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…
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 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:…
The Chronicle March 23, 1983 Juan Mattatall, a defector from the Northeast Kingdom Community Church of Island Pond [now known as “Twelve Tribes] who is trying to get his own three year old daughter back from Europe in the custody of cult leader Eugene Spriggs, has reportedly helped bring another defector’s child home from Spain….
Source: Facnet archives via Xenu directory 7 March 1983 A judge has ordered that a woman involved in a bitter custody battle be allowed to have her children visit — as long as she does not use any instruments “such as rods or other weapons” to discipline them. District Court Judge Frank Mahady also gave…
Source:Factnet archives via xenu directory 29 November 1982 MARK STARR with MARSHA ZABARSKY in Island Pond Folks in the tiny Vermont village of Island Pond (population: 1,542), nestled in rugged mountains near the Canadian border, like to say they live in “God’s country.” But lately residents have begun to fear that some of their neighbors…
Newsweek November 29, 1982 Mark Starr Folks in the tiny village of Island Pond (population 1,542), nestled in rugged mountains near the Canadian border, like to say they live in “God’s country.” But lately residents have begun to fear that some of their neighbors may be confusing God with Elbert Eugene Spriggs. A Chattanooga carnival…
Source:Factnet archives via Xenu directory 10 November 1982 A Newport father Wednesday was awarded temporary custody of his five children by a judge who heard ex-members of their mother’s church group testify that tots as young as 3 in their religious community were whipped until blood dripped down their legs. Superior Court Judge Ernest Gibson…