Editing Deprogramming (section)

==Historical examples==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Year
!Subject
!Group
!Description
!Deprogrammer
|-
|1974
|Kathy Crampton<ref>{{Cite news |date=1974-12-12 |title=Ted Patrick Freed in Coast Abduction |work=[[New York Times]]}}</ref>
|[[Love Family]]
|The abduction and deprogramming were televised across the United States; shortly after what was thought to be a 'successful' deprogramming, she went back to the group. Deprogrammer charged with kidnapping but acquitted.
|Ted Patrick
|-
|1980
|Susan Wirth, a 35-year-old teacher living in [[San Francisco]]
|Coalition to Fight the Death Penalty; African People's Solidarity Committee; anti-nuclear<ref name="Rusher" />
|Taken off the street and shoved into a van by 4 kidnappers, at the instigation of her parents.<ref name="Rusher" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 2, 1980 |title=Daughter kidnapped over politics |page=A-13 |newspaper=[[Beaver County Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19800702&id=Q6wiAAAAIBAJ&pg=1677,212672 |access-date=November 14, 2013}}</ref> The parents paid [[United States dollar|US$]]27,000 (roughly ${{Inflation|index=US|value=27000|start_year=1980|r=-3|fmt=c}} after inflation) for the deprogramming, which included being gagged, handcuffed to a bed for two weeks, denied food and water, and repeatedly threatened.<ref>Postpage, Stephen Garrard (1993). ''Inquiries in Bioethics.'' New York: [[Georgetown University Press]]. p. 71. {{ISBN|978-0-87840-538-1}}</ref> Despite the ordeal, Wirth remained committed to her causes and spoke out against deprogramming, but declined to press legal charges against her parents.<ref>"Feared kidnapped, she reconciles with mother", ''[[Merced Sun-Star]]'', July 29, 1980.</ref>
|Ted Patrick
|-
|1980
|Roberta McElfish, a 26-year-old [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] waitress.<ref name="nyt-08301980" />
|Wesley Thomas Family
|Abducted off the street by relatives who thought she had joined a cult, McElfish managed to escape before a deprogramming was administered.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19800829&id=FTFPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mQIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7028,6230084 "Cult Deprogrammer Is Found Guilty,"] ''Toledo Blade'', 30 August 1980.</ref> Deprogrammer convicted of [[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]], kidnapping, and [[false imprisonment]]; sentenced to one year in prison and fined US$5,000.<ref name="nyt-09271980">{{cite news |date=1980-09-27 |title=Ted Patrick is sentenced in seizure of cult member |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
|Ted Patrick
|-
|1981
|Stephanie Riethmiller, who lived in [[Ohio]]
|[[lesbian]] relationship
|Kidnapped off the streets by deprogrammers hired by her parents, who paid US$8,000 (approximately ${{Inflation|index=US|value=8000|start_year=1981|r=-3|fmt=c}} now) to have her extracted from her lesbian relationship. She was allegedly held against her will for 7 days, harangued constantly about the evils of homosexuality, and repeatedly raped. Authorities brought charges of assault, abduction, and [[sexual battery]] against those involved, but the trial resulted largely in acquittals.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19831016&id=wTYdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=t6UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6689,4223544 "Ala. woman held by cult is sentenced,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220802205948/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19831016&id=wTYdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=t6UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6689,4223544 |date=2022-08-02 }} ''The Tuscaloosa News'', 16 October 1983.</ref><ref>"Love with an Improper Stranger: Sexual Deprogramming goes on trial in Cincinnati," ''Time'' 119, no. 18 (May 1982).</ref> Filed civil charges against her parents and the deprogrammers, which were dismissed in a trial that generated some controversy in the media.<ref name="Rusher" /><ref>Comstock, Gard David (1995). ''Violence Against Lesbians and Gay Men''. New York: [[Columbia University Press]]. p. 201. {{ISBN|978-0-231-07331-8}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=December 10, 1981 |title='Deprogrammed' Woman Files Suit |page=1 |newspaper=Gadsden Times |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19811210&id=kKgfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3609,1674945 |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref>
