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Theodore Roosevelt Patrick, Jr. (b. 1930) is an American deprogrammer and author. He is considered to be the "father of deprogramming."

Early life

Ted Patrick was born in a red-light district of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in which he was surrounded by "thieves, prostitutes, murderers pimps". He dropped out of high school in tenth grade to help support his family, worked a variety of jobs and opened a nightclub, then became co-chairman of the Nineteenth Ward in Chattanooga. At the age of twenty-five, he left his wife and infant son in Tennessee, and went with a friend to San Diego, California, where he became an activist for the black community. For his efforts in the Watts Riots in 1965, Patrick was awarded the Freedom Foundation Award, which ultimately led to his job as the Special Assistant for Community Affairs, under then-Governor Ronald Reagan.

Career as a deprogrammer

Despite a lack of formal education and professional training, Patrick was hired by hundreds of parents and family members to deprogram their loved ones. A high school dropout, Patrick based his techniques and practices on his own life experience. Patrick once remarked in a May 1979 televised debate with members of the Hare Krishna group, "How I got into deprogramming was through my own son. All outdoor boy, couldn't nothing keep him in the house. Then one day, he was psychologic... psychological(ly) kidnap(ped) by a cult".

In this interview, Patrick also explained how this search to understand cults led him to speaking with "witches, warlocks, healers" and in fact, he went "all the way to New Orleans" to the same person his mother brought him to for his speech impediment. He also stated that he spent time in a religious group and after a week "didn't know where I were, nor how I got there... I was hook(ed)."

On 12 June 1971, Mrs. Samuel Jackson contacted Patrick to file a complaint concerning her missing son, Billy.

As Billy was 19, the police and Federal Bureau of Investigation would not look for him. Billy was involved with the group known as the Children of God, who had approached Patrick's own son, Michael, a week prior. Patrick contacted other people whose relatives were in the cult, and even pretended to join them, to study how the group operated. This was when he developed his method of deprogramming. He ultimately left his full-time job in order to work on deprogramming full time. Patrick founded the FREECOG organization, later known as the Citizen's Freedom Foundation, in 1971 before merging into the Cult Awareness Network.

Patrick stood trial several times on kidnapping charges related to his activities. After the first trial, which found him not guilty, he stopped executing the actual kidnapping but continued with his deprogramming. He testified before an ad hoc Congressional committee organized in 1979 by Senator Bob Dole. According to The New Republic, Dole intended the hearing to "provide a forum" for Patrick and other anti-cult activists.

In 1980 Patrick was paid 27,000 USD to carry out the deprogramming of Susan Wirth, a 35-year-old teacher living in San Francisco. He was hired by her parents, who objected to her involvement in leftist political activities. The process involved handcuffing her to a bed for two weeks and denying her food. She was later released and after returning to San Francisco spoke out against deprogramming but declined to press legal charges against her parents or Patrick.

Mia Donovan released the documentary Deprogrammed about Patrick in 2015. Donovan's step-brother had previously been deprogrammed by Patrick.

Civil and criminal proceedings involving Patrick

Some criminal proceedings against Patrick have resulted in felony convictions for kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment resulting from his deprogramming efforts.

In February 1973, Daniel Voll of Farmington, Connecticut, summoned Ted Patrick to New York City Criminal Court on assault charges for a botched attempt to deprogram him from the New Testament Ministry Fellowship, part of the burgeoning Jesus Movement. Voll alleged that on 29 January 1973, while walking to his apartment in uptown New York City, he was abducted by his parents and Patrick. On 13 February 1973, Voll pressed assault charges against Patrick, of which he was acquitted.

In May 1974, Patrick held Dena Thomas Jones and Kathy Markis against their wills with some of their acquaintances in Denver because they were believed to be controlled by a "satanic group." District Court Judge Zita Weinshienk sentenced Patrick to a seven-day jail term and a 1,000 USD fine in June 1974 in order to teach him he "can't play God or the law". However, the Evening Independent (St. Petersburg, Florida) reported that he received an eight-month sentence for this incident.

In December 1974, Patrick was acquitted of kidnapping charges in Seattle, Washington. Kathe Crampton, who called herself Dedication Israel after joining the Love Family, was brought to San Diego from Seattle to be deprogrammed by Patrick and her parents in 1973. She broke free and returned to Seattle where she sued Patrick for false imprisonment, but Judge Walter T. McGovern absolved Patrick, comparing his situation to a person rushing into a street to save a child from on-coming traffic.

