A new report has emerged following the arrest and charging of Danny Masterson on three counts of rape, detailing how the Church of Scientology allegedly used intimidation and manipulation tactics in attempts to silence his accusers and cover up his alleged sexual assaults.
As per Page Six, once the charges were laid following Masterson’s arrest on June 17, claims began to surface about the ways that the church attempted to suppress the allegations against him so they didn’t get out of the confines of the church.
Four of his accusers filed a civil lawsuit against both Danny Masterson and the Church of Scientology in August of 2019, claiming the church was made aware of the sexual assault allegations when they happened, which the church then tried to cover up.
The lawsuit also claims that the church harassed the accusers once they had taken their allegations to authorities.
Masterson’s former partner, Chrissie Carnell Bixler, is the only victim named in the filing and claims that church members stalked her, spat on her, and threatened to blackmail her with underage nude photographs of her. She also alleges that the church and its members contributed to the deaths of two of her family’s pets.
Former church member Geoff Levin explained to Page Six that when issues like sexual assault arose within the church’s members, it was protocol to deal with it in-house. Levin said accusers would be taken through “security checks”, which usually involved brainwashing and gaslighting to force them into believing they’d brought it upon themselves.
“Maybe you’d be directed into finding that, 10 million years ago, you enslaved a whole city and allowed your soldiers to rape all the women,” he said.
“That is the reason why this is happening to you now. It is brainwashing to the nth degree.”
The church’s alleged attempts to cover up the allegations may also factor into why the claims against Masterson didn’t come to light until nearly 20 years after they occurred.
The church has also responded to the Page Six reports, denying all claims against it from the civil suit.
Surveillance tactics used by Scientology church members have been previously detailed in Louis Theroux‘s ‘My Scientology Movie‘, which saw him and ex-Scientologists followed, filmed, threatened, and harassed by members of the church.
