I have screenshots of the original document, with Blocksom's signature on it.
DECLARATION OF MARK BLOCKSOM
I, Mark Blocksom, hereby declare the following:
1. I worked as a deprogrammer from approximately 1979 to
1989.Deprogramming was my primary source of income during that period. I
was affiliated with groups of people who were starting up national
organizations to combat the various religious groups that we considered
cults.
2. I was a member of a group known as the Family Tree from approximately
1977 to 1979. This was basically a rehabilitation and family therapy
group located in Toledo, Ohio. The group began to exercise what I
considered to be mind control tactics over my life, and I left the group
on my own volition after numerous discussions with close personal
friends, Joe Alexander, Jr., and Tim Lush, both of whom worked as
deprogrammers.
3. After leaving the Family Tree, I went to Rancho Libertad, which was
another rehabilitation center in Phoenix, Arizona. This centerwas
operated by George and Doug Hoeffling, and was frequently used as a rehab
center by Joe Alexander, Jr. and Tim Lush. Alexander had been sued
numerous times due to his deprogramming activities, and was indicted for
kidnapping in Denver, Colorado in 1981.
4. After I completed my treatment at Rancho Libertad, I began working
there as a staff member. Shortly after I started work there, I began to
be interested in the deprogramming work that Joe and Tim were doing. I
began to accompany them on some of their jobs, and soon I was familiar
with the tactics of voluntary and involuntary deprogramming.
5. While working at Rancho Libertad, I began taking some of the calls for
deprogramming work Joe Alexander, Jr. could not handle because of his
heavy schedule. I began work as a full¬time deprogrammer in approximately
1979. Joe Alexander, Jr. had been sued many times for his deprogramming
activities, and had been indicted for kidnapping in Denver, Colorado in
1981. (See Attachment #1)
6. I first became aware of the organization now known as the Cult
Awareness Network (CAN) during its formative years, when it was known as
Citizen's Freedom Foundation (CFF). I knew many persons who were
affiliated with CFF, such as Ted Patrick, Priscilla Coates, and John
Sweeney, and Cynthia Kisser. In my opinion, it was about 1983-1984 that
CAN really started to be an organized, national group.
7. I became very active in my deprogramming activities during the early
1980's. The standard method by which I received referrals for involuntary
deprogrammings was via phone calls to the "good old boy" network (CFF,
and later, CAN members or the affiliates), who would then refer the
caller to a non-CFF/non-CAN person (usually a family member of prior
successful case), who would then call me and arrange the deprogramming.
This "cut out" system was created to insulate CFF/CAN from legal
liabilities.
It was an "unwritten" guideline that the deprogrammers did not ever
directly affiliate themselves with CFF or CAN for reason of legal
repercussions if a deprogramming failed, or received some bad press
coverage. This guideline was tacitly agreed upon by the members of
CFF/CAN and the deprogrammers as a method for CFF/CAN to maintain the
fiction that it was not involved in or aware of illegal kidnapping
actions.
8. I, and the persons I worked and associated with, including members of
CFF/CAN, were very well aware of the fact that these involuntary
deprogrammings employed the illegal tactics of kidnapping and unlawful
detention.
9. Some deprogrammers used techniques of sleep and food deprivation,
humiliation, ridicule, deprivation of privacy, and in some cases,
physical abuse and restraint to accomplish their goal of altering a
persons religious views. I did not agree with and did not use these
methods.
10. Generally, payment from parents or family members was made in the
form of cash, so there would be no record of the event. My average fee
during these years was about $3,500.00, and the average total
deprogramming fee would run from $10,000.00 to $20,000.00, depending on
the cost of the "security" arrangements.
11. I worked directly with certain individuals on actual kidnapping type
deprogrammings, where the target had been physically restrained, and
then held against his/her will while being deprogrammed. On at least two
of these occasions, I used the farm home of Priscilla Coates in upstate
New York, as a safe house to complete the deprogramming. At this time,
Coates was the Executive Director of CFF/CAN.
On one of these cases that I can recall, in about 1981 or 1982, our team
had kidnapped a young Puerto Rican girl, who 3 months pregnant, from the
Hare Krishnas. She was held against her will at the farm house owned by
Priscilla Coates. The team consisted of myself, Danny Graham, and Tim
Lush. After the deprogramming, we took the girl to a rehab center in
Akron, Ohio, that was run by Debbie Heller. Debbie was very active in CFF
at the time. As was customary at the time, I paid Priscilla Coates about
$250.00-$300.00 for the use of her home. I recall that after the girl had
completed her time at the Heller's rehab center, she went to Michigan and
got an abortion.
