[Archive 2010-10-11] Author Amy Scobee recounts abuse as Scientology executive

Historical archive — originally published 2010-10-11. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Wikinews interviewed author Amy Scobee about her book Scientology - Abuse at the Top, and asked her about her experiences working as an executive within the organization. Scobee joined the organization at age 14, and worked at Scientology's international management headquarters for several years before leaving in 2005. She served as a Scientology executive in multiple high-ranking positions, working out of the international headquarters of Scientology known as "Gold Base", located in Gilman Hot Springs near Hemet, California.

Scientology was founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1952. Scobee joined Scientology at age 14, and after leaving in 2005 she began to speak out critically about the organization and her views on alleged abuse carried out by management leader David Miscavige against staff members.

Scientology - Abuse at the Top was published in May, and Scobee has subsequently appeared in interviews about her experiences in the Scientology organization – for media including the St. Petersburg Times of Florida on June 23, and the BBC program Panorama hosted by investigative journalist John Sweeney, The Secrets of Scientology, which broadcast on BBC One on September 28.

Scobee's book is structured chronologically, and she recounts her experiences first joining the Scientology organization, then becoming a staff member in its elite group the Sea Org, and finally rising to serve in multiple different high-ranking roles at the organization's international management headquarters. Periodically throughout her experiences as an executive staff member for Scientology, Scobee was sent to the organization's penal justice system the "Rehabilitation Project Force" (RPF), for supposed "evil on L. Ron Hubbard" or negative thoughts about the organization. These sentences often occurred after a division of management Scobee had served under experienced downward statistics related to profit margins and financial performance for the organization. In each instance she was sent to the RPF, Scobee was subsequently reinstated to an executive management role, and given supervisory responsibility over other senior Scientology officials.

The author reveals difficult emotional experiences in her book, including an incident where she was raped at age 14 by a Scientology supervisor and subsequently instructed by a "Scientology Ethics Officer" that she was in a "state of treason" and to keep the matter quiet and not report it to the police. Scobee describes difficult experiences she endured as part of her punishment served in Scientology's RPF, including being sent to the RPF at age 16, and subsequently being slapped across the face for refusing to climb into a garbage can and clean it out.

Within Scientology management and the Sea Org, Scobee rose to serve in the Watchdog Committee (WDC) – the highest ecclesiastical body in the organization. After leaving the organization, Scobee was declared a "Suppressive Person", and Scientology's intelligence agency the Office of Special Affairs attempted to enforce organization regulations preventing her from ever speaking to her family including her mother again.

Prior to her book's publication, Scobee was threatened with legal action, in a letter from a lawyer Bertram Fields representing influential Scientology member and celebrity, actor Tom Cruise. Separately, Scientology representative Tommy Davis stated the organization was also preparing a lawsuit against her related to the publication of her book. Further news about such threatened lawsuits have not been forthcoming following these statements from Tom Cruise's lawyer and Scientology's spokesman.

After Scobee began to speak out critically about Scientology to the St. Petersburg Times, the Scientology propaganda publication Freedom Magazine issued a publication in which it referred to her repeatedly as "The Adulteress". Though Scobee had thought that statements she made during Scientology counseling sessions called "Auditing" were to be kept confidential under priest-penitent religious privilege, BBC News reported that "intimate details of her sex life" were forwarded by Scientology, to the St. Petersburg Times. BBC News reported that during an interview for the Panorama program, Scobee was photographed by agents for Scientology along with journalist John Sweeney. These photographs were then sent by Scientology UK lawyers from the firm Carter-Ruck to the BBC, in an attempt to show "bias" of journalist Sweeney towards Scobee in his interviewing.

Scientology - Abuse at the Top received a favorable reception from reviews and media coverage. All Headline News characterized it as a "tell-all book" about Scientology. Scobee's account has also received positive reception in coverage from Today Tonight, The Drew Marshall Show, Lateline, and Panorama.

Amy Scobee: I was 14 years old. My parents had recently divorced and my mother took custody of me and my older brother. The three of us moved 30 miles north to the Seattle area and my mother started working as a draftsman at a company near by. My brother and I would go to school during the day and spend the evenings with our mom. We’d visit my father on the weekends. I was beginning to get used to this routine when suddenly my mother was no longer spending the evenings with us. Instead, she began attending classes after work at the local Church of Scientology.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Author Amy Scobee recounts abuse as Scientology executive by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.