One of the Church of Scientology's most senior figures, Jan Eastgate, has been arrested and charged in Sydney, ABC -- the Australian Broadcasting Corporation -- reports.

She has been charged with perverting the course of justice, in relation to allegations she coached an 11-year-old girl to lie to police and community services about the sexual abuse she suffered from her stepfather who was a member of the Church of Scientology.

Eastgate is the international president of the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights, an front group founded by the Church of Scientology that engages in hate campaigns against psychiatry.

 

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A Fort Wayne, Indiana woman who forced her 2-year-old son to drink a concoction of olive oil and vinegar because she thought it would exorcise a demon from him has been convicted of murder.

Lawson, 31, forced her two-year-old son Jezaih to drink a vile mixture of olive oil and vinegar as part of a ritual to drive the devil from his body. As he choked on the liquid she held her hand over his mouth to stop him vomiting and crushed his neck.

 

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It is more than a decade since more than 1,000 people perished in a church building in Kanungu, Uganda, after what is believed to have been a well-planned move by cult leaders who thought the world was coming to an end on December 31, 1999 but it never came to pass.

Much as time has passed, people still feel the effect of the Movement for the Restoration of the 10 Commandments killings.

 

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Nearly 200 people gathered at Oakland's Evergreen Cemetery on Sunday to dedicate a newly completed memorial to the victims of the 1978 mass murder and suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, organizers said.

Controversially the memorial includes the name of the Peoples Temple cult's leader -- mass murdered Jim Jones.

 

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The trial of Timothy and Rebecca Wyland for the medical neglect of their now 18-months-old daugher got underway last Friday.

belong to the Followers of Christ Church, a cult of Christianity whose extreme faith healing beliefs and practices have left a trail of dead children in its wake.

 

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Sexual-misconduct lawsuits filed by four men against Georgia megachurch pastor Eddie Long have been settled, according to attorneys.

The lawsuits are expected to "be dismissed, with prejudice, by close of business tomorrow."

 

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Seven Algerian churches face closure this week after the governor of their province sent them written notice that they were operating "illegally."

According to the governor's statement, if the churches do not comply, authorities may use force. The leaders of the churches in Bejaia have decided to conduct church services this weekend as scheduled and "see what happens."

 

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Two women arrested after one of their daughters died of malnutrition were under the influence of a small religious sect, relatives say.

The leader of the group, Emanyel Rezireksyon Kris, has not been charged. His name, drawn from Haitian Creole, roughly translates to "Christ is here."

 

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