12. Cynthia Kisser, who is now the national director of CAN, assisted me
on at least 2 kidnapping type deprogramming involving members of the Way
International. On one of these cases, where we had been holding the
person against their will in the basement of a home in Wisconsin, she
actually came and spent two days helping with the case. It was because of
Kisser's involvement that we were able to complete the deprogramming. I
specifically recall this case because the target had been struggling
quite a bit. I believe these actions took place in the time frame of
about 1981¬1982.
13. Both kisser and Coates were involved in giving me referrals for
involuntary deprogrammings prior to the actual formation of CAN, while
the organization was still more "loose-knit", operating as CFF. They were
both, in my opinion, fully aware that the parents they sent to me as
referrals were planning to have their children/family member kidnapped or
unlawfully detained. I was aware through informal word of mouth referrals
that Cynthia Kisser had been running several of her own deprogrammings.
14. I have also worked with Joseph Szimhart, Dennis Allen, Galen Kelly,
Joe Flanagan, Karen Reinhardt, Bob Brandyberry, Pat Ryan, Kevin Garvey,
and Randy Burkey; most all of these cases being involuntary
deprogrammings. I have personnal knowledge that each of these individuals
was closely affiliated with CFF/CAN.
15. Many of us in the deprogramming field would frequently attend the
CFF/CAN conferences and conventions, both regional and national.
At these conventions, we would speak to parents and other attendees,
for the purpose of soliciting deprogramming business, or at least
making our availability known in anti-cult circles. Many of us involves
in deprogramming were actually guest speakers, or served on discussion
panels where deprogramming was discussed. I was a speaker on
"exit counseling" at the 1985 CAN convention. This was a play on
words, as it was well known that most all of my deprogrammings were
involuntary. (see Attachment #2)
During the time period of my involvement with the field of deprogramming,
based upon my direct knowledge and working experience, any statement
issued by CFF/CAN officials that indicates they were unaware of
deprogrammings being set up through their group is simply untrue.
16. I have been arrested at least 5 times for kidnapping related charges.
I have never even gone to trial in even one of these cases, due largely to
the fact that it was my policy to get the family directly involved in the
actual kidnapping. This would make it much harder for the target to want
to pursue criminal prosecution, since it would mean they would also have
to prosecute a family member.
17. I attented a CAN conference in 1983, where a special meeting of all
the persons involved in deprogramming was held. This meeting was for the
purpose of establishing some sort of ethics committee, to perhaps
standardize the actions of the deprogrammers. This was due to the fact
that several of us had been arrested, and bad publicity was a problem.
Initially, Michael Rokos was going to be the director of this committee,
but the plan was never implemented, and kidnapping type deprogramming
acts continued.
Michael Rokos
was later the president of CAN, but resigned when his
earlier criminal background was exposed. (See Attachment #3)
18. I was involved in a kidnapping type deprogramming in the Denver,
Colorado area, in about 1987. This target in this action was Jonathan
Ruth. This deprogramming directly involved the local CAN chapter
director, George Reher, by using her home as a safe house for the
deprogramming. The local police were notified by some of Ruth's friends,
but we were not arrested, because by the time the police arrived, Ruth
was willing to stay with us voluntarily.
I was also assisted in this deprogramming by Kevin Garvey, who had been
affiliated for a long time with CFF/CAN. Garvey was also affiliated with
another organization called American Family Foundation (AFF), which is
another similar to CFF/CAN. (SeeAttachment #4)
Garvey was very cautious about ever being connected with any criminal
activity, because he had educational degrees and did not want to risk his
image by being arrested. He was, however, fully aware of the Ruth
deprogramming being a kidnapping operation, and he did assist me with
counselling Ruth while Ruth was still being held against his will
at the Rehrer's residence. Garvey would usually charge either $500.00 per
day or $80.00 per hour to do counselling on the cases. Local police
records prove that these CAN related individuals were in fact present
at the deprogramming. (SeeAttachment #5)
19. After Cynthia Kisser became the director of CAN, I spoke to her and
other CAN officials about in-progress deprogrammings I was involved in.
This would usually be for the purpose of obtained additional assistance,
or with obtaining written materials about a particular group. Kisser would
usually respond something to the effect of, "I don't want to hear about
it." This type of responsewas due to Kisser's concern about CAN being
tied directly into kidnapping type deprogrammings. It was, in my opinion,
very well understood that CAN condoned my actions, as well as those of all
the other deprogrammers.
Kisser never took any actions to dissuade me from continuing kidnapping
type deprogrammings. She was aware that I specialized in that type
of deprogramming, and it was tacitly understood that if she referred
a case to me, that a kidnapping could, and probably would occur.
I believe that CAN maintained a referral list of deprogrammers, and I was
on the list.
