UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
DALLAS DIVISION
PLAINTIFFS:
CHILDREN OF ISKCON:
LAWRENCE ANDERSON,
JOHN BAEZ,
BENJAMIN BRESSACK,
ANNA CARLSON,
KRSNA SHAKTI CARLSON,
HEIDI CHACON,
MAYA CHARNELL,
JACOB CHATTERTON,
JAMES PETER CHATTERTON,
CHRISTOPHER CHIRCOP,
ZOLTAN CORBETT,
KEITH DOMINGO,
ABHAY DURR,
MELODY GEDEON,
TINA HEBEL,
NIRMALA HICKEY,
JENS JENSEN,
VISHAKA JOKIEL
NADIM KESTEN,
LAKSAMANA KEYES,
TRISHA KLIMEK,
BRAJADEVI LEVINE,
GREG LUCZYK,
FRANK LYONS,
NARAYANA LYONS,
JOI McMILLON,
TAJH MILLER,
JOEY MUSACCHIO,
YURI NESBITT,
ANYA POURCHOT,
BRIDGETTE RITTENOUR,
STEPHANIE RUMPLE,
UDDHAVA SAMANICH,
SUTA DAS SCHRAMM,
BRAJARANI SCIOSIA,
VILASINI SILVERMAN,
ANANTA SOFSKY,
JUSTIN SOFSKY,
CHRISTOPHER STRAYHORN,
CORRINA TILLMON,
JESSICA TILLMON,
SITA TORTORICE,
DAVID TOURJEE,
DAMIAN WEIR,
Plaintiffs, V. DEFENDANTS:
ISKCON, a d/b/a of
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR
KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS,
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA
CONSCIOUSNESS,
ISKCON FOUNDATION, INC.,
ISKCON OF WEST VIRGINIA,
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA
CONSCIOUSNESS OF WASHINGTON,
DAMODAR TITLE HOLDING CORPORATION
OF DALLAS, INC.,
ISKCON, INC.,
ISKCON KRISHNAFEST USA, INC.,
ISKCON OF LAKE HUNTINGTON
PROPERTY CORPORATION,
ISKCON OF PORT ROYAL, INC.,
ISKCON TELEVISION, INC.,
ISKCON OF LOS ANGELES,
ISKCON OF CALIFORNIA, INC.,
ISKCON OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA,
ISKCON OF SAN DIEGO;
GREGORY GOTTFRIED,
ROBERT GRANT,
THOMAS HERTZOG,
GOPAL KHANNA,
HOWARD RESNICK, and
GLEN TETON, as Executors of The Estate of A.C.
BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA;
FARAMARZ ATTAR,
CHARLES BACIS,
WILLIAM BERKE,
ROBERT CORENS,
WILLIAM EHRLICHMAN,
JOHN FAVORS,
STEVEN GOREYNO a/k/a STEVEN GUARINO,
MICHAEL GRANT,
KEITH HAM,
THEODORE RICHARD HARRIS,
THOMAS HERTZOG, Individually,
JEFFREY HICKEY,
HANS KARY,
GOPAL KHANNA, Individually,
WILLIAM OGLE,
HOWARD RESNICK, Individually,
BRUCE SCHARF, and
DEFENDANT DOES 1-30,
Defendants.
PLAINTIFFS ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
LAW OFFICES OF WINDLE TURLEY, P.C.
Windle Turley
State Bar No. 20304000
Patrick C. Patterson
State Bar No. 15603560
6440 North Central Expressway
1000 University Tower
Dallas, Texas 75206
Telephone No. 214/691-4025
Telecopier No. 214/361-5802
Email: win@wturley.com.-iv- fj06060010.wpd
INDEX
I PARTIES ....................................................................1
PLAINTIFFS .................................................................1
DEFENDANTS ...............................................................3
DEFENDANT MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY
OF COMMISSIONERS (GBC) RESIDING IN THE U.S.A. .............................6
II JURISDICTION AND VENUE ...................................................9
III ORGANIZATION OF DEFENDANTS .............................................9
A. ISKCONS GOVERNING BOARD ........................................10
B. MOVEMENT .........................................................10
C. GURUKULA BOARDING SCHOOLS .....................................10
D. INDIA BOARDING SCHOOL ............................................12
IV WRONGFUL AND ILLEGAL ACTS OF ABUSE OF MINORS ........................12
A. YEARS OF PRIMARY ABUSE ............................................12
B. ABUSE INFLICTED ....................................................13
V. WRONGFUL AND ACTIONABLE CONDUCT OF THE DEFENDANTS ................18
A. NEGLIGENCE .........................................................18
B. ISKCONS BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY ................................20
(i) CONSTRUCTIVE FRAUD .........................................21
(ii) BREACH OF CONTRACT/BREACH OF WARRANTY ..................21
C. DEFENDANTS BREACHED THEIR STATUTORY DUTY ......................22
D. GROSS NEGLIGENCE .................................................22
E. DEFENDANTS NEGLIGENT ASSUMPTION OF
RISK OF INTENTIONAL OR CRIMINAL CONDUCT ........................22
F. DEFENDANTS NEGLIGENT MISREPRESENTATION
INVOLVING RISK OF PHYSICAL HARM ..................................23
VI CONSPIRACY AND FRAUDULENT CONCEALMENT .............................24
A. DEFENDANTS CONCERT OF ACTION ...................................26
B. DEFENDANTS INTENTIONAL AND NEGLIGENT
INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS .................................26
VII RICO VIOLATIONS ..........................................................27
A. VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL RACKETEER-INFLUENCED
AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT (RICO)
18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(C) AND 1962(D) ........................................27
B. VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL RACKETEER-INFLUENCED AND
CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(A) AND (D) ............31
VIII DAMAGES OF PLAINTIFFS ...................................................32
IX REQUEST FOR INJUNCTION AGAINST FURTHER
SEXUAL OR PHYSICAL ABUSE OF MINOR CHILDREN ...........................34
X REQUEST FOR ORDER PROHIBITING DESTRUCTION
OR SPOLIATION OF EVIDENCE ...............................................34
XI STATEMENTS TO THE COURT ................................................34
XII JURY DEMAND .............................................................35
XIII CLAIM FOR PREJUDGMENT AND POST-JUDGMENT INTEREST ...................36.
PLAINTIFFS ORIGINAL COMPLAINT
COME NOW Plaintiffs Children of ISKCON, et al. (Plaintiffs) and file
this Original Complaint complaining of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
(ISKCON), et al., and state the following:
I.
PARTIES
PLAINTIFFS:
All the Plaintiffs named herein were minors at the time of the sexual, emotional,
mental and physical abuse and exploitation alleged herein.
