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CITY OF CLEARWATER COMMISSION HEARINGS RE: THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY |
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EXHIBIT 64: AFFIDAVIT OF JANET TROY I, Janet Troy, hereby depose and state under pains and penalties of perjury: 1. I was first introduced to Scientology by a co-worker in January of 1978, who sent me to the Boston "org". At that time I had recently broken up with a boyfriend of seven years and I felt emotionally distraught. On the first night I went into the Org I told them this. I spoke with a person named Peter, and he told me that auditing would take care of any problems I had. I immediately felt relieved, but first I was required to take a Communications Course (Comm. Course) for a fee of $35. They told me to begin the next day. 2. Various employees and members of the organization also told me and showed me Scientology literature that auditing would do the following:
3. I was told that auditing was confidential between myself and the auditor and I heard a tape by L. Ron Hubbard that auditing was better than confession. 4. The schedule was very strict. Courses ran from 9 a.m. - 10 p.m. You could leave at 5 p.m. but it was always suggested you stay as long as you could. If they knew you had no plans for the evening you would be pressured into staying by staff. 5. I was on the course on vacation days and weekends. While I worked I was supposed to be in my 6 p.m. but often I couldn't get there till 7:30 because of work. 6. Often I would get upset while taking the Comm. Course. I was having difficulty adjusting to the severance of a very close relationship and the Comm. Course drills demanded you to be very aggressive and able to take criticism. One drill called "Bullbaiting" was designed to criticize a person and have them react with no emotion at all. I would often leave the room crying. Soon, I felt like my emotional conditions were being ignored. I had to do everything that everyone in the course was required to do even though it was obvious to the instructor that it was a very miserable experience for me. Because of the horrible experiences I was having on the course I stopped going for a few days. Then Joe Urich, the Ethics Officer, called my house and asked me to come in. He said to trust him as a person because it was obvious I needed someone. 7. In his office he had me read material regarding people who were "PTS". The material said those people would "roller-coaster" in life. The material said I was PTS because a "suppressive person" had control over me. It said that this person was possibly in direct contact with me now or could be from a past life. I was required to write down whomever I thought was suppressive to me. Of that list I was told to either "handle" them or "disconnect" from them in order to get well and to get auditing. 8. As a result, I was compelled to sign documents stating that I was "disconnecting" from my father, boyfriend, and eventually my sister (whom I lived with) because they couldn't be "handled". 9. Also, during this time Joe Urich often spoke to me after the "Org" closed. He talked about me and the course and tried to make me trust him because I was very upset about the course. 10. I had seen a therapist prior to my signing up for the Communication Course. During my meetings in the Ethics Office, I was also required to "disconnect" from the therapist. This meant I could never call her or see her. I had been seeing her two times a week and calling her about 4 or 5 times a week, whenever I felt upset. To replace this, Joe Urich said I could talk to and trust him. 11. On or about February - March 1978, while in the course I received an Auditing Interview and was asked questions to determine who much auditing I needed for "Life Repair", the first level of auditing. The Org leader asked how I felt about life and what I wanted to accomplish in auditing. I had to put this in writing. I wrote that I felt "upset", "not like myself" and that I just wanted to feel better and gain back my confidence and positive outlook on life. 12. After reviewing my interview, the chief auditor determined I would need 10 sessions (12-1/2 hour blocks) to achieve Life Repair. It was later reduced to five sessions before I began. 13. During the course, I was at the Org every evening until at least 10 p.m. My sister and her husband had moved to a particular apartment in order to give me a room and help me out. But because I was never there (except to sleep) to help with cleaning, cooking, etc. and to live there my sister was getting angry. The people at Scientology and Joe Urich in particular, said that she was only being "suppressive", that she had no cause to be hostile and urged me to move. At first I refused. But I continued on the Course. My sister tried to talk me out of Scientology and censored my mail and phone calls. But I continued because of the promise of auditing that after Life Repair I would feel better. 14. At the end of the Comm. Course, I was contacted for auditing. Because of the expense I was strongly pressured by their "closing techniques" to join staff. I was told that I would then be eligible for the "1/2 price". I later learned that staff members received free auditing. 15. I joined the staff in approximately April, 1978. I was required to work from 6-10 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. I also had to take Staff Status 0, another course, before getting a position placement. The schedule alternated between study and work. Joe Urich said I had to quit my job because it was suppressive to me and an unstable environment that would limit the auditing effect. I quit in April and felt very unstable then. I was supposed to work independently selling prints from a Scientologist group in California, but I gradually became more and more unstable and under Scientology's influence. I now depended on Scientology for income which was only between $5 and $15 per week despite the fact that they had promised me approximately $70-$100 per week. At this point I was also required to "disconnect" from my sister before I could receive auditing. 16. I moved out of my sister's apartment and moved in with a girl who was the girlfriend of another staff member. I became more isolated and confused. I also became more withdrawn and my dependence on Scientology increased. I was desperate to get the money for auditing so I agreed to do whatever was necessary. 17. I met with the Registrar to raise money for auditing. He instructed me to get it any way I knew how. The director of the Org, Joan Gambino, sat in on several meetings. She told me she had sold everything she owned and borrowed money anywhere she could for her auditing. I felt desperate to get "Life Repair", a Scientology course, so I agreed to do whatever they said. 18. As far as I can remember these are the ways I raised money all of which I paid to them for auditing.