20. I have also spoken to Ron Loomis of Cornell University, in New York,
while he was active in CAN board activities. He was very discreet about
his wordings relating to the kidnapping issue. I felt he was also trying
not to be directly related to such actions, even though he was making
referrals to me. I considered it very much of a "word game", specifically
engineered to avoid any possibility of criminal conspiracy.
However, Loomis was present as an observer at a kidnapping I did in
Union Springs, New York, in about 1982. In this case, we kidnapped
Margie Spingler from the Moonies, and we held her at the home of
Joyce and George Martin, who were very active CFF people. Debbie
Coy assisted me on this case. Loomis just observed at the request
of the Martins. The Martins were hoping to get Loomis involved in
this activity because of his status as a professor at Syracuse
University, where the Martin's Daughter had been recruited into a
cult years earlier.
21. During my kidnapping arrest in Bellingham, Washington, CAN
members and parents and families of people we had helped, arranged
for their local contacts to influence the community and the DA's
office, by having all their friends and relatives call in to the
DA's office, trying to stop the criminal action pending against us.
This was the only time I was aware of any help that came my way
after an arrest. This was a case where I plead guilty to a lesser
offense and was then released, and told not to come back to
Washington again by the autorities. (See Attachment #6)
22. I worked with Galen Kelly, who was a licensed private investigator
in New York, on several kidnapping type deprogrammings. I actually
worked on his licence, but the only work I ever did had to do with
our deprogramming activities. I believe that his primary reason for
involvement in these actions was because he thought it would be a
draw to his investigations business due to the publicity it made.
Kelly was convicted of assault in 1979 for pistol whipping a member
of the Unification Church. (See Attachment #7)
Kelly and I had a fee split agreement, but I did not continue the
arrangement, because he was not very good at fulfilling his
responsibilities toward the deprogramming. He liked to just show up,
spend a little time with the family, and then leave. He wasn't really
good at talking with the target.
In addition, while I was working with kelly, I became aware of some
financial irregularities, relating to Kelly having already taken in
advance retainers for deprogrammings, and then having spent the
money on either other cases, or for his personal matters. This
activity caused us to cut corners on current cases, and also caused
several of us on the deprogramming teams to not be paid for our work.
23. I would estimate that at least 50% of my cases, which number about
200, were referred by CAN, directly or indirectly. I would also
estimate that there were onlyy about 5-6 of these 200 cases
that were voluntary, the rest being kidnappings or unlawful detentions.
I was directly involved in the kidnapping deprogramming of Robyn
Kliger, the daughter of Eunice Kliger, who became active in
the Northern California CAN affiliate. Also involved were Joe
Szimhart, Dennis Allen, and Karen Reinhardt. Joe Szimhart made the
initial arrangements, and then brought me into the case. The
deprogramming started with the kidnapping of the daughter in Canada.
During that time period I had occasion to meet and spend a good amount of
time with both Eunice Kliger and her husband, Ben kliger, who was a
medical doctor. At one of our meetings, Eunice came into the room
carrying a hatbox. When she opened it, I saw munerous bottles of
prescription drugs, all prescribed to her. These drugs consisted of
Percodan, Dexedrine, Dalmane, and Valium. I commented to her about this
and her response was to accuse me of stealing some of her drugs. I did
not ever take any of her prescribed medications.
Eunice appeared to me to be under the influence of these sustances most
of the time. When I questioned Ben Kliger about the matter, he said he
was aware of the problem. He had not actually prescribed the drugs, but
had some of his other friends who were doctors issue the prescriptions.
He said it was because of her past injury in an automobile accident and
that she was much better to be around when she was taking the medications
than when she was not taking them. I always felt that Eunice was a very
emotionally unstable person, due in part to the drugs she took, and for
other unkown reasons. Eunice became, in my opinion, somewhat of a fanatic
as it related to her involvement with CAN. Kliger was also arrested 2
times for shoplifting. (See Attachment #8)
25. I was aware of the fact that during the days when Ted Patrick was
heavily involved in deprogrammings, up till about 1981, that he
used an Cliff Daniels, another deprogrammer who had worked closely
with Patrick, who, as I heard, used the same basic methods as Patrick.
26. One person I worked with frequently was Joe Szimhart. We did about
12-15 cases together, only one of which was a non-kidnapping case.
I understood that during the times I worked with Joe Szimhart, he operated
the CAN affiliate in the New Mexico area. One reason that CAN liked
Joe Szimhart was that he also did some voluntary deprogrammings, which
made for better publicity. Szimhart is currently facing trial in Idaho
for kidnapping. (See Attachment #9)
27. I elected not to work with Rick Ross, a CAN deprogrammer from
Phoenix, Arizona. I did not like the way he thought about deprogrammming
as a whole. He considered that all Christians should be converted to
Easten type religions. I considered him to be very unstable, and
dangerous to the success of any operation. Ross was arrested in
Washington in 1991 for kidnapping, and was convicted twice for felony
violations in Arizona in 1975.