1. Plaintiff Lawrence Anderson resides in North Carolina.
2. Plaintiff John Baez resides in Florida.
3. Plaintiff Benjamin Bressack resides in Florida.
4. Plaintiff Anna Carlson resides in Oregon.
5. Plaintiff Krsna Shakti Carlson resides in Oregon.
6. Plaintiff Heidi Chacon resides in Florida.
7. Plaintiff Maya Charnell resides in British Columbia, Canada.
8. Plaintiff Jacob Chatteron resides in British Columbia, Canada.
9. Plaintiff James Peter Chatterton resides in London, England.
10. Plaintiff Christopher Chircop resides in Florida.
11. Plaintiff Zoltan Corbett resides in California.
12. Plaintiff Keith Domingo resides in Pennsylvania.
13. Plaintiff Abhay Durr resides in Florida.
14. Plaintiff Melody Gedeon resides in Florida.
15. Plaintiff Tina Hebel resides in North Carolina.
16. Plaintiff Nirmala Hickey resides in Florida.
17. Plaintiff Jens Jensen resides in California.
18. Plaintiff Vishaka Jokiel resides in Kailua, Hawaii.
19. Plaintiff Nadim Kesten resides in New York.
20. Plaintiff Laksmana Keyes resides in Colorado.
21. Plaintiff Trisha Klimek resides in California.
22. Plaintiff Brajadevi Levine resides in British Columbia, Canada.
23. Plaintiff Greg Luczyk resides in British Columbia, Canada.
24. Plaintiff Frank Lyons resides in Pennsylvania.
25. Plaintiff Naryana Lyons resides in Pennsylvania.
26. Plaintiff Joi McMillon resides in Florida.
27. Plaintiff Tajh Miller resides in California.
28. Plaintiff Joey Mussacchio resides in Quebec, Canada.
29. Plaintiff Yuri Nesbitt resides in Colorado.
30. Plaintiff Anya Pourchot resides in California.
31. Plaintiff Bridgette Rittenour resides in Brownwood, Texas.
32. Plaintiff Stephanie Rumple resides in North Carolina.
33. Plaintiff Uddhava Samanich resides in New York.
34. Plaintiff Suta das Schramm resides in Arizona.
35. Plaintiff Brajarani Scioscia resides in Illinois.
36. Plaintiff Vilasini Silverman resides in Maryland.
37. Plaintiff Ananta Sofsky resides in New York.
38. Plaintiff Justin Sofsky resides in New York.
39. Plaintiff Christopher Strayhorn resides in California.
40. Plaintiff Corrina Tillmon resides in New York.
41. Plaintiff Jessica Tillmon resides in California.
42. Plaintiff Sita Tortorice resides in Wisconsin.
43. Plaintiff David Tourjee resides in New Jersey.
44. Plaintiff Damian Weir resides in California.
DEFENDANTS:
1. Defendant International Society For Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON,
is an unincorporated association with its principal places of business located
in various places throughout the United States, including California and Florida.
Service of process may be made upon Defendant ISKCON by serving Ravindra Svarupa
Das a/k/a William Deadwyler, III, the Chairman of the Governing Body of Commissioners.
He resides at 41 West Allens Lane, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19119.
2. Defendant DAMODAR TITLE HOLDING CORPORATION OF DALLAS, INC., is a Texas corporation
headquartered in Texas. Its principal place of business address is 5430 Gurley
Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75223. It may be served by serving its registered agent
for service of process, Tom Kerr.
3. Defendant INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS is a Washington corporation
headquartered in Washington. Its principal place of business address is 3114 E.
Pine St., Seattle, Washington. It may be served by serving its registered agent
for service of process, Bruce Melzack.
4. Defendant ISKCON FOUNDATION, INC. is a Florida corporation headquartered in
Florida. Its principal place of business address is P.O. Box 1119, Alachua, Florida
32615. It may be served by serving its registered agent for service of process,
Naveen Khurana, 18104 N.W. County Road 239, Alachua, Florida 32615.
5. Defendant INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS OF WASHINGTON is
a Washington corporation headquartered in Washington. Its principal place of business
address is 1420 228 th Ave. SE, Issaquah, Washington, 98027. It may be served
by serving its registered agent for service of process, Harry Terhanian.
6. Defendant ISKCON, INC. is a Pennsylvania corporation headquartered in Pennsylvania.
Its principal place of business address is RD #2, Box 1075, Port Royal, Pennsylvania
17082.
7. Defendant ISKCON KRISHNAFEST USA, INC. is a Texas corporation headquartered
in Texas. Its principal place of business address is 5430 Gurley Avenue, Dallas,
Texas 75223. It may be served by serving its registered agent for service of process,
George Levington.
8. Defendant ISKCON OF LAKE HUNTINGTON PROPERTY CORPORATION is a New York corporation
headquartered in New York. Its principal place of business address is P.O. Box
338, New York, New York 12752.
9. ISKCON OF PORT ROYAL, INC. is a Pennsylvania corporation headquartered in Pennsylvania.
Its principal place of business is RD #1, Port Royal, Pennsylvania 17082.
10. Defendant ISKCON OF WEST VIRGINIA is a West Virginia corporation headquartered
in West Virginia. Its principal place of business address is RD 1 NBU 24, Moundsville,West
Virginia 26041. It may be served by serving its registered agent for service of
process, David Waterman.
11. Defendant TEXAS KRISHNAS, INC. is a Texas corporation headquartered in Texas.
Its principal place of business address is 5430 Gurley Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75223.
It may be served with process by serving its registered agent for service of process,
Joe Dinoffer.
12. Defendant ISKCON TELEVISION, INC. is a California corporation headquartered
in Topanga, California. Its principal place of business address is P.O. Box 556,
Topanga, California 90290. It may be served with process by serving its registered
agent for service of process, Jeanne Carr, 6133 Bristol Parkway, #100, Culver
City, California 90230.
13. Defendant ISKCON OF LOS ANGELES is a California corporation headquartered in California.
It may be served with process by serving its registered agent for service of process,
Robert P. Owen, 3714 Watseka Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90034.
14. Defendant ISKCON OF CALIFORNIA, INC. is a California corporation headquartered
in California. It may be served with process by serving its registered agent for
service of process, Robert P. Owen, 3764 Watseka Avenue, Los Angeles, California
90034.
15. Defendant ISKCON OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA is a California corporation headquartered
in California. It may be served with process by serving its registered agent for
service of process, Dennis Brown, 3765 Watseka Avenue, Suite E, Los Angeles, California
90034.
16. Defendant ISKCON OF SAN DIEGO is a California corporation headquartered in
California. It may be served with process by serving its registered agent for
service of process, David Bridges, 1030 Grand Avenue, San Diego, California 92109.
17. Defendant GREGORY GOTTFRIED is an Executor of the Estate of A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA
SWAMI PRABHUPADA; he resides in Bangkok, Thailand.
18. Defendant ROBERT GRANT is an Executor of the Estate of A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA
SWAMI PRABHUPADA; he resides in New York.
19. Defendant THOMAS HERTZOG is an Executor of the Estate of A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA
SWAMI PRABHUPADA; as set forth below, he resides in Dallas, Texas.
20. Defendant GHOPAL KHANNA is an Executor of the Estate of A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA
SWAMI PRABHUPADA; as set forth below, he resides in Montreal, Quebec.
21. Defendant HOWARD RESNICK is an Executor of the Estate of A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA
SWAMI PRABHUPADA; as set forth below, he resides in Beverly Hills, California.
22. Defendant GLEN TETON is an Executor of the Estate of A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI
PRABHUPADA; his address and whereabouts are unknown.
