Source: The Burlington (Vermont) Free Press From The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, June 18, 2000 By Nancy Bazilchuk ISLAND POND — John Dodge, 23, looked a little out of place at the Twelve Tribes church’s community gathering Saturday. An Island Pond native, he grew up calling the church members “Moonies,” threw pennies on the roofs…
The Greene County News November 12, 1998 Mark Spoor Coxsackie – Mike Reichmann looks like any average 57 year old man. With his red checkered tie positioned expertly in a double Windsor knot over a perfectly tucked blue shirt and light khakis, you’d think his life was as normal as Joe Q. Public. But Reichmann…
Copied from Twelve Tribes-ex.com, original publication date sometime after 1984 This is a place where reality wobbles like a table with one short leg. Here, some say Walt Disney characters are evil and the world is satanic. Here – in the name of God children are often beaten, denied medical care, held out of school…
September 1993 The state seeks to have Eugene Hunt held in contempt for failure to pay child support. The issue revolves around Hunt’s “ability to pay” and his claim that his religious beliefs as a member of the Northeast Kingdom Community Church in Island Pond deprive him of that ability. The Island Pond church alleges…
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….
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 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 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…