Scientology Leader Nowhere to Be Found After Prosecutors List Him as Defendant in Heinous Child Trafficking Case
Florida prosecutors are trying to find a missing Scientology leader listed as a defendant in a federal lawsuit concerning child trafficking.
David Miscavige is the leader of the controversial Church of Scientology and the company Sea Org and chairman of the board of the Religious Technology Center.
Process servers have visited 10 Church of Scientology properties and have made 27 attempts to serve Miscavige, but the church leader has been missing for months, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Plaintiffs Gawain and Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris, former Scientologists, claim in the lawsuit that they were forced to sign a billion-year contract with the church, the Times reported. Paris also states that she was sexually assaulted multiple times during her time with the sect and that when her mother left the church she was locked in a room for 48 hours.
Security guards on the group’s properties claimed to have no idea where Miscavige was and refused to take the court documents, according to the Times. The Baxters’ and Paris’ legal team hired a private investigator to track Miscavige down but so far have been unsuccessful.
A court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20 to declare Miscavige served by default for failing to accept service papers. Miscavige’s attorneys claimed in a response filed Tuesday that the church leader should not be included in the lawsuit.
So far, five of the other defendants listed in the lawsuit have been served. Those defendants filed in July for the case to be presented to a panel of current church members instead of the courts, but the decision remains pending.
Miscavige also claims that the plaintiffs cannot serve him in Florida because there is no proof of his residence there or that he engages in business in the Sunshine State.
Attorneys for the Baxters and Paris, Miscavige’s attorneys and the Church of Scientology did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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