The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’

Posted on | May 24, 2014 | 51 Comments

The federal lawsuit Doe v. Mastoloni, et al., demands a jury trial, which would be the biggest thing since the Salem Witch Trials:

A couple have claimed that their three daughters were indoctrinated into a religious cult by their school teachers leaving them with suicidal thoughts and alienated from their loving family, according to a new lawsuit.
The couple, from Avon, Connecticut, filed the civil lawsuit in federal court on Monday against the Avon school district, three teachers and a guidance counselor at Avon High School and Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
The parents alleged that their older daughters, now aged 22 and 19, became ‘reclusive, secretive and distant’ after they began taking Spanish classes at Avon High.
The named defendants are Connecticut residents Tanya Mastoloni (also known as Tanya Romero), Rebecca Kessler; Laura Sullivan and California resident Christopher Esposito. . . .
Their girls began having ‘fantasies of suicidal ideation and martyrdom’, according to the suit.
They also began to speak in a strange language and gathered at Wellesley College in Massachusetts to perform religious ‘whirling dervish’ dances throughout the night.
The couple claimed that the teachers and counselor indoctrinated their daughters into a cult that promotes martyrdom and celebrates death. . . .
The indoctrination by the teachers reportedly continued when two of the girls went to Wellesley College.
According to the 64-page lawsuit, the youngest daughter was also targeted to be indoctrinated into the same belief system, but she broke free. She has jointly filed the lawsuit with her parents.
The two elder sisters have had no contact with their family since last July along with their extended family and friends at the urging of the group of teachers, it is claimed.

You can read the whole thing. It makes perfect sense that the cult leaders would encourage their young acolytes to attend Wellesley College — Hillary Clinton’s alma mater, IYKWIMAITYD.

UPDATE: The lawsuit refers to the parents as Jane and John Doe, and refers to their three daughters as E.D. (age 22), L.D. (19), and J.D. (16), and describes their “indoctrination”:

All three girls experienced sudden and severe personality changes. They became flat and distant, reclusive, secretive, and non-communicative. They lost their humor and their empathy. They began speaking in a bizarre new language. They became unable to think critically or independently. They became dependent on the school teachers and guidance counselor who had indoctrinated them, especially Defendant Tanya Mastoloni.
On information and belief, the two older Doe sisters were indoctrinated into a religious cult that promotes martyrdom, and celebrates death. This has caused the elder Doe sisters to experience fantasies of suicidal ideation and martyrdom.
The youngest Doe daughter, J.D., was targeted to be indoctrinated into the same belief system, but she eventually broke free. …
Defendant Mastoloni would often act as a friend to the students rather than a teacher. She spent much class time socializing with the students rather than teaching. During Spanish class, Defendant Mastoloni often told inappropriate stories to the students. For instance, Defendant Mastoloni freely discussed her abusive upbringing, including stories of kidnapping and forcible rape by her stepfather. . . .
Defendant Mastoloni would often pry into students’ personal lives, and try to [elicit] personal information about them. Defendant Mastoloni would constantly ask the students in class to tell her who is dating who. Defendant Mastoloni would ask the students to describe their dreams, so that she could interpret them for the students. Defendant Mastoloni would frequently talk to the students about her own boyfriends and other personal business . . .
Defendants Mastoloni, Kessler, Esposito, and Sullivan behaved as if they were in a clique. When they liked a student, they would make that student feel like he or she was part of their group. When they did not like a student, they would ostracize and alienate that student. . . .
Defendant Mastoloni freely gave students access to her home address and private cell phone number. Students would go to her house and talk to her frequently and consider her a friend. . . . .
Defendant Mastoloni was not just teaching her students Spanish. She taught her students religion and pseudoscience. Specifically, she taught her students to believe in superstition, magic, and a non-scientific, anti-intellectual worldview. She would discuss spirituality, numerology, astrology, dreams, mysticism, looking for signs, angels, symbols, synchronicity, negativity, seeking the truth, and death.