I first became involved with Karen Reinhardt when I was involved in the
deprogramming of her husband, Tom Christianson, it was a kidnapping type
deprogramming in Racine, Wisconsin. Her husband had been involved in the
Divine Light Mission for over 10 years. Karen actually helped some on the
case, and the deprogramming was successful. This case took place in about
1981-1982. I didn't have contact with her for several years.
In about 1987, I heard Karen was available to help with deprogrammings. I
had her help, along with Lisa Mercedes Hughes, and Joe Szimhart, on the
kidnapping of Jennifer Jacobs, a member of the Rama group. Her family was
from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father had been referred to me after
contact with CAN in Pennsylvania. This was not successful, and the girl
went back to Rama. (See Attachment #9)
Karen was also involved in a kidnapping case in Tucson, Arizona of a girl
from 3HO, which is a guru/Krishna type group. This case also had myself,
Pat Ryan, and Joe Szimhart, with Brian Lee, Larry Riley, and Bob Shepard
as the security team. This case occured in September of 1988.
29. In approximately 1981¬1982, I received referrals for deprogramming
from Bob Tucker in Lyons, Kansas. We actually completed deprogramming at
their home. He and his wife were active in CFF. On one occasion in about
1983, when I arrived at the Tucker home to assist with a deprogramming, I
found the subject, whose name I can't recall, tied with rope. I forced
them to untie the subject. One of the other parties involved was Debbie
Coy. I recall that they kidnapped the target in Texas, and then drove him
to the Tucker's in Kansas. (See Attachment #10)
30. In about 1987, I worked on a kidnapping type deprogramming with
Bob Brandyberry, the target was Jorgen Peterson, a Danish Moonie
from Sacramento, California. The deprogramming team on this cae was
myself, Bob Brandyberry, and another ex¬Moonie from Sweden, whose
name I can't recall.
I was aware of many rumors that alluded to Bob Brandyberry being
either gay or bi¬sexual. There was one to do with accusations of discussed
at a CAN convention, which had to do with accusations of Branbyberry
sleeping in the same bed with a male subject he was deprogramming.
According to these discussions, the subject went to live with
Brandyberry after the deprogramming. I personally felt that it was
probably true, as I also felt Brandeberry was gay or bi¬sexual.
31. I worked on 2 cases with Joe Flanagan, one in 1979, involving
Joe Cancilla, where I was arrested along with the rest of the team.
Cancilla's father, on a separate deprogramming attempt, accidentally
shot his son with a gun. Another one occurred in about 1980 in
Philadelphia, where we were able to establish a conservatorship
on the target. I don't recall the man's name. Both of these cases
involved Scientology. (See Attachment #11)
During the latter years of my deprogramming activities, I began
to work most often with Joe Szimhart as my first choice co-worker. We did
mostly new age, metaphysical, and guru type groups together.
We did a Europe trip together, in about 1989, and spent about 1
month there trying to do several deprogrammings of a Bible group.
Joe was also involved in a case, in about 1988, where we kidnapped
Maurice Mader, a member of Church Universal Triumphant, in New
Jersey. Many of the cases I did with Joe came in as a referral from
Joe, I believe while he was the CAN affiliate in New Mexico.
(See Attachment #12)
33. I was also involved in at least 2 deprogrammings with Pat Ryan.
One was in about 1988, and involved Hare Krishna named Bill
Crockett, from Boston. The rest of the deprogramming team was Joe
Szimhart, Jonathan Nordquist, and myself. This case was an unlawful
detention deprogramming. It was not successful.
During the Crockett
deprogramming attempt, I recall talking to Ron
Loomis, then the president of CAN, about the case, as the
deprogramming was not going well.
Bob Crockett, Bill's father, later told me he had used Steve Hassan
to do phone counselling for his son, at an extremely expensive
rate, which got not results. He said he felt he spent a lot of
money for nothing.
The other case I recall with Ryan involved the son of Drs. Ralph and
Teresa Smith, of West Virginia. His name was Jason Smith. This
was another unlawful detention type case, where we didn't allow the
son to leave after he had been tricked into returning home. I was
aware Ryan was very active in CAN matters.
I have recalled these above described incidents to the best of my
ability. I no longer have access to my notes from the cases, which
were lost in about 1987.
I have not been promised, nor have I received any
compensation for
revealing this information.
I have given this information freely and openly, and without any
coercion whatsoever.
Signed under penalty of perjury, pursuant to the laws of the State
of Ohio, on the 18 th day of July, 1992.
Mark Blocksom