DEFENDANT MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF COMMISSIONERS (GBC) RESIDING IN THE
U.S.A
1. Defendant FARAMARZ ATTAR (Krishna name, Atreya Rsi das) resides
at 550 North Eisenhower Drive, Beckley, W. Virginia 25801. Mr. Attar was a member
of ISKCONS governing body commission (the GBC) from 1975 to
1987.
2. Defendant CHARLES BACIS (Krishna name, Bhavananda das) was a member
of the GBC from 1978 to 1987. He may be served at ISKCON, 383 Lenox Avenue, Detroit,
Michigan 48215.
3. Defendant WILLIAM BERKE (Krishna name, Bali Mardan das) is a resident
of New York, New York. Mr. Berke was a member of the GBC from 1977 to 1978.
4. Defendant ROBERT CORENS, (Krishna name, Rapanuga Swami) resides
in Alachua, Florida. Mr. Corens was a member of the GBC from 1978 to 1986.
5. Defendant WILLIAM DEADWYLER, III (Krishna name, Ravindra Svarupa Das)
is Chairman of the Governing Body of Commissioners. He resides at 41 West Allens
Lane, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19119.
6. Defendant WILLIAM EHRLICHMAN (Krishna name, Bhagavan Swami) is
a resident of Berkeley, California. Mr. Ehrlichman was a member of the GBC from
1975 to 1987..
7. Defendant JOHN FAVORS (Krishna name, Bhakti Tirtha Swami) resides
at 600 Ninth St., N.E., Washington D.C. 20002. Mr. Favors was a member of the
GBC from 1982 to 1999.
8. Defendant STEVEN GOREYNO a/k/a STEVEN GUARINO (Krishna name, Satsvarupa
das) is a resident of Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Goreyno a/k/a Guarino was
a member of the GBC from 1975 to 1987.
9. Defendant MICHAEL GRANT (Krishna name, Mukunda Goswami) resides
at 10310 Oaklyn Drive, Potomac, Maryland 20854. Mr. Grant was a member of the
GBC from 1984 to 1999.
10. Defendant KEITH HAM (Krishna name, Kirtanananda) resides in the
Low Security Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina. Mr. Ham was a
member of the GBC from 1975- 1986.
11. Defendant THEODORE RICHARD HARRIS (Krishna name, Panca Dravida Swami)
resides in California. Mr. Harris was a member of the GBC from 1977 to 1986.
12. Defendant THOMAS HERTZOG (Krishna name, Tamal Krishna Goswami)
resides at 5430 Gurley Ave., Dallas, Texas 75223. Mr. Hertzog was a member of
the GBC from 1975 to 1999.
13. Defendant JEFFREY HICKEY (Krishna name, Jagadish das) resides
in Florida. Mr. Hickey was a member of the GBC from 1975 to 1994.
14. Defendant GOPAL KHANNA (Krishna name, Gopal Krishna Goswami) resides
at 1626 Pie IX Blvd., Montreal, Quebec, H1V2C5. Mr. Khanna was a member of the
GBC from 1975 to 1999.
15. Defendant HANS KARY (Krishna name, Hansadutta Swami) is a resident
of Cloverdale, California. Mr. Hary was a member of the GBC from 1975 to 1984.
16. Defendant WILLIAM OGLE (Krishna name, Balavanta das) is a resident
of New York, New York. Mr. Ogle was a member of the GBC from 1976 to 1999.
17. Defendant HOWARD RESNICK (Krishna name, Hrdayananda das Goswami)
resides at 153 N. Arnaz Dr., Beverly Hills, California 90211. Mr. Resnick was
a member of the GBC from 1975 to 1999.
18. Defendant BRUCE SCHARF (Krishna name, Brahmananda) is a resident
of Miami, Florida. Mr. Scharf was a member of the GBC from 1975 to 1987.
19. Defendants Does 1 - 30. Plaintiffs are not aware of the true names and capacities,
whether individual, corporate, or otherwise, of defendants Does 1 - 30, inclusive,
and therefore sue said Defendants by such fictitious names. Plaintiffs will seek
leave of this court to amend this complaint to include the true names and capacities
of the defendants sued herein as Does 1 - 30, inclusive, when the same have been
ascertained. Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and thereby allege, that each
of the defendants designated herein as a Defendant Doe acted in concert
with each and every other defendant, intended to, and did, participate in and
cause the events, acts, practices and courses of conduct alleged herein, or, alternatively,
acted as the principal or agent of the other defendants or in the course and scope
of said employment or agency, and proximately caused damages and injuries thereby
to the Plaintiffs as alleged herein.
II.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
1. Venue is proper in that a substantial portion of the events giving rise to
the claims iterated herein occurred in Dallas County, Texas, and one or more Defendants
are residents of or have their principal business in the State of Texas.
2. The amount in controversy herein exceeds the minimum jurisdictional requirements
of this Court exclusive of interest and costs.
3. All Defendants are subject to the jurisdiction of this Court pursuant to 18
U.S.C. §1962 et seq., the RICO nationwide service of process statute.
III.
ORGANIZATION OF DEFENDANTS
Defendant International Society of Krisha Consciousness, a/k/a ISKCON, and sometimes
known as Hare Krishna or the Hare Krishnas, is a spiritual
institution based on a faith founded in the United States by A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada (a/k/a Prabhupada) in the United States in July,
1966.
A. ISKCONS GOVERNING BOARD
1. The Governing Body Commission of ISKCON (herein, GBC) is the ultimate
administrative and governing body of the movement. It was established in 1970,
at the direction of Prabhupada, the movements founder. The GBC initially
consisted of eleven high-ranking leaders in the movement. Although the primary
activity of the GBC is in the United States, it governs ISKCON worldwide.
B. MOVEMENT
2. ISKCON encouraged many of its followers to forego all of their material possessions
and devote their lives to the furtherance of Krishna Consciousness.
This often included the solicitation of donations from travelers at airports,
public display of chanting and street performances, and selling various
of Prabhupadas and ISKCONs books. Because of the total devotion demanded
of its followers by ISKCON, adult devotees of ISKCON were encouraged,
and, in order to advance within the faith, required to relinquish their primary
parental duties and place their children in ISKCON-founded and sponsored schools,
primarily boarding schools, known as gurukulas, the outward or stated
purpose being to indoctrinate the
children of ISKCON devotees into the disciplines of Krishna Consciousness.
C. GURUKULA BOARDING SCHOOLS
3. The first gurukula boarding school established by ISKCON was located in Dallas,
Texas, and commenced operation in 1972. By 1978, there were a total of eleven
gurukula schools in North America, including gurukulas in Los Angeles, California;
Seattle, Washington; and New Vrindaban, West Virginia. The gurukula boarding school
system in ISKCON was and is administered by the GBC.
4. Far from the promised transcendental spiritual and secular education purported
to be disseminated at the gurukulas, in fact ISKCONs gurukulas quickly became
havens for widespread physical, emotional, mental and sexual child abuse.
5. The Defendants, at least in part, established and operated the school in order
to permit the parents to be freed to solicit and raise money for the benefit of
the gurus, temple leaders, and ISKCON corporations. Raising funds and distribution
of money were at the core of, and a pattern and practice of, the Defendants
wrongful conduct and racketeering practices.