The lawsuit never gives a specific name to the “religion” into which the parents claim their daughters were indoctrinated, but the description seems generally to be a sort of New Age mysticism.

UPDATE II: More details from the lawsuit:

During senior year, after E.D. turned 18, Defendant Mastoloni’s attention to E.D. became even more intense. Defendant Mastoloni said to E.D., “Now that you are mi hermana, you are an adult and we can be friends outside of school.” …
Defendant Esposito was also being inappropriately intrusive. For instance, he once asked E.D. about the sexual orientation of her siblings. …
E.D. underwent another phase of her personality change in August of 2012, when she was entering her junior year in college. . . . Defendant Mastoloni would constantly be looking to go out with E.D. socially. Defendant Mastoloni brought E.D. into her home. E.D. told Jane and John [her parents] that she wanted to attend Defendant Mastoloni’s graduation from some type of school where Defendant Mastoloni was receiving a degree in spirituality. Defendant Mastoloni claimed it was a masters in conscious evolution. Yet, when Jane and John asked E.D. for the name of the school, E.D. claimed she did not know. Then, E.D. suddenly declared that her major would be philosophy, instead of political science or international relations like she originally decided. E.D. also announced that she wanted to seek a masters in Divinity following graduation from Wellesley. E.D. was unable to offer any real explanation for her sudden interest in religion. …
E.D. was constantly talking about seeking the truth and pursuing a greater purpose. All of E.D.’s conversations involved Defendant Mastoloni. . . .
When confronted by her family about her disturbing behavior, she gave a pat answer, “You don’t understand the person I have become.”

UPDATE III: After the two older girls had allegedly been “indoctrinated” and were both attending Wellesley, Mastoloni then allegedly targeted the youngest sister, with the help of the older girls:

In spring semester 2013, the Doe’s youngest child, J.D., was 15 and had Defendant Mastoloni as a Spanish teacher. . . . Once again, Defendant Mastoloni consistently proselytized her religious views in the classroom, teaching J.D. and the other students to believe in superstition and magic. Defendant Mastoloni constantly discussed spirituality, numerology, astrology, dreams, mysticism, looking for signs, angels, symbols, synchronicity, negativity, seeking the truth, and death. Although Defendant Mastoloni would preach her religious ideas to the whole class, she took a special interest in J.D. Defendant Mastoloni had already converted the two older Doe sisters, and now she was looking to add the third sister to her coven. . . .
At Defendant Mastoloni’s urging, E.D. and L.D. asked J.D. to come to Wellesley during her April break, luring her there by telling her that they would take her to a music concert. J.D. was looking forward to seeing if she could find out some information that would reveal the cause of B.D.’s and L.D.’s bizarre behavior. …
When J.D. retuned after that week, she was cold, lacked affect, and was behaving just like E.D. and L.D. …
When E.D. and L.D. came home from school at the end of May 2013, all three girls were isolating and fearful. They spent countless hours on their laptops, or reading books about mysticism, astrology, dreams, and Carl Jung. . . .
Finally, after a confrontation with her mother, the youngest sister broke down and started explaining:
J.D. began to reveal the details of what had occurred. Jane and John learned that J.D. did not attend any concert while she was visiting her sisters at Wellesley. For the entire week she was there, J.D. was under the total and constant control of her sister, E.D., who was acting at the direction of Defendant Mastoloni. . . . E.D. barraged J.D. with thoughts that turned J.D. against her parents . . .
Most importantly, however, J.D. revealed how Defendant Mastoloni had orchestrated the entire ordeal. . . .
After J.D. returned from Wellesley, Defendants Mastoloni, Kessler, Esposito, and Sullivan used E.D. and L.D. to relentlessly maintain and intensify their control over J.D. E.D. began making bizarre comments to J.D., in an effort to reorganize J.D.’s thinking. For instance, E.D. discussed with J.D. how education was not that important. E.D. told J.D. that she did not want to have children, but that she wanted to give birth to feel the pain. E.D. also told J.D. that she did not want to get married, but if she lived with someone they would have separate bedrooms with one room being strictly for sex. . . .
It was not until J.D. broke free that Jane and John understood that their three daughters had been subjected to religious indoctrination at Avon High School . . .

