A recently resurfaced witness statement submitted by a Scientology official to the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) admits the controversial Church were aware of child sexual abuse within it’s UK chapters and that the victim was forced to “deal with her own guilt about what had happened”.
The statement, provided by Scientology’s UK Legal Officer Massimo Angius, explains “about 20 years ago there was an incident reported to the police which resulted in a prosecution. The victim was given pastoral support and auditing to help her deal with the incident, including her own guilt about what had happened.”
It goes on to say Scientology has implemented a “robust” snitching culture where staff members are required to report on each other, and that “any would be perpetrator in the Church would know that it would be impossible to keep abuse secret for any period of time.”
Several ex-Scientologists who grew up at their Saint Hill headquarters near East Grinstead have claimed that they were forbidden from contacting law enforcement after being abused as children, but that L. Ron Hubbard’s Ethics policies require the Church to gather and hold evidence which is subsequently used to cover up criminal activity.
As part of the IICSA, which looked at systemic issues of child abuse in religious settings, Scientology were invited to provide evidence of their safeguarding policies and how any cases of sexual abuse have been handled internally. A witness statement was provided by Mr. Angius, who at the time was a trustee of Scientology’s UK corporate entity – an Australian-registered non-profit that operates exclusively in the UK called ‘Church of Scientology Religious Education College Inc.’ (COSRECI).
“I have myself been a member of a Scientology religious order, known as the Sea Organisation, for 33 years, and a trustee of COSRECI since 1997. I am currently one of 3 trustees and I have particular responsibility for legal matters and am the safeguarding lead,” he explains at the start of his statement.
“All Scientologists are required to provide a written report to the Ethics Department of their local Church should they notice anything wrong, even if it is just matters that lead to a suspicion, so that they can be investigated,” he continues. “Written reports may be preceded by a verbal report in cases of emergency. Depending of the seriousness of the matter reports may be passed up to senior Ethics personnel, and further escalated to the legal officer (my equivalent in the local Church) and its head. Reports may then also be shared with East Grinstead, including myself – the person with overall responsibility for this area in this country”
Angius was removed from paperwork filed with Companies House in 2022 that listed him as a director of several Scientology corporate entities including Narconon, a drug rehabilitation centre that came under fire for safeguarding concerns last year. The following month, he resigned from his role as a COSRECI trustee, but is understood to still be working for the Church as part of the Sea Org.
After reviewing the document, a safeguarding expert told us “the use of internal tribunals, confessionals, and “ethics” departments in place of external reporting mechanisms creates a closed culture that prioritises institutional protection over individual safety. This is a hallmark risk of spiritual and ritual abuse—where harmful behaviour is justified through religious or moral frameworks, often silencing victims.”
Scientology’s belief system teaches that we are all immortal spiritual beings that have lived thousands of lives – and as such, children are considered ‘adults in little bodies’. This has led to multiple cases of child neglect, abuse and mistreatment within the Church according to former members. Studying Scientology, according to founder L. Ron Hubbard, allows you to unlock your innate god-like powers, ultimately taking responsibility for every aspect of your life and environment.
In his witness statement, Massimo Angius wrote “It is a core principle of the Scientology religion that transgressions against others, and causing harm to others, is the primary reason for spiritual degradation. Scientology teaches that spiritual advancement is only achieved by not transgressing against or causing harm to others, and indeed is only achieved by those who actively help others.”
It stops short of explaining the Scientology concept of ‘pulling it in’ – where victims of abuse are interrogated and punished for the role they played in allowing it to happen to them.
It does, however describe a case of child sexual abuse that resulted in prosecution. “The victim was given pastoral support and auditing to help her to deal with the incident, including her own guilt about what had happened,” the document states.
On whether staff are vetted before being given access to children, Angius says “children may participate in Scientology services, but only with signed parental consent. These can consist of auditing or courses. While auditing may occur one to one in specialised rooms, these sessions are monitored by video link by a case supervisor”
“More recently we have started doing DBS checks. Trustees and staff who have worked closely with children have had checks since about 2002. We have a target to do the DBS check on all staff.” However “because the auditing of minors in this fashion only occurs infrequently, and is supervised by a case supervisor, there has not been a requirement, to date, for auditors or case supervisors to have a DBS check or to undergo specialised training on working with children and child protection.”
Our safeguarding expert tells us “I’m deeply concerned by the significant risks highlighted in this report. The Church of Scientology’s internal safeguarding systems are entirely self-governed, lacking independent oversight, with minimal engagement from statutory services. Children are involved in one to-one spiritual practices like “auditing” without the protection of enhanced DBS checks or specialist training—a serious breach of safeguarding norms.”
“Auditing as a trauma response is particularly troubling, as it bypasses evidence-based therapeutic approaches and may retraumatise survivors. The framing of safeguarding as “ethics” diminishes its legal and moral urgency.”
“Ultimately, any setting—religious or otherwise—that investigates itself, restricts information-sharing, and fails to embed external safeguarding standards is not safe for children or vulnerable adults. We must be willing to name these patterns as institutional and spiritual abuse risks and challenge the normalisation of secrecy cloaked in moral or religious language.”
Scientology continue to provide events and courses targeted at children in the United Kingdom, particularly at their Sussex headquarters where regular fliers are sent to parents promoting “the next generation” taking steps on Hubbard’s ‘Bridge to Total Freedom’. In April, Saint Hill hosted a community Easter Egg hunt and during their annual IAS event last year, children were seen entering and leaving the property unsupervised after dark.
Saint Hill are required to submit a child protection plan to Mid Sussex District Council ahead of any major event, but failed to do so without prompting last year.
You can read the full statement given by Scientology’s legal officer to the UK Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse below.