ISKCON and its leaders also enriched themselves by granting special favors to
large fund raisers and donors, even if some large donors were drug dealers and
other criminal elements. The special favors include, among others:
(a) Granting teaching positions to sexual predators so they would have access
to children for their sexual gratification;
(b) Giving young girls from the gurukulas as brides to older donor men;
(c) Creating asylum and a ring of protection against apprehension
of fugitives, including those dealing illegally in arms, drugs and murder, within
the ISKCON enterprise;
(d) Destroying evidence and failing to report criminal conduct on the part of
ISKCON and devotees.
6. Although sexual, physical and emotional abuse has occurred in almost every
ISKCON school, the worst and most widespread abuse was inflicted at gurukulas
in Dallas, Texas; New Vrindaban, West Virginia; Los Angeles, California; Seattle,
Washington; Port Royal, Pennsylvania and Lake Huntington, New York. Additionally,
profound, severe and extensive abuse of minor boys from the United States and
Canada took place at the ISKCON Vrindaban and Mayapur boarding schools in India.
D. INDIA BOARDING SCHOOL
7. In a conscious effort to avoid policing and scrutiny by U.S.A. child protection
agencies, ISKCON took a large portion of its boarding school activities overseas
to India. In India, ISKCON managed at least two profoundly abusive boarding schools
for boys. These were the Vrndavan and Mayapur schools. Both were staffed and controlled
by appointees of ISKCON who were, for the most part, assigned from the United
States. The students sent there were almost exclusively from the United States,
and the management policies, devised and implemented by the GBC, originated in
the U.S.A. The Indian schools were among the worst offenders and abusers of minor
boys, and many of the Indian school teachers and leaders were also teachers, leaders
and abusers in United States schools.
IV.
WRONGFUL AND ILLEGAL ACTS OF ABUSE OF MINORS
A. YEARS OF PRIMARY ABUSE
1. The sexual, physical and emotional abuse of the minor children occurred primarily
between the years 1972 and 1990, although abuse continued after 1990 and, it is
believed, continues to the present. The sexual, physical and emotional abuse of
minor children was inflicted on children from as young as 3 years of age to 18
years of age, and included both boys and girls.
2. The abuse to which the ISKCON children were subjected was inflicted on some
children for several years. It included a pattern and practice of sexual abuse
of both boys and girls, physical abuse, and emotional abuse. In many instances,
the abuse could be accurately described as torture of children. Not all of the
following described acts of child abuse were carried out on every child, but every
plaintiff in this case was subject to multiple forms of child abuse over extended
periods of time, some for years. Some examples of the types of abuse and neglect
to which the children, ranging in age from 3 years to 18 years, were subjected
include but are not limited to:
B. ABUSE INFLICTED
3. Sexual abuse including rape, oral sex, intercourse with children, sexual fondling
of children, and masturbation with children.
4. Physical beatings of children with boards, branches, clubs, and poles.
5. Physical beatings by adult teachers and school leaders with fists to the head
and stomach.
6. Kicking the children into submission.
7. Children were in some instances made to walk great distances in bitter cold,
including snow and rain, without jackets, coats, or shoes.
8. Children were often forced to sleep on cold floors and in unheated rooms.
9. Children were frequently deprived entirely of medical care or provided such
inadequate medical care as to suffer long-term and, in some instances, permanent
injury. The medical conditions for which children were not treated included malaria,
hepatitis, yellow fever, teeth being knocked out, broken facial bones, and broken
bones in their hands, often inflicted as they attempted to shield themselves from
beatings.
10. Children were sometimes kept in filthy conditions. In at least one instance,
a local group utilized what had recently been a cattle or horse barn for a nursery.
11. In almost every school the children were kept in severely overcrowded conditions,
often forced to sleep shoulder to shoulder on the floor or in small rooms in three-high
bunks with 10 or 12 children to each tiny room
12. The children were physically abused by being awakened every day in the early
morning hours (generally at 4:00 a.m.) and subjected to a cold shower, after which
they were taken, without any breakfast, to a daily religious service. At some
schools, the children were forced to walk great distances in the dark to attend
the service, and often in cold or rainy conditions, clothed only in their thin
gown-like dohti.
13. The children were not provided bathroom tissue, but instead were expected
to wipe themselves with their fingers, after which they would dip their fingers
into a bowl of water.
14. As punishment for not cleaning themselves thoroughly, children were scrubbed
with steel wool until their skin was raw and sometimes bleeding.
15. Children were abused when they were forced to sleep on their wet blankets
or in tubs as punishment if they wet their bedding.
16. Some children were forced to wear their soiled underclothes on their heads
for long periods of time because they had wet themselves.
17. Children were often forced to go without food entirely, either because there
was none, or as punishment. When food was provided, it was always inadequate for
a growing childs diet.
18. The inadequate food that was provided was often prepared in unsanitary conditions,
was of very poor quality and so unpleasant that even hungry children frequently
could not eat it. In at least one school, the children learned as a matter of
routine to remove insects from their food before eating it.
19. Each child was expected to eat what they were provided. If they did not do
so, their served portion was kept on their plates until the next meal when it
was served again. This process often continued until the cold food -- even moldy
and insect-infested -- was swallowed.
20. In some schools, children were forced to lick up their vomit from any foul
food they may have thrown up.
21. At New Vrindavan, three young boys, about six or seven years of age, who worked
in the kitchen, took some food to their hungry friends. They were caught and punished
by being gagged, having bags placed over their heads, and being put in a small
room for several days with only a bucket for their waste and no food or water.
One of the same boys was later slammed by a teacher into a marble wall, resulting
in a loss of some teeth and fractured facial bones.
22. Children were controlled by various threats to hurt or kill them and by punishments.
Young children, strictly limited to a vegetarian diet, were continually terrorized
when told that non-Krishnas were meat-eaters, that they ate each other, and that
the children, if given to or taken by the meat-eaters, would themselves be eaten.
23. Children often saw rats in their rooms and schools. Some children (such as
those at the school in Dallas) were told the rats lived in a particular old closet,
and the child would be, and often was, placed in the closet if they didnt
do as told.
24. One form of punishment included forcing little children to stand on a crate
for long periods of time in a darkened closet so the rats would not eat
them.
25. Very young children were in fact placed in those dark and locked closets and
left afraid and crying for hours at a time. They were locked overnight in dark
cellars with dirt floors. One young child was made to sleep alone in the loft
of a cold barn for many nights.
26. Sometimes the children were sent by their superiors to massage and bathe the
religious gurus and then drink their now blessed bath water.
27. In some cases, children were stuffed into trash barrels for periods of two
to three days, with the lid on, as punishment for relatively trivial sins.
28. Children were almost universally told that if they disclosed their condition
or complained to their parents or others, they would be severely punished. When
complaints were made, the children were publicly and often severely beaten or
subjected to other forms of punishment.
29. Girls, as young as 12 or 13 years, were frequently given or promised
to an older male in the movement. Although their marriages were generally not
sexually consummated until the child was at least 16 or 17 years old, the little
girls were terrorized by the threats, and often reality, of being given away by
their leaders to become engaged to marry strange old men.