Here is the full text of the lawsuit:

Mastoloni Et Al Complaint by ABoyd8

 

Comments

51 Responses to “High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’”

  1. MrEvilMatt
    May 24th, 2014 @ 12:21 pm

    High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’: The federal lawsuit Doe v. Mastolo… http://t.co/GcXHcVQxAU

  2. commonpatriot
    May 24th, 2014 @ 12:21 pm

    via @rsmccain: High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’ http://t.co/bplgK1HWRj #tcot

  3. CHideout
    May 24th, 2014 @ 12:21 pm

    High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’: The federal lawsuit Doe v. Mastolo… http://t.co/Y08MUb1fWb

  4. Lockestep1776
    May 24th, 2014 @ 12:21 pm

    High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’: The federal lawsuit Doe v. Mastolo… http://t.co/Ml0YPaRzTr

  5. WeRResistance
    May 24th, 2014 @ 12:21 pm

    High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’: The federal lawsuit Doe v. Mastolo… http://t.co/XUW0wqKb84

  6. Citzcom
    May 24th, 2014 @ 12:21 pm

    High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’: The federal lawsuit Doe v. Mastolo… http://t.co/Y0RT0xgi1e

  7. Kirby McCain
    May 24th, 2014 @ 12:37 pm

    If there is a real investigation into this I expect the conspiracy will be larger and more victims will be found. One doesn’t go automatically to the court. The schools have likely fielded other complaints which they ignored.

  8. JoyKeller1
    May 24th, 2014 @ 12:46 pm

    #Massachusetts High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’ http://t.co/pHWGrj7hYW

  9. RKflorida
    May 24th, 2014 @ 12:53 pm

    Over and over I keep telling everyone to get their kids out of public schools. Here is another reason why.

  10. rsmccain
    May 24th, 2014 @ 1:07 pm

    High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’ http://t.co/i3AIrxRqXX #tcot

  11. DrKC4
    May 24th, 2014 @ 1:28 pm

    RT @rsmccain: High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’ http://t.co/i3AIrxRqXX #tcot

  12. DaTechGuyblog
    May 24th, 2014 @ 1:33 pm

    RT @rsmccain: High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’ http://t.co/i3AIrxRqXX #tcot

  13. PHYS878
    May 24th, 2014 @ 1:39 pm

    RT @rsmccain: High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’ http://t.co/i3AIrxRqXX #tcot

  14. Stogie Chomper
    May 24th, 2014 @ 1:40 pm

    They became flat and distant, reclusive, secretive, and non-communicative. They lost their humor and their empathy. They began speaking in a bizarre new language. They became unable to think critically or independently.

    Oh no! You mean…They became Democrats!

  15. MichaelAdams
    May 24th, 2014 @ 1:50 pm

    If this is all a lie, it is bizarre. If it is true, it really is seriously crazy.

    Or, maybe Mr. Chomper is correct, and they just became Democrats. That’s nearly as bad a witches, anyway.

  16. Cactus Ed
    May 24th, 2014 @ 2:08 pm

    It was not until J.D. broke free that Jane and John understood that their three daughters had been subjected to religious indoctrination at Avon High School . . .

    Did they suspect anything before that?

  17. Anon Y. Mous
    May 24th, 2014 @ 2:11 pm

    I am extremely skeptical of the story that the Does are telling. To start off with, why are they cloaking themselves in anonymity? The defendants are all named. The accusers are all adults, with the exception of the youngest daughter who is 16. But, there are no allegations that she was raped or abused sexually. There is no reason for them to be able to remain anonymous.

    This situation means that anyone who has a story to tell about the accused can come forward and tell it. But, since the accusers are unknown, it makes it much less likely that someone who has something to say about the accusers will even know that what they know is relevant to this case.

