Judgment Of Lord Justice Ward Concerning The Family

JUDGEMENT OF LORD JUSTICE WARD CONCERNING THE FAMILY : PT 5

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THIS IS THE JUDGMENT OF LORD JUSTICE WARD IN THIS CASE WHICH
HE GAVE IN CHAMBERS ON THE 26TH MAY 1995 BUT WHICH IS BEING
HANDED DOWN IN OPEN COURT TODAY. IT CONSISTS OF 295 PAGES
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WARD OF COURT, AND THE MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY MUST BE
STRICTLY PRESERVED.

SIGNED:

THE RT. HON. LORD JUSTICE WARD DATED 19TH OCTOBER 1995

W 42 1992 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

FAMILY DIVISION

PRINCIPAL REGISTRY IN THE MATTER OF ST (A MINOR)

AND IN THE MATTER OF THE SUPREME COURT ACT 1991h

Lord Justice Ward

INAPPROPRIATE VIDEOS AND DANCING

This topic assumed some importance in the trial insofar as
(a) it throws light on the character and proclivities of
Berg and (b) it assists me in making judgments as to the
credibility of those who speak for The Family in this
litigation. In a vain attempt to clarify the issues, I
required the Plaintiff to plead her case and in paragraph 21
of the particulars of her allegations dated September 1992,
she alleged:

"Some female members of the organisation are encouraged to
appear in video tapes which show them naked or scantily
dressed masturbating. These video tapes are alleged to be
made for the consumption of David Berg."

The answer was a denial of that allegation. In his affidavit
sworn in December 1992, SPM stated that the allegation that
women in The Family had been forced to masturbate on video
was completely untrue. He stated the dancing was by adults.

I gave leave to the Plaintiff to file further evidence and
she produced a number of video tapes said to emanate from
The Family. The Family were indignant at their production
and that indignation arose in part from the obvious fact
that the production of these tapes utterly destroyed the
case that had earlier been presented by them. Their
indignation arose also out of the circumstances in which
these videos were obtained. Although the evidence before me
is hearsay piled upon hearsay, and so too unreliable for me
to come to firm conclusions about it, there is the strongest
suspicion that these videos were obtained dishonestly from
the Philippines by a member of the anti-cult movement and
copies were eventually passed to the Plaintiff. I am not
suggesting that she was involved in any way in the theft and
it was right and proper in the interests of truth and
justice and to enable me to decide what is best for this
child that the videos were placed before me. Consequently I
was not prepared to exclude their being put in evidence
because they were clearly material to the issues I had to
try. I am also perfectly satisfied that even if they are
compilations of different tapes they originate from The
Family. Oral evidence given from several sources including
the Defendant's witnesses confirmed that. Those tapes
exploded the Defendant's denial. The tape called "Glorify
God in the Dance" has six clips of children aged between
four and twelve dancing naked or semi-naked in imitation of
the older women also shown on those tapes. The tape numbered
4 includes a party scene in South America. One of the
Defendant's witnesses, JC, was refreshingly frank about his
making it. It showed half naked couples dancing and
embracing. Children who seem to be about three or four years
old were shown to be present. JC explained that he made the
film "for spice" because at that time (January 1983), "That
is what we did." They sent the video to Berg because they
thought it would please him. Video number 5 is the "Love
Video." It shows young children dancing, two girls together,
scenes of masturbation and sexual intercourse or simulated
sexual intercourse, a testimony from a girl called Joan
admitting that she masturbated. In another clip a man
Appeles says they had the Love Video from World Services,
that it was so inspiring that it was a chance to share his
wife with another but, more disturbing, his son J1 who seems
to be about ten years old had a chance to "share" with adult
Sally.

Faced with that evidence The Family were more forthcoming
and in SPM's affidavit sworn in January this year, he
exhibited the World Services "History on Sexual Policies" to
which I have already referred. In a passage "Experimenting
with Dance and Love Videos in 1980", they revealed that Berg
had encouraged The Family to make the love videos. The
videos:

"Explored ways to inculcate a positive body image in all of
our members. ... A few of the under aged girls, admittedly
unwisely, performed dances bare breasted in playful
imitation of their mothers or guardians".

World Services acknowledged that:

"Father David also suggested that they could possibly also
film some portions of romantic and loving heterosexual
interaction between adults".

