“During the entire first three days of my kidnapping and false imprisonment, I was tied up ... and I was not allowed to sleep.
“When the deprogramming started, I decided not to speak or eat. After two days of not speaking or eating, Steven Hassan threatened to subject me to a series of shots.
“[He] insulted me and humiliated me as a person. I felt like a captured animal in a zoo. ... The circulation in my hands was cut off because my hands had been tightly tied behind my back for the entire time. Both of my hands were badly swollen and were the color of a bruise.
“During the first three days, I was always escorted to the bathroom while my hands were still bound and tied. I was not washed or shaved. With help, I was able to urinate into a pot. Due to the embarrassment of being watched at all times, I did not allow myself to defecate.”
Following this unsuccessful deprogramming attempt, Roselle described the experience in an affidavit. Hassan later pressured Roselle’s parents to try to persuade Roselle to withdraw the true affidavit and sign a false one written by Hassan that exonerated him.
In Roselle’s words, “The proposed affidavit that Steven Hassan wants me to sign is not truthful. It has many false statements, including quotes as follows, ’... there was never any time that Mr. Hassan kidnapped me, beat me, sleep-deprived me, threatened to inject me with a series of shots, or treated me unkindly or inhumanely, Mr. Hassan ... treated me with compassion and integrity.”
Roselle refused to sign Hassan’s affidavit. “Steven Hassan now wants me to commit perjury by falsely signing,” he stated, “attesting and swearing that his proposed affidavit is true. He wants me to commit perjury so that he can use a false affidavit in court to help his current legal case. I will not do this.”
When Hassan, associated with many other deprogramming efforts, sought to make the transition to “expert,” yet another judicial decision came out against the “experts” in “mind control.” A Massachusetts judge initially stated that Hassan might qualify as an expert on a single issue. On closer review, however, Justice Christina Harms ruled Hassan did not qualify. She withdrew Hassan’s preferred status, stating his views were “not sufficiently accepted within the applicable scientific community to constitute an area of expertise.”
While professionals and the courts today reject pseudo-experts such as Steven Hassan, Richard Ofshe, Margaret Singer and Louis West, these individuals have nevertheless done inestimable harm to religion, law and justice in America over the last 25 years. It is time for the media to move away from their lies and into a recognition that the real “cult” is the one these “experts” embrace: that of those who will do anything for money.
For accurate information on religions, write: Cult Awareness Network, 117 South Cook Street, Suite 354, Chicago, Illinois 60010. Or call (800) 556-
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