Plaintiff in ‘forced marriage’ lawsuit against Church of Scientology can remain anonymous
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LOS ANGELES (CN) — A woman suing the Church of Scientology on claims of sexual abuse that occurred when she was a minor will remain unnamed, after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied a motion to publicly name her.
Jane Doe says she was groomed and sexually assaulted by a then-26-year-old man, Gavin Potter — a recruiter for Sea Org, an elite unit within the church — when she was 16 years old. Doe says in her complaint that when church officials learned of the incident, she and Potter were given a choice: be assigned to a work camp for misbehaving Sea Org members or get married.
“That same day, Jane Doe’s ‘Port Captain’ arranged for Jane Doe, Gavin Potter, and Jane Doe’s mother to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, to complete the marriage,” Jane Doe wrote in the complaint. “After the brief ceremony, the group immediately returned to Los Angeles, and Jane Doe went back to work.”
Doe is suing Potter, the Church of Scientology and the church’s leader, David Miscavige.
In July, the Church of Scientology submitted a written declaration by the plaintiff’s mother, Ruth Speidel, who is still a member of the church. Speidel called her daughter’s complaint “a work of fiction,” adding, “She was deeply in love with Gavin.”
Speidel claims that it was she herself who planned not one but two weddings, the first in Las Vegas for legal purposes, the second a “lavish” wedding in Los Angeles 2 1/2 months later at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, with 350 guests in attendance. Speidel went on to accuse her daughter of abandoning her daughter, of leading a “wild, promiscuous life,” of leaving her husband and marrying another Scientologist, and at one point stealing $10,000 worth of Speidel’s jewelry.
Potter had filed the motion for the plaintiff’s real name to be publicly revealed and used in court filings.
Content retrieved from: https://www.courthousenews.com/plaintiff-in-forced-marriage-lawsuit-against-church-of-scientology-can-remain-anonymous/.