By the mid 1980's, The Family instituted a number of
policies to curb liberality of this nature. In "Latest
Newsflash no. 47" in April 1984, The Family were asked to
erase any tapes with explicit sex scenes because some such
videos had fallen into the hands of the authorities. In
"Latest Newsflash No. 57" of January 1985, under aged
children were urged not to take their clothes off when
dancing on video because:

"You could hardly touch a more sensitive nerve in most of
the systemites to enrage them and have them want to lynch
you on the spot than to bring up child abuse, and child sex,
and child pornography, and all that kind of rot."

I highlight these words because so to dismiss sexual
perversion of that kind as "rot" is, to my mind, to provide
proof positive from his own words that Berg was a man
without judgment or moral scruple, and a malign corrupting
influence on his susceptible followers. I simply do not
understand how else this choice of language can be
explained."

That is how the matter stood when the hearing commenced.
Well into the hearing further documents were produced
including the letter "Glorify God in the Dance" dated July
1981. The letter praises those who have:

"Bared your all perhaps for the first time before others and
members of The Family, in not only your own home but
realising that your dance was going to be viewed by the
whole Family."

This seems to me to confirm the Plaintiff's evidence which
had been denied in the pleadings that these videos were
regularly seen in all Family homes. He justified the dancing
in these terms:-

"Yes, dancing does sometimes lead to sex, that's for sure.
Why not? It's one of God's highest forms of the expression
of love, and that is what it's all about, God's love,
because God is love, love is God. He expects us to love and
be loving and make love - both to him and to each other -
and one way we can make love to the Lord is in the spirit in
praising him and singing and dancing and fucking!
Hallelujah! TYJ! (Thank You Jesus) ... So if a dance is
sexy, it's no more evil than sex itself. Of course, you who
seem to have the idea that sex is evil naturally would think
that sexy dancing was evil too."

He uttered some caution on the future dance videos:-

"Lest you repeat some of the mistakes which a few have made
in our first childish stumbling attempts to create beautiful
sights and sounds on video. As we first encouraged you to
make some of these video tapes, we told you that love can be
beautiful, but perhaps we didn't put enough emphasis on the
fact that sex can also be ugly if you don't approach it from
the right angle and in the right way, in the right spirit
and with the right know-how. ... Although some of your love
scenes were very tastefully and beautifully done, such as
one by some of the folks in our own home and one which was
done by WWM and another done by MWM and a few others, there
were one or two which frankly were just plain down right
ugly. ... We have found in some of your videos that sex can
not only be beautiful but it can also be ugly, just plain
coarse and crude and almost sickening, especially when
there's too much of it, and it's just too raw for good
taste, and some of it has left a very bad taste in our mouth
when it was overdone. ... So may we suggest we have just
about had enough of these actual sex act videos."

He then gave encouragement to the girls in their exotic
dancing. He gave detailed descriptions in this and a
subsequent letter as to precisely how they were to dance and
he condescended to such detail as to specify the length of
their pubic hair and the manner in which they were to rub
their nipples to make them erect. He concluded:-

"I know on some of these I have been making love to Maria
and she to me, and the rhythm has been so slow that in our
love making it was almost difficult to eventually arrive at
an orgasm because the beat was too slow, and in making love
to your beautiful love videos we always like to keep time to
the music, believe it or not! It just is natural and
automatic with me, I can hardly do anything rhythmic without
keeping time to the music or rhythm to which I am listening.
If you don't speed up a few of those numbers, it's going to
take me forever to goose her or her forever to jack me to
the point where we can reach the final glorious conclusion!
So do step up the tempo a little bit as you go along, make
it a little more rapid, and I think some of you in
particular would find it easier to dance and more
comfortable if the final tempos were a little bit more rapid
as you're getting into the fiery fury of the glorious
climax, both of your dance and our sexual fervour!"

These passages give some insight into Berg's personality.
Crude sex found no favour with him but in every other
respect he was obsessed with sex. To require the women in
the group to dance for him whether the dance was erotic, or
exotic, or artistic, in order to heighten his sexual
pleasure, was depraved. He might have idealized sex but he
also perverted it. In the chapter "Dancing before the King",
from Techi's life story, we learnt that:

"When Techi was two years four months old, she started off
with one of her favourites, "Sex in Heaven". Techi was
dressed just with a scarf and played during her dance with a
big plume feather. Dad after viewing the children's show
warned us that it wasn't very wise to film Techi all naked.
At that time we lived in South Africa, which has real strict
laws regarding pornography!"

