Sovereign Citizen Movement, Legal, Human Trafficking, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Book, Podcast, Cult Recovery, Rajneesh
News13: Police: South Carolina dentist found dead in apartment was member of 'potential religious cult'
" ... The victims were identified as Judy Villanyi and James Button.
According to GCPD, both Villanyi and Button "go back several years to a potential religious cult, the Sovereign Citizen Movement."
The FBI describes the Sovereign Citizen Movement as anti government extremists "who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or 'sovereign' from the United States. As a result, they believe they don't have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement." A 2010 article by the FBI identifies the movement as a domestic terrorism threat.
Villanyi was previously sentenced to federal prison for tax fraud in connection to the movement. Chief Roscoe said that Villanyi was once again under investigation for similar charges prior to her death.
Villanyi was also a dentist at Life Smiles Dentistry in Mount Pleasant. After discovering the bodies, GCPD visited Life Smiles to gather more information about the days leading up to Villanyi's death."
Blue Campaign: What Is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide – including right here in the United States. It can happen in any community and victims can be any age, race, gender, or nationality. Traffickers might use violence, manipulation, or false promises of well-paying jobs or romantic relationships to lure victims into trafficking situations.
Language barriers, fear of their traffickers, and/or fear of law enforcement frequently keep victims from seeking help, making human trafficking a hidden crime.
Traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to lure their victims and force them into labor or commercial sexual exploitation. They look for people who are susceptible for a variety of reasons, including psychological or emotional vulnerability, economic hardship, lack of a social safety net, natural disasters, or political instability. The trauma caused by the traffickers can be so great that many may not identify themselves as victims or ask for help, even in highly public settings.
Indicators of Human Trafficking
Recognizing key indicators of human trafficking is the first step in identifying victims and can help save a life. Here are some common indicators to help recognize human trafficking. You can also download or order the Blue Campaign indicator card, which is a small plastic card that lists common signs of trafficking and how to report the crime.
- Does the person appear disconnected from family, friends, community organizations, or houses of worship?
- Has a child stopped attending school?
- Has the person had a sudden or dramatic change in behavior?
- Is a juvenile engaged in commercial sex acts?
- Is the person disoriented or confused, or showing signs of mental or physical abuse?
- Does the person have bruises in various stages of healing?
- Is the person fearful, timid, or submissive?
- Does the person show signs of having been denied food, water, sleep, or medical care?
- Is the person often in the company of someone to whom he or she defers? Or someone who seems to be in control of the situation, e.g., where they go or who they talk to?
- Does the person appear to be coached on what to say?
- Is the person living in unsuitable conditions?
- Does the person lack personal possessions and appear not to have a stable living situation?
- Does the person have freedom of movement? Can the person freely leave where they live? Are there unreasonable security measures?
Not all indicators listed above are present in every human trafficking situation, and the presence or absence of any of the indicators is not necessarily proof of human trafficking.
Carolyn Jessop: Escape
"The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman's courageous flight to freedom with her eight children. When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn's heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband's psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy. Carolyn's every move was dictated by her husband's whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse at her own peril. For in the FLDS, a wife's compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children. She had $20 to her name. Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who, in the name of God, deprive their followers the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background, Carolyn Jessop's flight takes on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of their notorious leader, Warren Jeffs."
Butterflies and Bravery: Nevertheless She Persisted and She Flourished
"Our guest this week shares her enthralling story of overcoming incredible odds. When her parents felt called to "serve the Lord" in another country, Joyce and her younger brother were abandoned in Brazil. While Joyce was able to navigate and survive the cult, her brother had a difficult time surrendering himself completely to the cult teachings. He was a rebel, and they did not like rebels. After severe and cruel punishment didn't work, he bounced around from commune to commune, eventually ending up on the streets of Brazil. Joyce shares the heart breaking story of the unforgettable events that followed and how she learned to stand on her own feet."
"According to him, Chandra Mohan Jain's (and later on Rajneesh) quest started on March 21, 1953— his moment of enlightenment that he called "the explosion." Like Buddha's enlightenment, he claimed that it happened under a Moulsari tree in a block-sized park in Jabalpur. He was a good speaker and gained a following in India. The majority of them were women who regarded having sex with him as "the ultimate darshan," or holy experience. His followers, called "sannyasins," grew in numbers and attracted media attention and Western followers. In mid-1981, he flew to Oregon to a huge farm that he bought. The same year, Anand Sheela became his secretary, a woman who would later act as the cult's de facto leader."
News, Education, Intervention, Recovery
Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.
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