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February 20, 2007
Prison terms for fatal exorcism
From L.A. Times Wire Reports
http://www.latimes.com/news/
printedition/asection/la-fg-
briefs20.5feb20,1,5851332.
story?coll=la-news-a_
section&ctrack=1&cset=true
February 20, 2007
A Romanian priest who in 2005 led a days-long exorcism ritual for a young nun that ended with the woman's death was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Maricica Irina Cornici, 23, had been chained to a cross and deprived of food and water.
Cornici believed that she heard the devil talking to her. She was treated for schizophrenia, but when she relapsed, Daniel Petru Corogeanu — a monk who served as the priest for the secluded Holy Trinity convent — and four other nuns tried exorcism.
One nun got eight years in prison and the other three got five years.
Posted by Perry at 04:11 PM
February 14, 2007
Girl 'told sex with mystic was God's will'
APP
http://www.news.com.au/story/
0,23599,21226167-2,00.html
By Lisa Allan
February 14, 2007
A SELF-proclaimed prophet who claimed to receive messages from the Virgin Mary began a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old follower he selected to be one of his "queens", a Sydney court has heard.
William Kamm, also known as Little Pebble, is accused of having sex with the girl when she was living with her family in a religious community he established at Cambewarra, near Nowra, on the New South Wales south coast.
Mr Kamm created the community, the Order of Saint Charbel, in the late 1980s and planned to take 12 queens and 72 princesses who would all conceive his children, the NSW District Court heard today.
Followers would meet on the 13th day of every month when Mr Kamm would receive messages from the Virgin Mary, Crown Prosecutor Sara Bowers said.
Ms Bowers said Mr Kamm's teachings were central to the case against him.
"He thought the world was about to come to an end but that he and his community would survive and that through the accused a new race of people would come into being," she said.
In a letter he wrote in 1994, Mr Kamm claimed the law of God was suspended for him in regard to marriage, Ms Bowers said.
"I am permitted to have intercourse with all princesses without violating the law," she said, citing the letter.
"All will conceive their children from me, even the married ones, because I carry the holy seed."
The victim, who began living in the community when she was 12, was approached by Mr Kamm at the age of 13 to become a princess and eventually a queen, the court heard.
In July 1994, Mr Kamm took the girl, then 14, to a motel at Figtree, near Wollongong, and attempted to coax her into having sex with him, the court heard.
After she refused he said he was very disappointed and told her it was "God's will," Ms Bowers said.
Later that month he again took the girl to the motel where he had sexual intercourse with her, the court heard.
He also had sexual intercourse with her at his home in the Cambewarra community in January 1995 when she was 15, the court heard.
Mr Kamm, 56, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of having sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16 under his authority and one count of committing an act of indecency.
Acting for Mr Kamm, Greg Stanton told the jury of eight men and four women that although they may findMr Kamm's claim he was a "modern day prophet" peculiar, they should not judge him on his beliefs.
Mr Stanton said the alleged victim had taken her story to two media outlets before going to police in 2002.
He said the woman had been paid for her story by the Seven Network's Today Tonight.
"I think it's called cashbook journalism," he said.
Mr Stanton said the woman's story also contained inconsistencies regarding when the alleged sexual conduct began.
The trial before Justice Ronald Solomon resumes tomorrow.
Posted by Perry at 05:30 PM
December 20, 2006
Swiss conductor acquitted in sect killings
Swissinfo
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/
Swiss_conductor_acquitted_in_sect_killings.html?
siteSect=105&sid=7369644&cKey=1166627893000
December 20, 2006
Swiss orchestra conductor Michel Tabachnik has been cleared of criminal involvement in the deaths of 16 members of a doomsday cult in France.
An appeals court in France on Wednesday upheld the verdict of a lower court, which in 2001 acquitted Tabachnik over the deaths of members of the Swiss-based Order of the Solar Temple.
Tabachnik, who admitted to belonging to the Solar Temple cult, was accused of encouraging cult members to "a transit towards the star Sirius"- a reference to mass suicide.
He stood trial in 2001, but was cleared of charges of conspiring to brainwash 74 followers of the group into accepting death by occult ritual.
At the new trial in Grenoble he faced new charges relating to 16 cult members, three of them children, whose charred remains were discovered in the French Alps in December 1995. It came after prosecutors appealed against his original acquittal.
The appeal came to court after numerous delays caused by the indictment in Paris of the main psychiatric expert responsible for overseeing the Order of the Solar Temple case.
Notorious
The Solar Temple cult gained worldwide notoriety between September 1994 and March 1997 when the burnt bodies of 74 of its members were found in Switzerland, Canada and then France.
Several had been shot in the head or asphyxiated, and many had been drugged, in what were apparently ritual murders, although some were thought to have been willing participants in the supposed mass suicides.
The two founders of the sect, Luc Jouret and Jo Di Mambro, were among the dead. They had allegedly extorted followers of their money and convinced them that they must die by burning to attain bliss in the afterworld.
At his trial in 2001, Tabachnik denied accusations of indoctrination. He also rejected charges that his writings – inspired by a mixture of the occult, and New Age and esoteric theories – had prepared the way for the cult members' deaths.