There was a photograph of the naked Techi and the comment,
"A drape to cover her pubic area would have been much
better!" Despite the "Latest Newsflash No 57," to which I
have already referred, endeavouring to restrain under-aged
children removing their clothes when dancing on video,
"Latest Newsflash No 112" dated November 1988 said this:

"Developing nudie-cuties! As much as Dad loves to receive
your nudie-cuties, girls, he wanted to mention a word of
caution about getting these developed in commercial photo
shops, especially if there are any shots of under age girls
on the roll. ... Therefore for any developing of
nudie-cuties we would definitely suggest that you go to an
area of town where people would tend to be more liberal in
this respect (i.e. nightclub district etc)... So keep those
gorgeous nudie-cuties coming girls but please use discretion
in getting them developed."

THE ORAL EVIDENCE OF THE DANCING

There is overwhelming evidence that videos were made and
distributed showing couples having sexual intercourse or
simulating doing so, of women masturbating or pretending to
do so, of women dancing in various states of undress and,
importantly, of young girls copying those dances. The
evidence is so overwhelming that I need but highlight some
of the pointers to that conclusion:-

1. Firstly I have seen some of the videos. They show
actual or, more likely simulated sexual intercourse,
masturbation or masturbatory actions and of young girls
dancing. I saw Fiona S. dancing and I saw her 12 year old
daughter H2 copy her and I saw, shamefully, her four year
old daughter MS following suit.

2. MB gave evidence, which I accept of her being taken
into the woods with another lady and copying her dance. She
spoke of being encouraged by the adults to engage in mutual
masturbation with her 9 year old friend A1, who is also
shown on the video I have seen. This was filmed by Paul and
he holds office as one of the European CROs (leaders) at the
moment. She saw Jeremy S. having sexual intercourse with
Rachael and being filmed doing it. The films were made for
Berg.

3. MS told me and I believed it, that she was taught to
strip during her time with Music with Meaning . Zack, the
camera man, filmed his own four year old daughter. MS can
recall the men making lewd comments which she told me, "made
me feel funny". She saw women masturbating and she saw
sexual intercourse on films. These were made "as Family
entertainment". When she was in India aged about 11, The
Family were asked to make a video for Berg's birthday. I
note that the instruction was that girls under 12 were not
to be filmed and that is some evidence, one piece among
many, that Family attitudes were changing over the course of
time.

4. VP told me she made that film as did SF.

5. KJ spoke of having to dance at a National Area
Fellowship Meeting. I believed her. She spoke of making her
costume cutting out hearts to cover her nipples and a heart
to cover her pubic area. She represented the elixir of love.
Much later in the case, the True Komix "The Goddess of Love"
was produced and that portrays, as I have already set out,
the Holy Spirit as a naked lady covered where appropriate
only by her three hearts.

6. SF admitted that girls were filmed and that she
herself was videoed for Berg's birthday.

7. Dr Melton, the expert called by the family, spoke of
the "love videos" being sent to World Services and
circulated, although only for a short time. The dance videos
continued until about 1987. He was satisfied that videos of
this kind were regularly shown at Fellowship Meetings as
some form of entertainment or uplifting of the spirit.

8. In view of the December 1988 advice about developing
nude cuties, I am less sure whether the distribution of
these videos did cease in about 1987. I am, however,
satisfied that it is no longer a practice to make, still
less to distribute, any of these kinds of videos.

Mr Barton on behalf of the mother submits that since this
can be confined to the perhaps rather nasty litter bin of
history, it is irrelevant for the issues I have to try. That
is true insofar as there is no risk of S's exposure to this
material, but there are three matters of continuing concern
to me, namely:

Firstly the corrupting influence of these videos. Dr Cameron
gave evidence of this. He is an eminent, highly regarded
child psychiatrist. He told me, and I accept, firstly that
repeatedly to require young girls to dance in a way
imitative of their elders and to expose a child's body in
erotic dance, an activity which is ordinarily taboo, was
part of the process of grooming children for sexual
exploitation by adults. The effect of the open acceptance of
this kind of video was gradually to erode the sense of taboo
about the sexuality of children, thereby reducing the
ability to regard sexual activity with children as
abhorrent. He said that it was self deceit to think that it
was not made for sexual gratification. Secondly, the
insistence that the dances be done in so similar a way had
the tendency to make them focused fetishist films. Thirdly,
it is relevant to my enquiry to see whether or not those
close to S are themselves capable of self-deception. Almost
universally I find that they are. Again only by way of
example, the evidence which leads to that conclusion came
from:-