In January 1975, Wendy Helander alleged that Patrick attempted to deprogram her from the Unification Church for fourteen hours straight after her parents tricked her into coming to a house in northern Connecticut. According to her, the deprogramming session only ended after signing an affidavit stating she was willing to be forcibly removed from the Unification Church if she were to return. A tape was played to Judge James Belson of the Washington D.C. Superior Court on 21 August 1975, where psychiatrist Harold Kaufman recorded a conversation with Helander about her experience with Patrick and her parents in January.

In May 1975, Patrick was convicted of holding Joanne Rogin Bradley – a 19-year-old convert to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) – against her will in Orange County, California. In May 1976, Patrick failed to appeal the conviction in the Orange County Superior Court. He was sentenced to one year in prison in June 1976.

In June 1976, Long Beach, New Jersey, authorities charged Patrick with false imprisonment of Richard and Alan Mezey who converted to the Divine Light Mission.

On 3 March 1978, Jessica Marks – a member of the Church of Scientology – filed a lawsuit naming thirteen defendants including Patrick in a deprogramming incident in Portland, Oregon, in June 1976. Peter Rudie, a lawyer named as a defendant, claimed that Patrick was not part of the conversation that took place in June 1976 and that he was not in Portland at the time.

In 1978, Leslie Weiss pressed the charges of assault, battery, and false imprisonment against Patrick and Albert Turner, who assisted in the attempted deprogramming of Weiss on Thanksgiving Day 1974. Weiss converted to the Unification Church in June 1974. The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island Judge Francis J. Boyle found no wrong doing on behalf of the defendants.

In 1980, Patrick was convicted of conspiracy, kidnapping, and false imprisonment. These charges were related to the abduction and attempted deprogramming of Roberta McElfish, a 26-year-old Tucson waitress, who joined the "Wesley Thomas Family". Patrick was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 5,000 USD.

In October 1981, Stephanie Riethmiller was abducted by two men walking to her Cincinnati apartment with her roommate and significant other, Patty Thiemann, who was sprayed with mace. The two men made her enter a van where she encountered her father, William Riethmiller. Her parents sought to deprogram her from her lesbian relationship with Thiemann, which they believed was making her more distant from them. Stephanie Riethmiller was driven to Cedar Bluff, Alabama, where she was alleged held against her will and serially raped by James Anthony Roe, a friend of Patrick's son who Patrick referred to Riethmiller's parents. Patrick also referred Naomi Faye Kelley Goss and a man solely identified as "Ray" to Riethmiller's parents. In Cedar Bluff, she was allegedly held in a cabin where Goss "harangued" Riethmiller about the evils of homosexuality. Authorities brought charges of assault, abduction, and sexual battery against Riethmiller's parents, Patrick, Goss, Roe, and "Ray," but all defendants either had their charges dropped or were found not guilty in April 1982. Patrick was on probation from his McElfish conviction in 1980 when the incident occurred, and allegedly Riethmiller's parents paid him 8,000 USD to organize Goss, Roe, and "Ray" to deprogram Riethmiller.

In 1990, Patrick attempted to deprogram Elma Miller, an Amish woman who had joined a liberal sect. He was hired by her husband to return her to him and the Amish church. Criminal charges of conspiracy were filed against Miller's husband, brother, and two others, but were later dropped on her request to the prosecuting attorney, who decided not to charge Patrick.