Swiss authorities investigating the deaths of 48 cult members who perished in two apparent mass-suicides in cantons Valais and Fribourg in 1994 failed to establish any link between the cult and Tabachnik, but a French investigating magistrate decided there was enough evidence to put the conductor on trial.
Tabachnik, who studied under conductor Pierre Boulez and composer Iannis Xenakis, has led the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lorraine and orchestras in Canada and New York.
swissinfo with agencies
--------------------------------------------
CHRONOLOGY OF THE SOLAR TEMPLE AFFAIR
1983 – The Belgian Luc Jouret and Frenchman Joseph De Mambro found a secret order in Geneva combining several groups. In 1990 the sect is named the Order of the Solar Temple.
September 30, 1994 – A 35-year-old Swiss man, his wife and three-month-old child are murdered in Morin Heights in Québec in an apartment belonging to Di Mambro. Four days later a Swiss couple are also found dead in the same location.
October 5, 1994 - 23 bodies are discovered in a burnt-out farm in Cheiry in canton Fribourg. The same day 25 bodies, including those of Jouret and Di Mambro, are found in Salvan in canton Valais.
December 23, 1995 - 16 bodies are discovered in a star formation in the Vercors region in France.
April 3, 1996 – According to the three Swiss judges in charge of the case in Switzerland, none of the people responsible for the massacres survived.
March 22, 1997 – Five bodies are discovered in a house belonging to a cult member in St Casimir in Québec. In total, 74 cult members died (30 Swiss, 30 French and ten Canadians).
July 3 2000 – Michel Tabachnik is ordered to appear before the Grenoble court for "criminal association", accused of being one of the cult leaders.
June 25, 2001 – The Grenoble court acquits Tabachnik of "criminal association". The prosecutor's office lodges an appeal.
December 20, 2006 - Grenoble appeals court upholds Tabachnik's acquittal.
Posted by Perry at 02:41 PM
Tabachnik relaxé en appel au procès de l'Ordre du temple solaire
L'Express
http://www.lexpress.fr/info/infojour/reuters.asp?id=33746&1435
Reuters
mercredi 20 décembre 2006
La cour d'appel de Grenoble a relaxé le chef d'orchestre franco-suisse Michel Tabachnik, jugé dans le dossier visant la mort de 74 adeptes de la secte de l'Ordre du temple solaire (OTS) de 1994 à 1997.
Le parquet général de Grenoble avait abandonné implicitement l'accusation le 31 octobre dans un réquisitoire de deux heures et demie.
L'avocat général Jean-Pierre Mélendez avait estimé que le prévenu, seule personne jamais poursuivie dans une affaire qui avait fait grand bruit, n'était pas un membre important de la secte.
Me Francis Szpiner, avocat du chef d'orchestre qui dénonce un "délit d'opinion", avait ensuite plaidé sa relaxe.
Le 25 juin 2001, en première instance, le tribunal correctionnel de Grenoble avait relaxé Michel Tabachnik, contre l'avis du parquet qui avait demandé cinq ans de prison ferme. Ce dernier avait fait appel.
Poursuivi pour "participation à une association de malfaiteurs en vue de commettre des assassinats", le chef d'orchestre se voyait reprocher d'avoir incité les adeptes de la secte à se suicider ou à accepter une mise à mort, par ses écrits ou ses discours.
Les massacres de l'OTS ont eu lieu dans trois pays : cinq morts le 30 septembre 1994 à Morin Heights, au Canada, 48 morts les 3 et 4 octobre 1994 à Cheiry et Salvan, en Suisse, 16 morts le 16 décembre 1995 en France, dans le Vercors, à Saint-Pierre-de-Chérennes, et enfin cinq morts le 22 mars 1997 à Saint-Casimir, au Canada.
Posted by Perry at 02:37 PM
December 17, 2006
Child Sex-Abuse Cases Rock Ozarks Religious Group
by Doualy Xaykaothao
NPR - All Things Considered
http://www.npr.org/templates/
story/story.php?storyId=6625955
December 14, 2006
In southwest Missouri, police are investigating allegations of child sexual abuse involving church leaders and church members. Prosecutors in two counties say there are multiple victims and similar patterns of abuse.
Some of the alleged sexual contact may have been committed as part of a ritual or ceremony, crimes that are rare in the United States. NPR has reviewed extensive legal documents in these cases over several months and also talked to most of the accusers, as well as some of the accused.
The area of Missouri where the cases surfaced has been home to extremist and fringe groups in the past. Data show that a high number of cases of child sexual abuse in the same area are reported annually to the Department of Social Services. What makes this story different is that almost all the accusers -- five so far -- and the accused -- five in total -- are related by blood or marriage.
Newton County's Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Bill Dobbs says complicated family ties are involved in the cases.
"We have, in McDonald County, Raymond Lambert, who is married to his stepsister," Dobbs says. "We have George Johnston, who is an uncle to Raymond Lambert. It is alleged by some members of that community that the religious leaders may, in fact, be the biological parents of several children who have been born into this group."