1. NT herself: having heard Dr Cameron's evidence, she
said that it was for expert opinion to know if it was
damaging for children to dance like that but "I don't think
a cute little dance is damaging. If the child was told that
there was some dirty old man across the seas and to do a
dance for him, that would be damaging and harmful but a free
normal attitude to sex or sexuality or copying their mother
in a cute way, I don't think is damaging". She could not
have been listening to MB and MS who at their tender age
were perfectly well aware of "the dirty old man across the
seas" and were instinctively aware they were demeaned. To
describe the dances as "cute" is utterly naive judged
against the explicit letters which link the dancing with
sex.

2. EM, one of the family's experts in child care, sent to
this country to carry out an investigation into teenage
problems, was prepared to accept that there had been dancing
but not masturbating. She said she had not seen any of the
children dancing but she thought that when they had done it
in the past, it was "very artistic. I don't see anything
wrong with it. There is a beautiful (my emphasis) letter
about it called "Glorifying God in dance". This demonstrates
a complete lack of insight in one who played an important
part in forming and implementing Family child-care policy.

3. SF: in her Affidavit she said that the allegation
about children taking part in pornographic stripteases was a
fabrication. Giving her the benefit of the doubt that
"pornographic" qualifies stripteases so that her statement
might be true on such a construction, nevertheless not to
admit that children were at least involved in some kind of
stripteasing is another tiny example of "Deceivers Yet
True". She knew that her husband filmed 12 year old VP
having to do one of these striptease dances. She did one
herself. In evidence in chief she described its purpose as
"an artistic dance, no sex involved at all, for us nudity
does not denote sex." Under cross-examination she maintained
that they did not do these dances for sex but she did accept
that it was done for Berg's sexual gratification and she
described that as inappropriate and unnecessary. What struck
me so forcibly was that her sons FC and SC were shocked by
their mother's involvement in this activity. In chief FC
told me, "I don't know anything about striptease dances,
honestly." He was shuffling his feet and he was lying to me.
He was a prissy, smugly self-righteous young man. He had
known since September 1992 of the allegations made by MB
that young children were having to strip. He said he had no
need to ask whether it was true or not because he doubted it
very much. He found it very hard then to believe that his
mother would have danced topless because she was not that
kind of person. When pressed to accept that his mother's
obvious sensibilities had been corrupted by the Mo letters,
he defiantly refused to contemplate the implications because
he declared it was not relevant today because "all I know is
I am serving Jesus right now and doing the best for Him.

This is typical of the evidence I heard from Family members
who, schooled in the way to deal with these questions,
attempted to argue that it was no different from taking a
family photograph of a little girl running naked on the
beach in Greece. MM, from her present more conservative
perspective, acknowledged that, "we lived in a bubble in
some ways looking back". There was little, if any, full
acknowledgement of the corrupting effect of the dance nor of
the directive force of Berg indulging his own salacious
desires.

SEXUAL ACTIVITY BETWEEN CHILDREN

The issue joined between the parties

In answer to the allegation that The Family had encouraged
sexual activities among children, The Family answered that
they had never done so. When interrogated by the Official
Solicitor as to whether or not there was any verbal or
written suggestion, recommendation or encouragement to
permit/assist minors to act in a sexual manner with other
minors, SPM swore an Affidavit that "each home had to be
judged according to its own circumstances at that time and
hence any such activity which might have occurred in
isolated circumstances were local incidents which reflected
neither the official policy nor the general practice of The
Family with regard to sexuality."

THE LITERATURE

"Revolutionary Sex," March 27th 1973

This letter contained the following extracts:

"So many children have grown up with the teaching that sex
and masturbation and their sexual parts are sinful, when
they are perfectly normal, healthful, physical
activities.....It's the excess that is the same in
anything."

