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…
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…
Chattanooga Times January 10, 1980 Bill Casteel Steve and Elizabeth Petty spent approximately one year as members of the Vine Christian Community Church. Disappointed and disillusioned, they finally walked away from the group. It took them a year to put their lives and their marriage back together. “It took us a year to repair the…
The Philadelphia Inquirer William Cockerham July 20, 1989 Island Pond, Vt. – Five years after state troopers raided a controversial church settlement in this remote village near the Canadian border and took more than 100 children into protective custody, church members have gained acceptance by longtime residents. No longer are there rumors of child abuse,…
The selling that angers Barrington Passage Maclean’s Magazine Belle Hatfield September 26, 1988 The inexpensive menu and rustic decor soon had tourists and local residents flocking through the doors. But within a month the Old Schoolhouse Restaurant’s opening on July 6, in the south shore Nova Scotia hamlet of Barrington Passage, was at the centre…
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…
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…