The Boston Globe Magazine Sally Johnson March 12, 1993 Ten years ago, Jeanie Swantko left her job as a Vermont public defender to join Island Pond’s radical community “The Twelve Tribes.” Today, she uses her legal skills to champion for the church against its critics. Jeanie Swantko was asleep in an upstairs room in a…
The Daily News (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Rob Roberts April 1, 1992 A Kentville judge issued a Canada-wide warrant yesterday for the arrest of parents’ rights activist Edward “Isaac” Dawson, who has disappeared with his son in the midst of a custody battle. Provincial court Judge Jean-Louis Batiot issued the warrant after a request from regional…
Click here for Video showing Isaac Dawson talking on the raid in 1984 FOLLOWING ARE ARTICLES ON ISAAC DAWSON CONTENT COPY-PASTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER Dawson goes missing with young son The Daily News (Halifax)/March 30, 1992 By Rob Roberts Parent’s rights activist Edward “Isaac” Dawson is back in conflict with authorities over his young son….
The Palladium Times Andrea Schrader December 16, 1991 Scriba – A pained expression came over her face and her eyes widened and welled with tears. “I’m afraid of repercussions the church might take against my children because of what I’m doing,” she said. Laurie Marrano Jonson’s children have been missing for two years. The Northeast…
Winnipeg Free Press Doug Nairne April 11, 1986 Winnipeg Police are unrepentant after a massive pre-dawn raid on six homes and businesses operated by a controversial religious group came up empty-handed yesterday. But representatives of the group – called the Community of Winnipeg – say the police are treating them unfairly and persecuting them because…
The Associated Press John Donnelly June 25, 1985 Montpelier, Vt – The FBI has turned over to federal prosecutors a case involving allegations that the founder of a religious sect in Island Pond sexually abused a young girl in 1982 or 1983, FBI officials have confirmed. FBI Special Agent Joseph Skrzat of the Albany, N.Y….
Source: Associated Press/ New York Times AP Published: June 13, 1985 MONTPELIER, Vt., June 12— Vermont’s last child abuse charge against a member of the Northeast Kingdom Community Church was thrown out of court today, five days before it was scheduled to go to trial. Acting Judge F. Ray Keyser of St. Johnsbury District Court…
The Globe and Mail (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Deborah Jones August 1984 Clark’s Harbor, N.S. –Since last fall, when a child reported missing in the United States by her father was found living here under a false name with a Bible-based cult, a storm has been brewing in this small, tightly knit fishing community. Local residents…
Island Pond religious group blocked from buying property The Providence Sunday Journal July 29, 1984 Residents of a small town in Nova Scotia reportedly have banded together to keep members of a controversial communal religious sect from settling there. Members of the Northeast Kingdom Church – the group from which the police rounded up children…
The Toronto Star Sandro Contenta June 24, 1984 Bruce Boutin peered from under his baseball cap and recalled “the good old days” before this “little paradise went to hell.” Those days – before 1978 – are growing hazy now for Boutin and other people in this scenic town just south of the Canadian border. But…