|Ted Patrick referred parents to Naomi Goss and James Roe
|-
|1981
|Thomas Ward
|[[Unification Church]]
|Held captive for 35 days and subjected to physical and psychological abuse by deprogrammers and family members. In Ward's civil action, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal civil rights laws protect against religious discrimination. The judgment contradicted the (then common) "parental immunity" principle in such cases.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/>
|
|-
|1982
|Claire Château, 21-year-old, in Dijon, France
|Unification Church
|Kidnapped during the day on the central street of Dijon, Château was pulled into a moving car, screaming for help. Medical-psychological examination showed that she had been in good mental health with no traces of "brainwashing". Seven people—family members and ADFI "professional deprogrammers"—were accused of kidnapping by the Dijon Regional Criminal Investigation Department under §341 of the [[French criminal code]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Birman |first=Patricia |date=2005-04-01 |title=Fronteiras espirituais e fronteiras nacionais: o combate às seitas na França |url=https://www.scielo.br/j/mana/a/rQ9mGxTLPbNhdhdrw6b3xjP/ |journal=Mana |language=pt |volume=11 |pages=7–39 |doi=10.1590/S0104-93132005000100001 |issn=0104-9313|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1982-03-09 |title=Sept personnes sont inculpées à Besançon pour avoir séquestré une adepte de Moon La secte à l'intention de se porter partie civile Un drame en trois actes |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1982/03/09/sept-personnes-sont-inculpees-a-besancon-pour-avoir-sequestre-une-adepte-de-moon-la-secte-a-l-intention-de-se-porter-partie-civile-un-drame-en-trois-actes_3146944_1819218.html |access-date=2024-04-06 |work=Le Monde.fr |language=fr}}</ref> The case contributed to the gradual abandonment of abductions and deprogramming attempts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Birman_Patricia |date=2024-04-06 |title=Croyances et appartenances : un débat français |url=https://www.ethnographiques.org/2008/Birman |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=ethnographiques.org |language=fr}}</ref>
|7 people: [[Union nationale des associations de défense des familles et de l'individu|ADFI]] and family members
|-
|1990
|Karen Lever, a 33 years old director of a computer consulting company
|[[Frederick Lenz|Rama Seminars]]
|Seized and shoved into a van by 3 men at Seattle airport. Held captive for 8 days (guarded 24 hours a day with no privacy) by 7 deprogrammers hired by her parents. After the complete failure of their enterprise, the deprogrammers returned Lever to her car at the airport. Advised by Seattle police that she had grounds to press charges for kidnapping and false imprisonment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shupe |first1=Anson |last2=Darnell |first2=Susan |title=Agents of Discord: Deprogramming, Pseudo-science, and the American Anticult Movement |date=2006 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Jersey |page=56}}</ref>
|Joseph Szimhart
|-
|1990
|Elma Miller, an [[Amish]] woman
|liberal sect
|Deprogrammers were hired by her husband to return her to him and the Amish church. Criminal charges of conspiracy were filed against the husband, brother, and two others but were later dropped on her request to the prosecuting attorney.<ref>"Amish Woman Charges Deprogramming", ''[[Pittsburgh Press]]'', November 30, 1990.</ref><ref>"Amish Woman Asks Prosecutor to Drop Charges on Kidnapping", ''Madison Courier.'' December 8, 1990.</ref>
|Ted Patrick
|-
|1990s
|[[Jason Scott case|Jason Scott]]
|[[Pentecostalism|Pentecostalist]] group called the Life Tabernacle Church (part of [[United Pentecostal Church International]])
|Unsuccessful deprogramming. Scott became a former member and sued.<ref name=":5">Shupe and Darnell, ''Agents of Discord'', 180–4.</ref> The jury awarded Scott US$875,000 in [[compensatory damages]], US$1,000,000 in [[punitive damages]] against the [[Cult Awareness Network]] (CAN), and US$2,500,000 against Ross (later settled for US$5,000 and 200 hours of services "as an expert consultant and intervention specialist").<ref name=":5" />
|Rick Ross
|}