Scientology leader David Miscavige can’t be found, lawyers say
Lawyers say they have been unable to serve the longtime Church of Scientology leader with a trafficking lawsuit
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Your support makes all the difference.Attorneys in Florida say they have tried unsuccessfully to serve Scientology leader David Miscavige with a federal trafficking lawsuit 27 times in the past four months, according to a Tampa Bay Times report.
Security guards at 10 Church of Scientology headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, and in California have refused to accept legal documents from process servers and claimed they didn’t know where Mr Miscavige lives or works, the Bay Times notes.
Three former Scientologists filed a lawsuit in April alleging they were forced to work for the organisation from the age of 10 until adulthood for little or no pay, while suffering verbal and physical abuse.
Gawain Baxter, who is suing the church with wife Laura Baxter and a third plaintiff Valeska Paris, said in a statement released through his attorney that he was forced to sign a document at the age of six pledging to work for the Church of Scientology for one billion years.
He said he began working in low or unpaid labour for the Scientology’s Cadet Org from the age of 10 while being forced to attend “expensive indoctrination sessions”.
The Baxters later worked for the church’s military-style Sea Org before leaving in 2012.
“Growing up in Scientology, being separated from my family and subjected to severe verbal and physical abuse has scarred me in ways that I am still working through and uncovering,” Mr Baxter said in a statement released in April. “All the while, Scientology continues to abuse and exploit its members, including young children, and does so with virtually unchecked power.”
The Tampa Bay Times reported that legal papers have been served to five church entities named as co-defendants in the trafficking lawsuit.
They have requested that the lawsuit be pushed into “internal arbitration” before a panel of Scientologist members.
However, a judge has yet to rule on that filing as the plaintiff’s attorneys have not been able to locate Mr Miscavige, the Bay Times reports.
Neil Glazer, an attorney for the plaintiffs, has asked the court to consider Mr Miscavige has been served and is in default at a court hearing scheduled in a Tampa federal court for 20 January.
“Miscavige cannot be permitted to continue his gamesmanship,” Mr Glazer wrote in a 13 December court filing, The Tampa Bay Times reports.
The Independent has contacted the Church of Scientology for comment.
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