30. Children were often forced to lie awake in their beds or sleeping bags and
listen as their little friends were sexually molested by teachers and other leaders.
31. The children were emotionally abused by subjecting them to near-total parental
and societal isolation. In an effort to totally control their minds, the children
were, in most cases, separated and isolated from their parents and were not allowed
to have regular contact with their parents. Personal visits, correspondence, and
telephone calls were either forbidden or discouraged. Gifts, particularly of food,
were intercepted. For example, one young boy felt abandoned by his parents, and
had no contact with his family for more than a year. He later learned the one
small package of cookies sent by his mother was intercepted and kept from him.
32. Children were frequently moved to different schools in different states without
the consent (or, sometimes, knowledge) of parents. Some children were hidden from
parents. Some boys were shipped out of the country to ISKCON schools in India.
In at least some cases, after the parents discovered their childs whereabouts
and made arrangements for them to come home, their plane tickets were intercepted,
and torn up in front of the children. Then, these children were punished for their
parents attempt to bring them home.
33. Even though the children were given by their parents to ISKCON to educate,
except for the reading of their vedic scriptures, the children received
little or no education.
34. Because of near-total isolation from the outside world and lack of education,
the children who remained within the ISKCON schools for extended periods of time
were totally unequipped to enter outside society. They have experienced extreme
difficulty in earning a living, entering and maintaining relationships, including
marriage, and in adapting to the laws and regulations of society. Many are in
need of extended psychological and/or vocational training, rehabilitation, and
medical care.
35. The founder of the institution, Prabhupada, was informed in 1972, at a time
when he totally controlled the institution, that extensive physical and sexual
abuse of minor ISKCON children was occurring, but he concealed the wrongdoing
from the public, parents and all but a handful of close advisors.
36. Despite having been alerted to the physical, emotional, mental and sexual
abuse of children in its gurukula boarding schools and other schools as early
as the 1970s, ISKCON and the other defendants conspired to suppress any public
disclosure, or disclosure to gurukula childrens parents, of the pattern
and practice of rampant abuse at its gurukulas. ISKCON fraudulently concealed
this information for decades, allowing the offending gurukula teachers and supervisors
continued access to children for their sexual gratification and to subject them
to physical, emotional and mental abuse. Defendants also endeavored to
dissuade and discourage parents of gurukula children from visiting the schools.
This was done at least in part to preserve the secrecy surrounding the abuse of
the Krishna children.
37. ISKCON, by and through its GBC, knew that if it did not conceal and keep secret
the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse it had learned was taking place in many
of its schools, the very viability of the movement would be jeopardized. ISKCON
would face a large loss of students and their parents from the movement and with
that a large loss of funds and fundraisers. The individual income of many members
of the GBC would have been adversely impacted. Its leaders would also have been
subject to criminal and civil sanctions. The GBC made conscious decisions to conceal
the fact that injury had been, and was continuing to be, inflicted on minor boys
and girls.
V.
WRONGFUL AND ACTIONABLE CONDUCT OF THE DEFENDANTS
The actionable conduct described herein, unless stated otherwise, refers to the
conduct of all the defendant associations, corporations and individuals, both
acting collectively and singularly, and is stated as ISKCONs conduct or
acts.
A. NEGLIGENCE
1. At all times material herein from 1971 through 1996, Defendant ISKCON, through
the GBC, operated and supervised the gurukulas across the United States and in
India. The teachers and supervisors at the boarding schools and gurukulas acted
upon the delegated authority of ISKCON as its agents. The gurukula teachers and
supervisors came to know the Plaintiffs and gained access to them because of their
status as leaders of ISKCON indoctrination. The gurukula teachers and supervisors
engaged in the described wrongful conduct while in the course and scope of their
duties with ISKCON and its affiliated entities. Therefore, ISKCON is liable for
the wrongful conduct of its gurukula teachers and supervisors.
2. ISKCON negligently selected and placed the offending gurukula teachers and
supervisors in positions of trust, confidence and authority and in direct, unsupervised
contact with minor children, when they either had no knowledge of the teachers
and supervisors backgrounds or ISKCON had actual or apparent knowledge of
these individuals dangerous propensities towards physical, emotional, mental,
and sexual abuse of the gurukula children.
3. ISKCON failed to establish written guides and procedures to safeguard the children
entrusted to it.
4. ISKCON failed to provide proper training to its teachers and supervisors.
5. ISKCON encouraged, through its pattern and practice, the herein described acts
of wrongful and illegal conduct by its agents.
6. ISKCON failed to warn Plaintiffs or their families of the offending gurukula
school teachers and supervisors dangerous propensities towards abuse of
minor children. Indeed, it was ISKCONS pattern and practice to encourage
this abusive behavior from the teachers.
7. ISKCON was under a duty to disclose the extent of the problem of physical,
emotional, mental, and sexual abuse by gurukula teachers and supervisors towards
the gurukula children, and the severe psychological problems that would result
from such abuse if not properly treated, but failed to make such disclosures.
8. ISKCON failed to notify state and governmental authorities of known and suspected
abuse when it was the law that it do so.
9. ISKCON failed to provide reasonable supervision of its teachers and supervisors.
10. ISKCON failed to provide adequate staffing to provide a safe environment.
11. ISKCON failed to provide adequate funding to its schools, even though it represented
to parents and others it would do so, and despite the facts, parents and others
raised larger amounts of money for the operation of ISKCON enterprises.
12. ISKCON failed to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter and education in
its boarding schools, even though it represented to parents and others it was
doing so.
13. The older students were sometimes appointed monitors. The Defendants
knew and encouraged monitors to abuse and beat the children. Actual rapes and
beatings of children by the older monitors were ignored by the ISKCON
enterprise.
14. ISKCONs conduct during the time and occasions of the abuse in question
resulted in both negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress upon
the Plaintiffs.
B. ISKCONS BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY
15. ISKCON, as a religious organization, is granted special privileges and immunities
in the United States by society and is in a special fiduciary relationship with
the Plaintiffs. ISKCON owed the Plaintiffs, who were entrusted to its care, the
highest duty of trust and confidence and was required to act in the childrens
best interest. ISKCONs actions and inactions, as described herein, violated
that relationship when ISKCON failed to act with the highest degree of trust and
confidence to protect the Plaintiffs from physical, emotional, mental and sexual
abuse.
16. Plaintiffs and their parents were, at the relevant times, deeply devout followers
of defendants. Plaintiffs and their parents entrusted their entire physical, emotional,
economic, and spiritual lives to the control and direction of Defendants and to
the Defendant entities of which Plaintiffs were members and/or devotees. Plaintiffs
and their parents relied upon the promises and representations of the Defendants.
17. As devoted children, unable to care for or make decisions for themselves,
and entrusted in the care of the child care facilities and schools operated by
the Defendants, Plaintiffs were owed a fiduciary duty by each of the individual
entities and by all the Defendants. By failing to take steps to prevent, detect,
and minimize the harm from the incidents of abuse suffered by Plaintiffs, the
Defendants breached their fiduciary duty to Plaintiffs.