Our story focuses mostly on the pastors Raymond Lambert and his uncle George Johnston. Both men are charged with multiple counts of statutory sodomy or child molestation. Pastor Lambert led his flock on a 100-acre farm. Pastor Johnston led his on a 10-acre farm. They ministered in the family's Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church.
A Close-Knit, Isolated Community
Earlier this year in the spring, 10 people secretly moved out of the 100-acre farm. Most of those left behind were shocked, since members of the religious community were unusually close.
A woman who left with this group agreed to be interviewed, but only on condition of anonymity. NPR agreed to this because she fears for her and her family's safety. She is also an alleged victim named in one of the child sexual-abuse cases. The woman, in her late 20s, says she fled because she realized her extended family was behaving like a religious cult.
"They operate in a cult-like fashion," she tells NPR. "Raymond Lambert sets all the rules for the people who live there. He tells you what to go to school for, he tells you who to marry. He basically controls your life."
Continue reading "Child Sex-Abuse Cases Rock Ozarks Religious Group"
Posted by Perry at 04:51 PM
November 24, 2006
'Cult' fights claims of child sacrifice
The Age, Australia
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/
cult-fights-claims-of-child-sacrifice/
2006/11/21/1163871404937.html
by Barney Zwartz
November 22, 2006
AN ANTI-CHILD-SEX campaigner accused an occult religious group of hosting parties at which naked children acted as waiters and at which members had sex with and murdered children, a tribunal was told yesterday.
The obscure group Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) claims Dr Reina Michaelson and the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program described it in a website article as a satanic cult that sacrificed children and ate their organs and blood.
It has complained under Victoria's religious hatred law that Dr Michaelson and her organisation vilified OTO members, causing revulsion, ridicule, hatred and contempt.
According to OTO's statement of complaint, Dr Michaelson said it was not a religion but a child pornography and pedophile ring, that its members practised trauma-based mind control, sexual abuse and satanic rituals to discourage its victims from complaining to the authorities, and that it condoned kidnapping street children and babies and children from orphanages for sex and sacrifice in religious rituals.
The case began at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal yesterday, but was adjourned to today to allow a last-ditch attempt to settle out of court.
The article, still accessible on a website run from NSW, suggests senior politicians and television celebrities are part of a top-level pedophile ring and have been protected by some police. It says some members of the ring pretended to support Dr Michaelson's campaign and became board members of her group to subvert it from within.
Adam Paszkowski, for Dr Michaelson, who was named Young Australian of the Year in 1997 for founding the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program, said the article was published on the website "without her knowledge or consent or authority".
Dr Michaelson last year called for a royal commission to investigate her claims that Victoria Police did not properly investigate pedophile ring allegations.
Earlier complaints led to a report by the police ombudsman in 2004 that was highly critical of two senior detectives.
OTO members follow a religion known as Thelema, founded by occultist Aleister Crowley.
Posted by Perry at 05:48 PM
October 27, 2006
Trial highlights Canadian cult link
More than 70 Solar Temple members died in ritual murders and suicide blazes
Toronto Star
Oct. 25, 2006.
SEAN GORDON, QUEBEC BUREAU CHIEF
MONTREAL—The chilling ritual known within the Order of the Solar Temple as "transit to Sirius" — a distant star where members of the doomsday cult believed they would live eternally once their souls were cleansed by flames — was first practised in the Laurentian hills north of Montreal.
It was a frigid October morning in 1994, and after fire crews tamed a raging blaze at a condo in the cottage-country town of Morin Heights, Que., they made a sickening discovery: five bodies, including that of a baby.
More than a decade later, a conductor who once taught at the University of Toronto and directed the Canadian Opera Company's orchestra is facing a second trial for his alleged role in a rash of deaths in Quebec, France and Switzerland.
Michel Tabachnik, a 62-year-old Franco-Swiss conductor and composer, is alleged to have intimate ties to the Order of the Solar Temple, a shadowy international cult that shot to prominence in the mid-1990s after dozens of its adherents died in several waves of mass suicide.
Continue reading "Trial highlights Canadian cult link"
Posted by Perry at 04:45 PM
October 23, 2006
Doomsday cult leader Tabachnik back in court/OTS: le procès en appel de Michel Tabachnik s'ouvre mardi
[French version follows]
October 23, 2006
AFP http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=53979
GRENOBLE, France - Franco-Swiss conductor Michel Tabachnik is due to go back on trial in France on Tuesday, four years after he was acquitted of conspiring to brainwash 74 members of the Solar Temple doomsday cult into accepting death by occult ritual.
The 64-year-old musician is now being charged with "criminal conspiracy" in relation to 16 of those cult members, three of them children, whose charred bodies were discovered in the French Alps in 1995.
On June 25, 2001, French judges cleared Tabachnik of the brainwashing charges due to lack of evidence. But prosecutors, which had accused him of playing a key role in convincing cult members willingly to go to their deaths, lodged an appeal.
The new court case, in the southwestern city of Grenoble, was expected to last two weeks.
The Solar Temple gained worldwide notoriety between 1994 and 1997, when the burnt bodies of 74 of its members were found in remote woodland clearings in Switzerland, Canada and then France.
Posted by Perry at 02:44 PM