19. When I borrowed the money from my father, Joan Gambino and Joe Urich told me to call my father on the phone at the Org while one of them stayed with me. They told me to tell my father that the money was primarily for my apartment and things like that. They told me not to tell him it was for auditing. 20. After he sent me the money, I later was told to go to Connecticut and borrow more money from him. They made me rent a car and Urich went with me to Connecticut. I dropped him off a short distance from my house and he told me to be back in one hour, no matter what my father said to me. My sister had sent a copy of the Scientology newspaper to my father and my father questioned me about Scientology. I admitted that the previous money had been used for auditing and he refused to give me any more money. Later, I was told to disconnect from my father. 21. I finally received the loans and with the other money from sale of property I had enough for the auditing, which I started in May. During the first session I stayed with other Scientologists so that I would be in a "stable Scientology environment." 22. The first session involved drills requiring immediate response to various commands. When I complained I was told to write down how I felt and then I would get more auditing. I was told by Mike Alla, the auditing coordinator, to be patient and that I had to get a good foundation in order to ever become "clear". I did more drills and commands. In further auditing I was asked about my relationship with my father and family background. At the time I was having a difficult time with my father, who had become opposed, so I was asked to tell everything I knew about him. Also everything I had done to either harm him, lie to him, etc. I was asked the same about my ex-boyfriend who I had dated for 7 years and had broken up with in November of 1973. The questions were very personal and I was always questioned until I answered. 23. I was asked how I felt about Scientology and Ron Hubbard as well. 24. After the last session I was told by Mike Alla that I had completed Life Repair and that night I had to sign a document stating that I felt I had achieved all that Life Repair stated. At this point I had received __ hours of auditing and had paid them approximately $4200. 25. I told him I still did not feel well and I continually told this to the auditor and to the Ethics Officers. Then I was given the "descriptions" of the auditing benefits (defining every word) until I said I was satisfied that I understood that only a "clear" is a "well and happy" person. 26. Mike Alla and Joe Urich agreed with me that the auditing did little (nothing) to help me but Mike Alla said "Remember what you were like when you came here". I knew they were trying to force me to believe I was so bad before that actually I should be thankful. Mike Alla recalled that the original estimate had been 10 sessions and that I needed more auditing. I was told to raise more money in order to complete the auditing process. I now realize that as soon as my paid account ran out, they concluded that my "Life Repair" was complete. After that I was assigned to the book store to work as a staff member. I was told that I would get more auditing after I got more money. 27. With no job, nothing left to sell and not even talking with my father, I knew I couldn't get more money. 28. I often had to go home on the bus at 1 a.m. or so after work at the Org. In July all staff members were forced to stay until they had written their quota of letters to people in the files. The quota was 10 per night. Occasionally they all had to stay in order to straighten out one of the departments. This was mandatory. 29. Because of the late nights I was often afraid at night traveling alone. Once I missed my stop and ended up in Watertown Square but I was completely lost because I was unfamiliar with the area. I finally convinced a taxi driver to take me home, even though I had no money. I got home about 3 a.m. and it was a horrifying experience. 30. Many times following the auditing sessions I felt dazed, confused, and mindless. In retrospect, I now see that I was totally under the influence of my auditor and as in the auditing sessions did whatever he requested me to do. Following many of these auditing sessions while I was staying at the apartment of Joseph Urich with other Scientologists, I was approached by Urich and had intercourse with him. I became pregnant and had no recourse but to undergo an abortion because Urich became very cold to me and at that time I was totally isolated from my sister, my father and all of my former friends. 31. The abortion shocked me into awareness of everything that I was involved with. I gradually became aware of the strange control and dominance Scientology had gradually imposed on me, and even more importantly I began to become aware of the terrible experiences I had in Scientology. Some of these experiences are as follows:
32. By the end of August I was somewhat shocked out of Scientology and aware of the terrible things that had been done to me, but I was still extremely afraid to walk into the Org and tell them that I was quitting because I felt like they were "everywhere" and would come after me. In addition, I had been continually told that if I ever turned against Scientology I would "pull-in" awful things against me in this life and in future lives and I was told stories of other people who had terrible things happen to them after they left Scientology. For example I was told that my sister had "pulled-in" an accident she had in July of 1978 where she broke her jaw because she had been a suppressive person to me. 33. In late August, 1978 I no longer went to the Org and they contacted me numerous times and tried to get me to come back. They told me that I had not been "ruthless" enough in my disconnections from suppressive persons and that that is the reason that the auditing had failed. Signed under the pains and penalties of perjury this __ day of January, 1980. [Signed] Janet E. Troy
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