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…
Source: New England Monthly/December 1984 By Barbara Grizzuti Harrison NOTES: Barbara Harrison went to Island Pond and saw this bizarre cult in its daily life, interviewing various members, and learning what it is like to face fiercely judgmental hatred. She was especially concerned for the welfare of viciously treated children. In 1971 a carnival barker…
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…
In the pre-dawn hours of June 22, 1984, a swarm of police officers and social workers, with the approval of state officials all the way to the governor’s office (Governor Snelling was the governor at the time), raided the Island Pond group. They seized 112 of the group’s children and bused them to Newport with…
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…
Source: the New York Times Published: June 23, 1984 NEWPORT, Vt., June 22— About 140 state police officers and social service workers raided 20 homes near here early this morning and took into custody 112 children of the Northeast Kingdom Community Church because members had refused to answer complaints about child abuse and neglect. However,…
source: the Associated Press, 18 November 1983, page 4 Associated Press Island Pond, Vt. —18 November 1983 When Juan Mattatall got his 4-year-old daughter back from the Northeast Kingdom Community Church, it was one of the happiest days of his life. But for some people in this village it was an unpleasant reminder of the…
Father battles sect over custody of girl Source: Boston Globe article archived by Factnet and Xenu directory By Colin Nickerson Globe STaff ISLAND POND, Vt. – lt’s been a year now since Juan Mattatall last saw his youngest daughter, Lydia, 3 years old. He knows where she is: Europe. And he knows who she’s with:…