighbors? Or a judge and a guardian ad litem with an agenda.

The conventional role of guardian ad litem is to provide an independent evaluation of a family's situation to the court. Pardon clearly had other interests in October 2000 when Nassif named him guardian for Katerina Corneau, the baby born in a prison hospital after Nassif jailed Rebecca for refusing to submit to medical exams prohibited by her religious beliefs.

''I can testify to you that your beliefs and practices are not consistent with His Word, nor, more profoundly, with His character,'' Pardon wrote to the Corneaus on Dec. 10, 2000, after they declined to meet with him. ''One day all of us will stand before Him and give an account of our lives and the choices we have made ... Lives are being destroyed, David, and all in the Name of God. How God must weep over your decisions.''

Youth Prisons in California Called Abusive

A suit filed in federal court in Sacramento against the California Youth Authority on behalf of 11 prisoners, contends inhumane conditions are pervasive. It describes such practices as the use of cages as classrooms and the forcible injection of mind-altering drugs to control the behavior of inmates. . .  It contends that prisoners with disabilities are sometimes isolated in dungeon-like holes splattered with feces and blood and that the inmates live in fear of physical and sexual violence.

Instead of rehabilitation and education, the system of 11 prisons and four camps, with about 6,300 prisoners, had become known for brutality and other abuses. Reports that mentally ill youths were stripped to their underwear and isolated in cages 23 hours a day, that prisoners were subjected to biomedical experiments and sexually and physically abused by guards, and other problems led the state inspector general, Steven White, to conclude that "it would be impossible to overstate the problem." As a result, the California Board of Corrections ordered a review of the Youth Authority by more than 100 experts. (New York Times, 1/26/02, Internet)

Child Rape Charge for Mormon Fundamentalist

Tom Green, the man with five wives, 31 children and two more on the way, is set to be charged with the child rape of one of his wives. Green, 53, a Mormon fundamentalist from Utah, was jailed for five years last August after being convicted of bigamy and failure to pay child support. He was tried and found guilty in May and sentenced to five years in prison for living with five wives at the same time and fraudulently collecting $150,000 in welfare. (Daily Telegraph, 1/12/02, Internet)

News Summaries - group

___________________________________________^

International Cultic Studies Association
News Summaries: group

Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002

News Summaries: February 01-15, 2002

Children

Principles Clash in Attleboro Sect Case

Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, By Globe, 2/3/02, Internet

The ''independent'' investigator appointed by Attleboro Juvenile Court Judge Kenneth P. Nassif to assess whether David and Rebecca Corneau were fit parents is a self-styled cult buster committed to luring members away from ''aberrant religious groups.''

The Rev. Robert T. Pardon heads The New England Institute of Religious Research, a ''mission'' he founded to provide ''training in ministering to those caught up in such destructive groups.'' His Web site names the sect to which the Corneaus belong as one such cult.

The court's choice of Pardon to make an ''impartial'' assessment of parental fitness bolsters the couple's contention that bias might have skewed the court's custody decisions. ''Who cares if he's biased,'' responds Carol Yelverton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services. ''He's not some nut; he was educated at Princeton. Our focus is that two babies are dead and we don't want any more.''

The Corneaus are the focus of a debate that pits an individual's right to practice religion against the state's responsibility to protect children. The couple's four known children are in the custody of DSS, placed there after Nassif found them in need of protection from ''a bizarre and dangerous cult.''

. . . Nassif already has awarded custody to the state. ''We can't take chances with a baby's life,'' says Yelverton. ''Given the history, we have to take every precaution. We would do that in any case.''

Well, not every case. Just last week, Eric E.G. James of Roxbury was charged with an assault that left his 2-month-old son near death. James had history. In October 2000, he was living with his girlfriend when her 1-month-old son was beaten to death. That homicide case is still open. DSS found evidence of abuse, but did not keep tabs on Christine Carreiro's roommates or her reproductive state. ''We can't wait by the door to see if a couple has another baby,'' says Yelverton. But didn't DSS do just that in the Corneau case? ''No,'' she says. ''We were called by people who saw her pregnant and in active labor.''

The vigilance of our child protection system, then, is dependent on the presence or absence of nosy neighbors? Or a judge and a guardian ad litem with an agenda.

The conventional role of guardian ad litem is to provide an independent evaluation of a family's situation to the court. Pardon clearly had other interests in October 2000 when Nassif named him guardian for Katerina Corneau, the baby born in a prison hospital after Nassif jailed Rebecca for refusing to submit to medical exams prohibited by her religious beliefs.

''I can testify to you that your beliefs and practices are not consistent with His Word, nor, more profoundly, with His character,'' Pardon wrote to the Corneaus on Dec. 10, 2000, after they declined to meet with him. ''One day all of us will stand before Him and give an account of our lives and the choices we have made ... Lives are being destroyed, David, and all in the Name of God. How God must weep over your decisions.''

Youth Prisons in California Called Abusive

A suit filed in federal court in Sacramento against the California Youth Authority on behalf of 11 prisoners, contends inhumane conditions are pervasive. It describes such practices as the use of cages as classrooms and the forcible injection of mind-altering drugs to control the behavior of inmates. . .  It contends that prisoners with disabilities are sometimes isolated in dungeon-like holes splattered with feces and blood and that the inmates live in fear of physical and sexual violence.

Instead of rehabilitation and education, the system of 11 prisons and four camps, with about 6,300 prisoners, had become known for brutality and other abuses. Reports that mentally ill youths were stripped to their underwear and isolated in cages 23 hours a day, that prisoners were subjected to biomedical experiments and sexually and physically abused by guards, and other problems led the state inspector general, Steven White, to conclude that "it would be impossible to overstate the problem." As a result, the California Board of Corrections ordered a review of the Youth Authority by more than 100 experts. (New York Times, 1/26/02, Internet)

Child Rape Charge for Mormon Fundamentalist

Tom Green, the man with five wives, 31 children and two more on the way, is set to be charged with the child rape of one of his wives. Green, 53, a Mormon fundamentalist from Utah, was jailed for five years last August after being convicted of bigamy and failure to pay child support. He was tried and found guilty in May and sentenced to five years in prison for living with five wives at the same time and fraudulently collecting $150,000 in welfare. (Daily Telegraph, 1/12/02, Internet)

News Summaries - group

___________________________________________^