References

1. ^ Chryssides, George (1999). Exploring New Religions. London, England: Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 346–348. ISBN 0-8264-5959-5.
2. Chryssides, George D.; Zeller, Benjamin E. (2016). The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements. New York City: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1474256445.
3. ^ Patrick, Ted; Dulack, Tom (1976). Let Our Children Go!. E. P. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-14450-1.
4. Armstrong, Lois (August 9, 1976). "The 'Deprogrammer' of Young Religious Fanatics, Ted Patrick, Goes to Jail for His Zeal". People. Vol. 6, no. 6. New York City: Time, Inc.
5. ^ De-programming the Hare Krishna's Ted Patrick -- 1979, retrieved 2022-08-02
6. Chapman, Stephen (17 February 1979). "On the Hill: Cult-mongering". The New Republic. pp. 11–13.
7. Postpage, Stephen Garrard (Georgetown University Press 1993) Inquiries in Bioethics (ISBN 0-87840-538-0 / 978-0-87840-538-1 page 71)
8. "Daughter kidnapped over politics," Beaver County Times (Beaver, Pennsylvania), 2 July 1980.
9. "Feared kidnapped, she reconciles with mother," Merced Sun-Star (Merced, California), 29 July 1980.
10. Nicolaou, Elena (July 17, 2018). "One Documentarian's Very Personal Journey Into The Wild World Of Cult Deprogramming". Refinery 29. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
11. Hunter, Howard O.; Price, Polly J. (2001). "Regulation of religious proselytism in the United States" (PDF). Brigham Young University Law Review. 2001 (2).
12. Lynne Olson, "Parents Across U.S. Fear Religious Sects' Hold on Children: Couple's Attempt to Kidnap Son Not Unique," Reading Eagle (Reading, Pennsylvania), 24 June 1973.
13. ^ William Willoughby, "Parents Resort to Kidnapping and Deprogramming to 'Save' Children," The Day (New London, Connecticut), 27 February 1973.
14. ^ "Court acquits Patrick," The Morning Record (Meriden, Connecticut), 17 December 1974.
15. Edward B. Fiske, "'Abductions' Spur Controversy: Parents Try to Retrieve Children From Sects," The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington), 13 March 1973.
16. ^ "Jailer of 2 Sentenced to 7-Day Term: Aided Imprisonment To Break Hold of 'Satanic' Group," Toledo Blade (Toledo, Ohio), 28 June 1974.
17. ^ "Controversial 'Deprogrammer' Loses Court Appeal," The Evening Independent (St. Petersburg, Florida), 5 May 1976.
18. Amy Sabrin, "Girl's tape heard in cult hearing," The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Virginia), 22 August 1975.
19. "Girl testifies she tricked deprogrammer," The Morning Record (Meriden, Connecticut), 22 August 1975.
20. "Couple charges church brainwashed their daughter," Gadsden Times (Gadsden, Alabama), 4 September 1975.
21. "'Deprogram' Expert Gets Prison Term," Spokane Daily Chronicle, 24 July 1976.
22. "Deprogrammer Cited For Holding Youths," Toledo Blade (Toledo, Ohio), 14 June 1976.
23. "Police charge Patrick with false jailing," Ottawa Citizen, 15 June 1976.
24. "Benny niece suit alleges 'brainwash,'" Eugene Register-Guard, 6 March 1978.
25. "Weiss v. Patrick, 453 F. Supp. 717 (D.R.I. 1978)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
26. "Moonies: Conflict in New Hampshire," Associated Press, 29 August 1978.
27. "'Deprogrammer' Upheld on Appeal," Facts on File: World New Digest (New York), 31 December 1978.
28. Richard Carelli, untitled article, Associated Press, 11 June 1979.
29. "Ted Patrick Convicted of Seizing Woman Said to Have Joined Cult; Escaped From Abductors". The New York Times. August 30, 1980.
30. "Cult Deprogrammer Convicted of Kidnapping," Associated Press, 29 August 1980.
31. "Ted Patrick is sentenced in seizure of cult member". The New York Times. 1980-09-27.
32. "Love with an Improper Stranger: Sexual Deprogramming goes on trial in Cincinnati," Time 119, no. 18 (May 1982).
33. "Cult Opponent on Trial in Ohio Kidnapping Case," New York Times, 19 April 1982.
34. "Defendant Freed in Abduction Case: Ted Patrick, For of Cultists, Is Found Not Guilty by a Jury After Trial in Cincinnati," New York Times, 25 April 1982.
35. "Indictments Charge Illegal Sex," Associated Press, 29 October 1981.
36. French, Ron (November 14, 1990). "Amish Woman Charges Deprogramming". News. The Pittsburgh Press. p. A14.

Sources

• Conway and Siegelman, Black Lightning (Chapter 6 of Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change), 1995, ISBN 0-9647650-0-4
• Ted Patrick, Let Our Children Go! (Chapter 1 of Ted Patrick's Let Our Children Go),

Publications

• Patrick, Ted. Let Our Children Go!. New York: Ballantine. 1976.
• Conway and Siegelman, Black Lightning (Chapter 6 of Snapping), 1995, ISBN 0-9647650-0-4

External links

• Official Twitter account
• 1979 televised debate against ISKCON representatives
• Deprogrammed (documentary film)

• American kidnappers
• Critics of new religious movements
• People from Chattanooga, Tennessee
• People from San Diego
• Writers from California
• Writers from Tennessee
• 1930 births
• Living people
• Deprogrammers
• Anti-cult movement