It Is In Their DNA

Trigger Warning. This entire post is full of triggers about SA and just regular abuse.

Today is the one year anniversary of the sentencing of Danny Masterson. He is eligible for parole in 2040. I hope he isn’t ever released. Why do I care?

Because what Masterson did was not unique. Scientology is riddled with victims of abuse. Danny’s conviction was the prompt that started me talking.

Since I left Scientology in 2024, I had kept mostly silent about what happened while I was in. I tried, in 2012, to tell a little of my story. People talked about me on a message board where I wasn’t even telling my story. I deleted my entire story and didn’t talk again for 12 years. Because of this, I had decided I would never tell what happened to me.

But those brave women got on the stand and talked. They talked despite being called liars. When a mistrial was declared, they came back and talked again, braving panic attacks on the stand. And this time, Masterson went to prison. If you haven’t read what went down in the courtroom that day, please do. And be sure to keep reading to this part where a female judge tells Masterson he was not wrongly accused. Her speech is pure poetry.

After reading that, consider this. Masterson was protected by Scientology for years while his victims were punished. He wasn’t the first person to receive this treatment. How do I know this? Read my story. Not one but two of my abusers were protected by Scientology.

When the LAPD walked into the ER in Los Angeles in 1977, they saw me bleeding. The minute they became aware of my Scientology handlers, they left without taking a report. My handlers convinced me to check out AMA with no pain medication and no follow up. That was standard procedure. That was 47 years ago.

The next morning, I was punished by Scientology for making my husband angry enough to hurt me. That was also standard procedure. The victim was the one who got the punishment.

I was not alone. Even back then, most of the abusers got away with it. Anthony Strawn was a serial abuser. He was eventually caught and prosecuted for a few of his abuses. He died shortly after his release from prison.

Several horror stories have emerged from Scientology’s version of daycare for the children of the elite Sea Organization workers. There are tales of neglect but also abuse. Even the mother of the now deceased Alexander Jentzsch has told of him being sexually abused. Alexander was the son of the President of Scientology! He died a preventable death because of Scientology.

Abuse is in Scientology’s DNA. It was there when Hubbard threw people overboard at sea. It was there when he locked children in dark chain lockers for days. As long as we continue to turn a blind eye, it will continue.

Scientology is not a religion. It should not have the freedoms granted a religious organization as it has long since shown it abuses these freedoms. No one, male or female deserves the treatment Scientologists routinely receive. They are made to feel they deserve it. I was going to insert large pieces of what each victim said here, because it those words echoed my experience. But I will end with the quote from a very brave JD1:

I had a list of more to share, but I don’t think I’m required to rip my soul completely open to illustrate just how much the actions of the defendant can both nearly end a life or destroy so many aspects of one’s life. And we who do survive to fight back are left shattered in a billion pieces.