  18. Stogie Chomper
    May 24th, 2014 @ 2:21 pm

    I read much of the legal complaint. It seems like exaggerated, overblown paranoia by the plaintiffs. They can’t even define the “religion” of the defendants. Mysticism and Carl Jung are not religions, and I have read much on both.

    So far, the complaint is bald accusations and anecdotal tales subject to interpretation. Maybe additional witnesses and facts will be presented at trial that support the complaint, but right now it seems to be a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

  19. Stogie Chomper
    May 24th, 2014 @ 2:24 pm

    I was replaying that old clip of Bob Hope, discussing the mental state of zombies. He reached the same conclusion as to their political affiliation.

  20. MichaelAdams
    May 24th, 2014 @ 2:32 pm

    Oh, I recognized it, Stogie, and had actually thought it, myself. It’s as close as I’ve seen to immortal words.

  21. Cactus Ed
    May 24th, 2014 @ 2:41 pm

    Not least the anecdotes concerning Mr. Mastoloni, Kessler, and Sullivan, and specifically the ones about their alleged behavior in class.

    Simply, the allegations are unsubstantiated, and have not been reported by other pupils.

  22. Bob Belvedere
    May 24th, 2014 @ 2:47 pm

    Please: it is not ‘religious’ indoctrination. We’re talking cult here.

    We’re probably also taking about a form of Black Magic, with connections to Aleister Crowley, Israeli Regardie, and The Order Of The Golden Dawn.

    I dabbled in this stuff in the 1980’s and it is a form of Gnosticism in the service of Evil.

    SIDENOTE: Sadly, Dave Swindle of PJMedia believes in this crap…
    http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2014/05/14/how-10-esoteric-secrets-hidden-in-joss-whedons-best-movie-can-change-your-life/?singlepage=true

    [see my remarks in the Comments section and those of Jeanette Victoria’s.]

  23. Bob Belvedere
    May 24th, 2014 @ 2:49 pm

    This is something that is uncharted territory for most people, because it seems so outlandish, but I assure you that it is not. Please see my comments above, Stogie.

  24. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    May 24th, 2014 @ 2:59 pm

    You had me at Wellesley. It must be true!

  25. Cactus Ed
    May 24th, 2014 @ 3:01 pm

    Bob, do you really suspect the story reported here is actually true?

  26. Zohydro
    May 24th, 2014 @ 3:03 pm

    Neo-pagan lesbian feminist Democrats!

  27. RS
    May 24th, 2014 @ 3:04 pm

    We must remember that anyone can allege anything in a Petition for damages. The truth will come out during the process, we hope. I didn’t bother to read the whole complaint, because I’m too lazy. Any count for civil rights violations on First Amendment grounds? If the teachers were luring these girls into Lutheranism, the MSM would be all over this.

  28. Cactus Ed
    May 24th, 2014 @ 3:07 pm

    Have you seen many of those in your lifetime?

  29. Zohydro
    May 24th, 2014 @ 3:16 pm

    It’s a “thing” in Massachusetts and parts of Maine…

  30. Bob Belvedere
    May 24th, 2014 @ 3:27 pm

    It would not surprise me at all.

    Two of our Grand Nieces are being recruited by their paternal Aunt and her Lesbian lover into the Wiccan movement. Mrs. B. and I are trying to investigate.

  31. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    May 24th, 2014 @ 3:30 pm

    May Hillary can regale us all on her Wellesley coven days…

  32. Stogie Chomper
    May 24th, 2014 @ 3:30 pm

    Are there any other examples out there about cultists attempting to proselytize students? If so, I’d like to read them. For what purpose would they do this?

  33. NeoWayland
    May 24th, 2014 @ 4:14 pm

    It strikes me as odd and curiously unspecific.

    Yes, it could be a cult group. We don’t know enough from the article to judge how dangerous it is, or it’s intentions.

  34. John Conyers: Who needs voters, when you have a crooked Obama-appointed federal judge in your hip pocket? | Regular Right Guy
    May 24th, 2014 @ 4:17 pm

    […] High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’ […]

  35. Fudge
    May 24th, 2014 @ 5:38 pm

    So, you ok with “teachers” promoting any old cult, religion, mystical heebie jeebies, IN SCHOOL?