"This mysterious secrecy about sex, of course, inspired our
childish curiosity all the more.....I found little girls are
fascinated by my own erections and quite as willing to feel
them as I was to attempt to explore their more hidden inner
recesses! So I had my first intercourse at the early age of
7 which I found very interesting at my little cousin's
instigation, she being of the same age."

"Children should be taught, as we try to teach ours, that
your body is a beautiful creation of God. Children should be
taught that their sexual parts are just as good as the rest
of their bodies and that sexual activities, feelings and
pleasures are no more evil than eating or any other physical
functions or exercise. They should be taught that the evil
results are only from their wrong, unlawful or excessive
use. They should be made to understand that normal sex is no
more sinful or less healthful than normal eating or
drinking....A child's interest in the equivalent parts of
the opposite sex is also perfectly normal and natural along
their innocent childish investigations of the same out of
natural curiosity and should not be discouraged, condemned
nor punished." (I have added the emphasis to demonstrate
early on the falsehood or, taking a more charitable view of
it, the naivety of the denials that the early awakening of
childhood sexuality was not a matter encouraged by the
literature).

"Children should be taught the same: that there is nothing
wrong with their bodies, nothing evil about sex...they
should also not be prohibited from mutual self examination,
experimentation or interplay when playing or sleeping
together where legally possible and social and housing
conditions permit...but it must be made very clear to your
children that such sexual freedom must never be indulged in
or practised openly in the presence of visitors, strangers
or uninitiated relatives and friends who have not been
properly re-educated in the revolutionary sexual freedoms of
natural living - in other words you will not be able to
indulge in such God given freedoms in the presence of the
average systemite or even new disciples or their children or
those who have not yet been properly educated in the liberal
loving ways of God's revolutionary naturist...Otherwise,
have fun and enjoy the pleasures that God has created and
the senses and feelings he has made for you to enjoy where,
when and with whom possible and expedient remembering the
scriptures' own admonition that all of these things may be
lawful to you, but they are not always expedient or
advisable under all circumstances anywhere with anybody at
any time....Don't overdo it, or you may be sorry! On the
other hand don't under do it either by denying yourself the
joys and necessities of life that God has created for you to
enjoy....Don't go to the opposite extreme or permit your
children to do so by becoming so addicted to sex and
masturbation that you sit around all day starry-eyed like a
zombie....From personal experience I can tell you I have
accomplished much ,more and done much greater things and
achieved greater success in God's work since I have become
more sexually liberated and enjoyed greater sexual activity
than ever before.

Child Brides - 4th April 1977.

There he wrote:-

"I hope all our young kids have plenty of sex....Why did the
Lord make you able to have children at the age of 11, 12 and
13 if you weren't supposed to have sex then?...In India they
had child brides at 7 years of age! They can get married at
that age! Then they could do all the fucking they want
without having to worry about any kids till they are 12
years old!"

"My Childhood Sex" - June 1977

This was the authoritative work which would have been read
by everyone in The Family.

"God intended for us to get accustomed to sex long before
there was any procreation or sexual intercourse. And
therefore you wouldn't be so preoccupied with it when you
finally hit puberty or somewhere near there and you wouldn't
just go crazy about it. If you were already accustomed to
it, there wouldn't be any big deal about it, nothing rude.
It's only natural!...."

"At 12 I was already fucking."

"I can remember at the age of 4 I was very very interested
in little girls and what they looked like down there. I
wanted to examine them and most of them seemed to like
having me examine them, if we could get away with it when no
adults were around, and play doctor and nurse. (Sara: That
proves how sexy the Holy Spirit really is! because you were
filled with the Holy Spirit from your mother's womb, yet as
far back as you can remember you were always interested in
girls and sex and Davidito has your spirit and he's the same
way!). Fascinated and why not? Sex is a creation of God,
created for us all to enjoy! Even children!"

He set out in the letter (or the parts of it we have) how he
endeavoured to have sexual intercourse with his seven year
old cousin and how at the age of 12 he again tried to have
sexual intercourse with a girl of the same age. The letter
concluded:

"That's the secret: just let kids do what comes naturally!
Don't make a big fuss about it! Just treat it as natural as
it is, no big thing, no catastrophe! Just let it come
naturally and pleasantly, and explain that that's the way
God made us and he wants us to enjoy it and it is perfectly
normal and good for you! But you don't do it in public or
too much! Its a private pleasure! Amen!"

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