(i) CONSTRUCTIVE FRAUD
18. As fiduciaries of Plaintiffs, Defendants owed a duty to Plaintiffs to inform
their parents/guardians of the fact that the child care facilities and schools
operated by defendants were staffed by unqualified individuals, did not contain
sufficient staffing to prevent, detect, and to minimize the effects of incidents
of abuse, and that the child care facilities and schools were below the child
safety standards that would reasonably be anticipated.
19. By reason of the failure to make these disclosures to Plaintiffs or Plaintiffs
guardians, and the resulting detrimental reliance thereon, the Defendants are
guilty of constructive fraud.
(ii) BREACH OF CONTRACT/BREACH OF WARRANTY
20. At the time that the ISKCON Defendants accepted Plaintiffs into the schools
and child care facilities operated by them, (and, at the same time, collected
payment from Plaintiffs parents for school tuition and/or room and board),
they did, by both their conduct and verbal statements, expressly and impliedly
agree and warrant, in exchange for valuable consideration, to provide good quality
child care, schooling, boarding services in a safe, nurturing environment, such
that Plaintiffs would, among other things, not be intentionally or negligently
harmed. Plaintiffs were intended third-party beneficiaries of this express and
implied agreement and warranty between the Defendants and their parents.
21. ISKCON and defendants breached their express and implied contract and warranty
to Plaintiffs, and as a result of those breaches, Plaintiffs were harmed.
C. DEFENDANTS BREACHED THEIR STATUTORY DUTY
22. In most jurisdictions where the Defendants operated, they were under a statutory
duty to protect children entrusted to their care from physical and sexual abuse
and to report to various child welfare and child protective agencies any known
or suspected occurrences of sexual or physical abuse of children. The Defendants
breached their statutory duty in that: (a) they engaged in a pattern and practice
of, or knowingly permitted their agents to, physically and/or sexually abuse minor
children; and (b) the Defendants learned of suspected sexual and physical abuse
of children but concealed its existence from state authorities, and to this day
continue to fail to report known instances of physical or sexual abuse of children
entrusted to its care.
D. GROSS NEGLIGENCE
23. ISKCON, at the time and on the occasions in question, acted with heedless
and reckless disregard for the safety of the Plaintiffs, which disregard was the
result of conscious indifference to the rights, welfare and safety of the Plaintiffs
in violation of the laws of the State of Texas, and other states.
E. DEFENDANTS NEGLIGENT ASSUMPTION OF RISK OF INTENTIONAL OR CRIMINAL CONDUCT
24. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference as if set forth at length herein all previous
allegations set forth above, and assert that ISKCON and the other Defendants are
liable for acts and/or omissions pursuant to the Restatement (Second) of Torts,
Section 302B, under the legal doctrine of negligent assumption of risk of intentional
or criminal conduct.
An act or an omission may be negligent if the actor realizes or should realize
that it involves an unreasonable risk of harm to another through the conduct of
the other or a third person which is intended to cause harm, even though such
conduct is criminal. Restatement (Second) of Torts, Section 302B.
25. Defendant ISKCON and the other Defendants realized or should have realized
that the abusive gurukula teachers and supervisors posed an unreasonable risk
of harm to minor children, including Plaintiffs.
F. DEFENDANTS NEGLIGENT MISREPRESENTATION INVOLVING RISK OF PHYSICAL HARM
26. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference as if set forth at length herein all previous
allegations set forth above, and assert that ISKCON and the other Defendants are
liable for acts and/or omissions pursuant to the Restatement (Second) of Torts,
Section 311, under the legal doctrine of negligent misrepresentation involving
risk of physical harm.
(1) One who negligently gives false information to another is subject to liability
for physical harm caused by action taken by the other in reasonable reliance upon
such information, where such harm results
(a) to the other, or
(b) to such third persons as the actor should expect to be put in peril by the
action taken.
(2) Such negligence may consist of failure to exercise reasonable care
(a) in ascertaining the accuracy of the information, or
(b) in the manner in which it is communicated.
Restatement (Second) of Torts, Section 311.
27. Defendant ISKCON and the other Defendants informed parents of the abused children
that ISKCON would provide a safe and wholesome environment for their children.
Defendants failure to ascertain and apprise Plaintiffs and their families
of the propensity of offending gurukula teachers and supervisors to physically,
emotionally, mentally and sexually abuse minor children, and ISKCON and the other
Defendants representation that the offending gurukula teachers and supervisors
were not dangerous to young children placed Plaintiffs in peril, and caused them
injury.
VI.
CONSPIRACY AND FRAUDULENT CONCEALMENT
1. ISKCON has acted in concert with the other Defendants in a pattern and practice
to fraudulently conceal the extent and nature of the physical, emotional, mental,
and sexual abuse occurring at its gurukulas, boarding schools, and child care
centers, as well as the harmful effects of that abuse, continuing through the
present day.
2. All Defendants herein entered into a civil conspiracy to act in concert, accompanied
by a meeting of the minds regarding concerted action, the purposes of which were
to suppress and minimize public knowledge (as well as widespread knowledge within
ISKCON) of the rampant physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse of minor children
in the gurukulas by teachers and supervisors, and to take a uniform position and
approach to the handling of reports of abuse. This uniform position and approach
was designed to avoid criminal prosecution of the gurukula teachers and supervisor
offenders, to avoid civil litigation and to prevent or minimize claims for damages,
to avoid public exposure of the sexual and other abuse of children by teachers
and supervisors at the gurukulas, to protect the reputation of ISKCON and Hare
Krishnas from scandal, and thus to insure the continued financial contributions
of Krishna devotees and outside supporters to ISKCON. This conspiracy to conceal
includes spoliation of evidence and is ongoing. Based on these actions, the Plaintiffs
allege that the Defendants are equitably estopped from asserting any defense of
limitations.
3. This ongoing conspiracy and concert of action was carried out by Defendants
to fraudulently conceal the fact that Defendants have committed acts of negligence,
gross negligence, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, and the other wrongful conduct
described herein, and have engaged in concerted action to commit acts of negligence,
gross negligence, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
4. In the absence of this conspiracy and concert of action, Defendants would have
responded to repeated notice of the abuse children suffered at the hands of gurukula
teachers and supervisors and issued general and specific warnings to the entire
body of Krishna devotees, particularly the parents of children in the gurukulas.
Had a proper warning been issued, the offending teachers and supervisors would
never have had unsupervised access to Plaintiffs and other minor children, and
this physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse and exploitation would never
have occurred. Thus, Defendants actions in furtherance of this conspiracy
are a proximate cause of the injury and damages herein.
5. As a part of their conspiracy to conceal the physical, mental, emotional and
sexual abuse of children by the offending gurukula teachers and supervisors, Defendants
followed a practice of refusing to investigate suspected abuse, or to disclose
and warn of the dangers of physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse by gurukula
teachers and supervisors despite actual notice and knowledge of the risk dating
back over two decades. Defendants failed to aggressively address abuse issues
by such actions as promulgating proper policies for the appointment of gurukula
teachers and supervisors.