  36. richard mcenroe
    May 24th, 2014 @ 6:18 pm

    Strange…at the start of your article I thought you were describing Islam…

  37. NeoWayland
    May 24th, 2014 @ 6:47 pm

    Personally I don’t think religion or faith belongs in public school. I think it’s a matter between the individual and the Divine.

    And I certainly don’t think that the Christian version should be there either.

  38. thatMrGguy
    May 24th, 2014 @ 8:35 pm

    High School ‘Death Cult’: Parents Claim Daughters Were Targeted by ‘Coven’ http://t.co/ZvqjPsh0T8

  39. DeadMessenger
    May 25th, 2014 @ 1:28 am

    I was raised in a mind control cult – this one a religious cult – so I know it’s very possible and very real. People tell me all the time that they themselves could never be mind controlled, and I laugh. TV, movies, music and other ubiquitous media (and let’s not forget public schools), do it all the time. Why do they think we are a nation of sheeple?

  40. DeadMessenger
    May 25th, 2014 @ 1:29 am

    Hope you get them out of there, Bob.

  41. DeadMessenger
    May 25th, 2014 @ 1:33 am

    There is very much of a good reason for it. Mind control cults get very dangerous when their evil ways are exposed, though they likely already know who filed the suit. I would imagine that other psychos in the community could get dangerous, too. But their daughters could also be at risk at Wellesley, and the younger one at home, too. I wouldn’t want to make it too easy to be located by out-of-town nut jobs.

  42. Phil_McG
    May 25th, 2014 @ 6:01 am

    Also… we’ve heard this one before, haven’t we? Many, many times. This story is just one cameo appearance by Satan away from being a Jack Chick tract.

    I’m not saying it’s bullshit, but when I hear about all-night “whirling dervish” dance marathons, my bullshit detector goes to 11.

  43. cloud_buster
    May 25th, 2014 @ 6:02 am

    Is “predatory religious indoctrination” an actual crime? How does it differ from typical Christian evangelism or the religious instruction for which millions of Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and people of other religions send their children to religious schools all over the world?

  44. Phil_McG
    May 25th, 2014 @ 6:07 am

    “Specifically, she taught her students to believe in superstition, magic, and a non-scientific, anti-intellectual worldview.”

    So do Womens Studies classes.

    “Then, E.D. suddenly declared that her major would be philosophy, instead of political science or international relations like she originally decided”

    So what? She decided to do one pointless subject instead of a different worthless major.

  45. DavidD
    May 25th, 2014 @ 9:26 am

    So, no Christianity in schools; but New Age mysticism, that’s OK. Is that it?

  46. Moneyrunner
    May 25th, 2014 @ 12:57 pm

    I don’t know cloud_buster. Why do you assume all religions are the same? Why do you assume that there is not difference between, say, Lutheran evangelists, Muslim evangelists (cough … jihadis … cough) and Satan evangelists? In the political realm, would you ask the same question if people were worried about their children being indoctrinated by Nazis and ask “how does it differ” from trying to get people to become Democrats? OK. Now that I think of it ….

  47. Moneyrunner
    May 25th, 2014 @ 1:00 pm

    To a large extent, schools are the home of New Age mysticism. The reason Christianity is forbidden is because it’s a competing faith.

  48. Crazy Lawsuits and more crazy… | Batshit Crazy News
    May 25th, 2014 @ 10:01 pm

    […] then there is this one that TOM found.  I would dismiss it, but for the fact that Wellesley (Hillary’s alma matter)  is […]

  49. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2014 @ 6:25 pm

    Thank you.

  50. WhoSees
    May 27th, 2014 @ 8:25 pm

    We don’t know that ANY of this is true. It’s all based on what one daughter said after returning from a visit to her sisters at college back to the confines of home and a barrage of questioning from parents she is still dependant on. Are there posts from other students confirming any of this? I can’t find them.