Ryan Hamilton files lawsuit 16 against Scientology’s drug rehab network

He’s like a machine. Since late January, Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton has filed sixteen federal fraud lawsuits against Scientology’s drug rehab network. The latest was filed this weekend, and we have the details.

In February of this year, Jerry Courson went looking for a suitable rehab program for his wife, Christy, and found himself talking to a Narconon “Fresh Start” recruiter, in this case about Narconon’s facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, which is also known as “A Life Worth Saving.”

Like so many others, Jerry was told that Fresh Start had a 76-percent success rate, and that Christy would receive “extensive counseling.”

The Coursons were told about Fresh Start’s sauna program, which was supposed to be based on scientific principles and would eliminate Christy’s craving for drugs.

And like so many others, once Christy began the program (after the couple paid $33,000 up front), Christy was given Scientology training instead of drug counseling. Documents, meanwhile, show that Narconon’s own legal experts have admitted that the high success rates have no basis, and the sauna program is not based on scientific principles.

Christy became increasingly alarmed by the strange “treatments” she was being subjected to at Fresh Start and the unprofessional conduct of staff. During one of the drills or “Training Routines” Fresh Start used to “treat” Christy, staff and students sexually harassed her repeatedly. During TR0, known as “bullbaiting,” staff and other students repeatedly told Christy that she had a mouth that looked like she could perform fellatio well.

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Another patient with whom Christy was paired for this Training Routine even went so far as to attempt to get Christy to believe that he was going to take off his pants and expose himself to her during the exercise. The patient engaged in this conduct in front of the Fresh Start staff member who was supervising the exercise. As part of this episode, Fresh Start staff even led a chant about Christy engaging in sexual conduct in front of various other patients and staff members. Christy, married to Plaintiff Jerry Courson, was deeply humiliated. Her husband felt incredibly outraged and guilty that he had found the Fresh Start facility that subjected his wife to this behavior.

Despite paying a substantial sum of money for treatment, Plaintiffs removed Christy from the program on or about March 8, 2014. Plaintiffs removed Christy from the program because it was unsafe, it bore no resemblance to what Plaintiffs had been promised, and was hurting rather than helping Christy.

Here’s the complaint…

Courson v. Narconon: Complaint

 
By our count, that’s sixteen federal lawsuits Hamilton has filed against Narconon in California, Nevada, and Colorado.

Angelo Amato (San Diego)
Christy Estrada and Branden Chavez (San Diego)
Cathy and Michael Tarr (Nevada)
Harry and Lauren Geanacopulos (Nevada)
David, Stacy, and Jack Welch (Nevada)
Bryan and Nikki Mott (Colorado)
Charles and Tyler Matthys, and Linda Phillips (Colorado)
Kenneth and Jered Mowery (Watsonville, CA)
Robin Jones, James Ramirez Sr. and Jr. (Watsonville, CA)
Charis Yates, Beret and Dean Pugh (Nevada)
Lori, Ryan, and Jilliene Winchell (Nevada)
Ben Levy (Colorado)
Monica and Sean O’Connell (Watsonville, CA)
Ronald and Jason McClure (Nevada)
Michael and David Tino (Nevada)

 
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Mark Bunker reworks CCHR’s new video

Now this is something we’d like to see more of! Mark Bunker — a/k/a Wise Beard Man — decided that yesterday’s new video ad from Scientology’s anti-psychiatry front group, CCHR, could do with a reworking.

We think you’re going to like the result!

 
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Arte Maren proves the Guardian Office means never having to say you’re sorry

Our thanks to the tipster who sent in this advertisement for Arte Maren’s latest seminar in Clearwater, Florida, which is happening on Saturday!

Arte includes his bio at the end of his ad, but it’s funny that he left out the most interesting part.

Back in the late 1970s, Arte was named by the government as one of the unindicted co-conspirators in Scientology’s audacious infiltration of federal offices from 1974 to 1977. L. Ron Hubbard dreamed up the Snow White Program in 1973, and the next year members of his “Guardian Office” began breaking into federal offices in earnest. The FBI eventually got wind of what was going on when a GO agent turned witness, and then raided Scientology 37 years ago today, on July 8, 1977.

Eventually, eleven top Scientology and GO executives went to prison, including Hubbard’s wife, Mary Sue. And more than 30 lower-level GO operatives were named as unindicted co-conspirators, including Arte.

But hey, why talk about being part of one of the biggest spy operations ever taken down by the FBI when you can brag about working for Del Taco?

 
Here’s the video that Arte uses to introduce his services. He’s good!

 
Hey, if you take Arte’s seminar, we’d love to hear how it goes!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 8, 2014 at 07:00

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