6. Plaintiffs allege that ISKCON officials, with others as plead herein, also
engaged in a conspiracy to avoid the prosecution of gurukula teachers and supervisors
and to cover up the physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse of minor children
suffered in the gurukulas. The purpose of this conspiracy was to prevent criminal
prosecution, avoid adverse publicity, prevent claims for damages by the numerous
minor victims, and to avoid exposure of this conspiracy designed to conceal the
claims arising from the crimes of these gurukula teachers and supervisors appointed
by ISKCON through the GBC. Further, officials of ISKCON, in furtherance of the
overall conspiracy alleged, engaged in affirmative acts to conceal the existence
of this conspiracy, and to conceal acts of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence,
and gross negligence.
A. DEFENDANTS CONCERT OF ACTION.PLAINTIFFS
7. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference as if set forth at length herein all previous
allegations set forth above, and assert that ISKCON and the other Defendants are
liable for acts and/or omissions pursuant to the Restatement (Second) of Torts,
Section 876, under the legal doctrine of concert of action, and as agents of these
entities, under which theories Plaintiffs seek damages from all Defendants jointly
and severally.
B. DEFENDANTS INTENTIONAL AND NEGLIGENT INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
8. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference as if set forth at length herein all previous
allegations set forth above.
9. In administering the abuse against Plaintiffs, in conspiring to cover up that
abuse, in ratifying the acts of those gurukula workers who administered the abuse,
and in conspiring to assist those gurukula workers in avoiding detection by law
enforcement agencies, Defendants engaged in a pattern and practice of outrageous
conduct that intentionally inflicted severe emotional distress upon Plaintiffs,
for which all defendants are liable both in actual and punitive damages.
VII.
RICO VIOLATIONS
A. VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL RACKETEER-INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT
(RICO) 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(C) AND 1962(D)
1. Plaintiffs restate and incorporate herein the foregoing allegations contained in this Complaint.
2. This claim for relief is asserted against each of the Defendants and arises
under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) and (d) of RICO, which provide:
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise
engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce,
to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise's
affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to conspire to violate any of the provisions
of subsection . . . (c) of this section.
3. At all relevant times, each of the Defendants was a "person" within
the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1961(3), as each of the Defendants was "capable
of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property."
4. At all relevant times, Defendants have constituted an "enterprise",
within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. §1961(4). This enterprise is an ongoing organization
whose constituent elements function as a continuing unit in maximizing the sales
of Krishna/ISKCON literature and paraphernalia , and in concert to bilk followers,
including Plaintiffs and their parents and/or guardians, out of their incomes
and net worth. The public relations enterprise has an ascertainable structure
and purpose beyond the scope of Defendants' predicate acts and their conspiracy
to commit such acts. This Krishna Enterprise has engaged in, and its
activities have affected, interstate and foreign commerce. The Krishna Enterprise
continues to date through the concerted activities of Defendants to actively disguise
the nature of their wrongdoing, to conceal the proceeds thereof, and to conceal
Defendants' participation in the enterprise in order to avoid and/or minimize
their exposure to criminal and civil penalties and damages.
. 5. Each Defendant has been associated with the Krishna Enterprise. Each Defendant
helped to direct the enterprise's actions and manage its affairs. Each Defendant
conducted or participated, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the Krishna
Enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity in violation of
18 U.S.C. § 1962(c). The Defendants' pattern of racketeering activity dates
from at least 1971 and continues to the present, and threatens to continue in
the future.
6. The Krishna Enterprise exists separate and apart from the Defendants' racketeering
acts. It is an ongoing organization whose members have been in frequent communication.
It has a consensual decision-making structure used to coordinate strategy, suppress
the truth about the abuse in the gurukulas, bilk followers, including Plaintiffs,
out of their incomes and net worth, and otherwise further Defendants' fraudulent
scheme.
7. Each Defendant "conduct[ed] or participate[d], directly or indirectly,
in the conduct of [the] enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering
activity," in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c). The Defendants' pattern
of racketeering activity dates from 1971 through the present and threatens to
continue in the future.
8. The Defendants' multiple predicate acts of racketeering include:
a. Mail and wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1343. The
Defendants engaged in schemes to defraud members of the public and private and
governmental entities which bear responsibility for child welfare. Defendants
executed or attempted to execute such schemes through the use of the United States
mails and through transmissions by wire, radio and television communications in
interstate commerce.
b. Additional predicate acts of racketeering include obstruction of justice in
the form of threatening and intimidating witnesses in violation of 18 U.S.C. §
1512, and threatening to retaliate against witnesses, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§ 1513. Upon information and belief, the Defendants have attempted to influence
testimony, principally by making threats. These violations include attempts to
influence the testimony of former ISKCON members and their families through threats,
intimidation, and harassment, physical harm and murder.
c. Predicate acts include sending fraudulent Krishna literature and gurukula advertisements
through the mails and/or using the mails to promote and advertise Krishna and
the gurukulas, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1461, which prohibits use of the
mails to deliver any "article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for
any indecent or immoral use" and use of the mails to circulate any "paper,
writing, advertisement, or representation that any article, instrument, substances,
drug, medicine, or thing may, or can be used or applied for any indecent or immoral
purpose" and any "description calculated to induce or incite a person
to so use
or apply any such article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing."
d. Predicate acts of racketeering also include attempting to intimidate one or
more witnesses in pending or prospective legal proceedings, in violation of 18
U.S.C. §§ 1512, 1513, and 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a).
e. The tactics include the use of facilities in interstate or foreign commerce
to distribute the proceeds of unlawful activity and otherwise to promote, manage,
establish, carry on or facilitate the promotion, management, establishment, or
carrying on of unlawful activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1952.
f. The predicate acts also include engaging in monetary transactions involving
the proceeds of crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957, which prohibits "knowingly
engag[ing] or attempt[ing] to engage in a monetary transaction in criminally derived
property that is of a value greater than $10,000 and is derived from specific
unlawful activity," including mail and wire fraud. 18 U.S.C. §§
1957(f)(3) and 1956 (c)(7)(A).
9. The acts form a "pattern" of racketeering activity. They have been
related in their common objectives of maximizing the wealth of the Krishna Enterprise,
misleading the public and government regulators which bear responsibility for
child welfare, and suppressing the truth concerning the abuse taking place in
the gurukulas.. These acts have had the same or similar purposes, results, participants,
victims and methods of commission. The acts have been consistently repeated and
are capable of further repetition.
10. Each defendant also conspired to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), in violation
of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d).
11. Plaintiffs have been injured in their property by reason of Defendants' violations
of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(c) and (d), because Plaintiffs have been required
to incur significant costs and expenses attributable to gurukula abuse and treatments
they have been forced to incur as a result thereof. In the absence of the Defendants'
violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(c) and (d), these costs and expenses
would have been substantially reduced or eliminated altogether.
12. Under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c), Plaintiffs are entitled
to bring this action and to recover herein treble damages, the costs of bringing
this suit, and reasonable attorneys' fees.
B. VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL RACKETEER-INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT
18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(A) AND (D)
13. This claim for relief is asserted against each of the Defendants, and arises
under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(a) and (d) of RICO, which provide:
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person who has received any income derived, directly-
or indirectly, from a pattern of racketeering activity... to use or invest, directed,
or indirectly, any part of such income, or the proceeds of such income, in acquisition
of and, interest in, or the establishment or operation of, any enterprise which
is engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to conspire to violate any of the provisions
of subsection (a). . . of this section.
14. At all relevant times, each of the Defendants was a "person" within
the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1961 (3), as each of the Defendants was "capable
of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property."
15. At all relevant times Defendants have constituted an enterprise within the
meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1961(4). The Krishna Enterprise and its activities
have an effect on interstate commerce in that the enterprise is engaged in the
business of soliciting funds and selling Krishna literature, and promoting the
attendance of children in their gurukulas, throughout the United States and, in
fact, all over the world.
16. Defendants have engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity which dates
from 1971 through the present and threatens to continue in the future. The Defendants'
multiple predicate acts of racketeering, which generated income for the Defendants,
are set forth above and are more particularly described therein.
17. Defendants have used or invested their illicit proceeds, generated through
the pattern of racketeering activity, directly or indirectly in the acquisition
of an interest in, or the establishment or operation of, each enterprise in violation
of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(a). Defendants' use and investment of these illicit proceeds
in each enterprise is for the specific purpose and has the effect of suppressing
and concealing information regarding the incidents of child abuse at the gurukulas.
18. Each defendant also conspired to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1962(a), in violation
of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d).
19. Plaintiffs have been injured in their property by reason of Defendants' violations
of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(a) and (d) in that Plaintiffs have been required to incur
significant costs and expenses attributable to gurukula abuse and the treatments
and counseling they have been forced to incur as a result thereof. Under the provisions
of 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c), Plaintiffs are entitled to bring this action and
to recover herein treble damages, the costs of bringing this suit and reasonable
attorneys' fees.
VIII.
DAMAGES OF PLAINTIFFS
Damages include but are not limited to the following:
1. As a result of the incidents of abuse described above, Plaintiffs have suffered,
and will continue to suffer, extreme emotional trauma, pain and suffering, and
chronic post-traumatic stress disorder.
2. Plaintiffs have suffered Medical and Psychotherapeutic expense, a need for
therapeutic service, diminished earning capacity and lost earnings, social stigmatization,
reduced educational attainments, and substantial general damages.
3. Plaintiffs have experienced both physical and psychological pain and suffering
and mental anguish in the past and in all reasonable probability will sustain
physical and psychological pain and suffering in the future as a result of their
injuries.
4. Many Plaintiffs have incurred medical expenses in the past and in all reasonable
probability will continue to incur medical expenses as a result of the incidents
described herein.
5. A significantly large proportion of Plaintiff ISKCON children have become alcoholics,
drug users, unwed mothers, and suicides. They suffer from a profound sense of
guilt, helplessness, and loss of self-esteem. They all suffer from post-traumatic
stress syndrome as a result of their childhood experience.
6. Plaintiffs collectively seek $200,000,000 in restitution for their actual damages.
7. Plaintiffs seek punitive damages in the collective amount of $200,000,000,
in order to punish and deter the outrageous conduct taken in heedless and reckless
disregard for the safety of Plaintiffs and, as a result of Defendants' conscious
indifference to the rights, welfare and safety of Plaintiffs in violation of the
laws of the State of Texas, other states and the United States.
8. Plaintiffs seek triple damages and attorney fees as provided by the RICO Statute.
IX.
REQUEST FOR INJUNCTION AGAINST FURTHER SEXUAL, EMOTIONAL OR PHYSICAL ABUSE OF
MINOR CHILDREN
Plaintiffs believe and therefore allege that the pattern and practice of physical,
emotional, and sexual abuse to minor children currently enrolled in or residing
at the Defendants gurukulas, schools, temples, and child care facilities,
is ongoing and continues to this day. Plaintiffs therefore ask this Court to issue
a temporary injunction prohibiting Defendants from engaging in any further sexual,
emotional, or physical abuse of the minor children of ISKCON followers currently
enrolled in or residing at Defendants gurukulas, schools, temples, and child
care facilities, and, upon final trial of this matter, to issue a permanent injunction
against Defendants from engaging in or allowing any such abuse of said minor children.
X.
REQUEST FOR ORDER PROHIBITING DESTRUCTION OR SPOLIATION OF EVIDENCE
Plaintiffs request this Court to immediately issue an ORDER instructing the Defendants
not to destroy, discard or spoil any documents or records, whether written, recorded,
or stored electronically, that may be or may have become relevant to any issue
in this suit.
XI.
STATEMENTS TO THE COURT
1. Plaintiffs plead delayed discovery of their claims against Defendants despite
the exercise of reasonable diligence on their part, thus tolling the statute of
limitations.
2. Plaintiffs plead delayed discovery of the harm caused by physical, emotional,
mental and sexual abuse and exploitations by the gurukula teachers and supervisors
and the delay in treatment despite the exercise of reasonable diligence on their
part, thus tolling the statute of limitations.
3. Plaintiffs plead fraud and fraudulent concealment of this fraud on the part
of Defendants, thus suspending the running of limitations as to all claims.
4. Plaintiffs plead fraudulent concealment of facts under Defendants' control
giving rise to this cause of action against all Defendants, thus suspending the
running of limitations.
5. Plaintiffs plead breach of fiduciary duty, including the duty to disclose,
against all Defendants, thus suspending the running of limitations against all
Defendants.
6. Plaintiffs plead a concert of action, a conspiracy to conceal negligence, to
commit fraud and to fraudulently conceal the acts and the existence of the fraud
and conspiracy, thus suspending the running of limitations against all Defendants.
7. Plaintiffs allege that the actions of the Defendants have caused them to suffer
an emotionally unsound mind as to the Defendants, thus suspending the running
of limitations, pursuant to Section 16.001 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies
Code.
8. Plaintiffs allege that the actions of all Defendants, because of their conduct,
statements and promises, preclude them from claiming a bar by limitations to any
of Plaintiffs' claims. Plaintiffs thus plead the doctrine of equitable estoppel.
XII.
JURY DEMAND
Plaintiff hereby requests and demands a trial by jury.
XIII.
CLAIM FOR PREJUDGMENT AND POST-JUDGMENT INTEREST
Plaintiffs herein claim prejudgment and post-judgment interest in accordance with
Article 5069-1.05 of V.A.T.S. and any other applicable law.
For these reasons, Plaintiffs pray that Defendants be served and cited to appear
and answer herein, that a temporary injunction issue against any physical, sexual
or emotional abuse of minors under their control, that an ORDER be immediately
issued against destruction or spoliation of evidence herein, and upon final hearing
of this cause, a permanent injunction against further abuse be issued, and that
Plaintiffs have judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally, for damages
described herein, for cost of suit, interest as allowable by law and for such
other relief to which Plaintiffs may be justly entitled.
Respectfully submitted,
LAW OFFICES OF WINDLE TURLEY, P.C.
Windle Turley
State Bar No. 20304000
Patrick C. Patterson
State Bar No. 15603560
6440 North Central Expressway
1000 University Tower
Dallas, Texas 75206
Telephone No. 214/691-4025
Telecopier No. 214/361-5802
Email: win@wturley.com
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS