Legal Case Argentina, 1993

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Filed Cases

• Case 81/89 Cavazza, Juan C. and others, on Inf. Art.125, 139, 140, 142, Par.l, 142 bis, 210, 293 of the Code of Proceedings and art.3 of Law 23,592. Federal Court of San Isidro, 1 Sec.2 Office II, Reg. 443.

Timeline

• June 28, 1993: Judge Julio Manuel Cámpora of the Tribunal de Menores de Mercedes issues a ruling in which he infers the existence of the following crimes; sexual abuse, rape, hiding of minors, fraud, reduction to a state of servitude, and falsification of documents and without prejudice to definitive jurisdiction transfers the entire record (consisting of 8 volumes, more than 1600 pages) to Federal Judge Roberto J. Marquevich in San Isidro.[1].
• September 1, 1993: 10 Family homes in Buenos Aires are raided by police. 142 children are taken into protective custody and more than 80 adults are arrested.
• September 9, 1993: San Isidro Federal Judge Robert Marquevich orders the preventive detention of 18 adults already in custody. Later, 3 additional persons were added to the list of those charged in the case and held under the preventive detention order, bringing the total number to 21. The 21 are Juan Carlos Cavazza, Eduardo Jose Blanco Diaz, Lorenzo Montes Garcia, Jesse Jude Mara, Joel Steven Martin, Daniel Martial Charrie, Jurgan Heinz Grotnaus, Kay Susanne Rambur, Daniel Armando Moreno, Mark Steven Jacobs, Robert Eldrich Robb, Roberto Martinetto, Rafael Martinez Gonzalez, Susana Clara Borowik, Alejandro Emilio Trevisan, Nilson Alcides Gomez, Jackeline Reddic, John Kevin Roberts, Flor Bojorquez, Mario Roberto Torres and Alice Sophia Dow. The preliminary charges include corruption of minors, reduction to a state of servitude, illegal deprivation of liberty, retention and hiding of persons, illicit association and infraction of the law against racial and religious discrimination. Rambur and Robb are also charged with altering the civil status of a minor under 10 years old and falsification of documents.
• December 13, 1993: By a 2-1 vote, the San Martin Court of Appeals issues a ruling favorable to the defendants in the Cavazza case. San Martin Appeals Court Judge Dr. Daniel Mario Rudi strongly disagrees with the majority in his 135-page dissenting opinion which quotes extensively from Family publications. The 21 charged are freed and the case is sent back to a lower court for further investigation.

Related Cases

• October 27, 1989 - Causa No. 81 Juzgado Federal No. 1 de San Isidro
• Causa No. 17142 Tribunal de Menores No. 1 de Buenos Aires
• Causa No. 2351/89 Tribunal de Menores No. 2 de Bahia Blanca
• Expediente No. 386/89 Juzgado No. 1 de Bahia Blanca
• May 23, 1990 Causa No. 34269 Juzgado en lo Criminal No. 1 de San Isidro
• December 19, 1990 - Tribunal de Menores de Mercedes - Cause number 32.202 minors Frouman E. and others regarding Art. 10 of Law 10.067
• Causa No. 23.147 Juzgado de Instrucion No. 31 de la Capital Federal
• Causa (case number missing) Juzgado de Menores de Cordoba
• Causa No. 3512 Juzgado de Menores de Mar del Plata
• Causa No. 1959 Juzgado Federal de Comodora Rivadavia
• Causa No. 35401 Juzgado en lo Penal No. 2 de Mar del Plata
• Causa (no number given) Juzgado en lo Penal de Faltas de la ciudad de Rosario
• US v. Brian Edward Pickus (unlawful flight to avoid prosecution)
• State of Hawaii v. Brian Edward Pickus (kidnapping, burglary)
• E.E.U.U. solicita extradicion de Brian Edward Pickus

Press Coverage of Legal Problems

• Ventana: La Secta los Niños de Dios Bajo Lupa del Juez de Menores Cámpora — 1993-07
• The Independent: Cult denies child sex abuse — 1993-07-02
• Press-Enterprise: The Family's values disputed — 1993-07-25
• Associated Press: `The Family' wants cult-hunting group dissolved — 1993-08-04
• Washington Post: 30 Members of Children Of God Arrested — 1993-09-02
• Chattanooga Times: Cult crackdown — 1993-09-03
• Daily Mail: House of croquet and free love — 1993-09-03
• Daily Mail: Yard probe into child cult — 1993-09-03
• Evening Standard: We swap wives in the name of Jesus, says cult — 1993-09-03
• New York Times: Argentines Say a Sex Cult Enslaved 268 Children — 1993-09-03
• The Guardian: Charges against cult blamed on ex-members — 1993-09-03
• Los Angeles Times: 58 Americans Held in Argentina Sex-Sect Raid — 1993-09-04
• London Times: The day the 'Martians' woke up — 1993-09-05
• The Independent: Gideon's Bible of Free Love 1993-09-05
• The Observer: Members put on defensive by raids — 1993-09-05
• Toronto Star: 33-year-old Metro woman linked to sex-for-salvation cult — 1993-09-06
• Toronto Star: Metro woman in 'sex cult' probe — 1993-09-06
• Houston Chronicle: Members of sect say they're being persecuted — 1993-09-07
• Hamilton Spectator: Burlington kin support alleged cult leader — 1993-09-07
• Toronto Star: Sect members deny abuse stories — 1993-09-07
• Toronto Star: Two Canadian cult members arrested in Argentina — 1993-09-07
• Toronto Star: Anti-cult organization blamed for arrests — 1993-09-08
• Toronto Star: Sect members face sex, abduction charges — 1993-09-08
• Hamilton Spectator: Cult includes brother of suspect woman — 1993-09-09
• Hamilton Spectator: Member says he saw child sex abuse inside cult — 1993-09-09
• Hamilton Spectator: We will be completely vindicated, says Susan — 1993-09-09
• Los Angeles Times: Paraguay Police Raid Home Owned by Cult Suspected of Child Abuse — 1993-09-09
• Hamilton Spectator: Cult provided sex services to strangers — 1993-09-10
• Kitchener-Waterloo Record: Defending the Family — 1993-09-10
• Houston Chronicle: Cult's image unfairly soiled, member says — 1993-09-11
• South China Morning Post: More accusations against Children of God — 1993-09-12
• SOMOS: Los Niños de Dios - Como Fue la Investigacion — 1993-09-13
• Toronto Star: Couple held after bid to visit kids in custody — 1993-09-13
• Clarin: Piden a Interpol la captura del reverendo que fundó la secta — 1993-09-15
• Gente: Habla Joyanne Treadwell Berg — 1993-09-15
• Toronto Star: 'We've been totally and falsely accused' Family mom insists — 1993-09-15
• Columbus Dispatch: Columbus woman says she escaped cult horrors — 1993-09-16
• Hamilton Spectator: Cult woman's jail treatment 'atrocious' — 1993-09-17
• Macleans: Not a normal family — 1993-09-20
• Toronto Star: Tests disprove sect's family ties — 1993-09-21
• Columbus Dispatch: Woman seeking to get cult-controlled kin out of Argentina — 1993-09-25
• Cronica: "Niños de Dios": Liberan a una Nena y la Entregan a su padre Brasileño — 1993-09-25
• La Nacion: Tres paises reclamaron niños que vivian con La Familia — 1993-09-25
• New York Times: 66 U.S. Cultists Still Being Held in Argentina — 1993-09-26
• Columbus Dispatch: Woman says siblings are brainwashed cult victims — 1993-10-05
• Houston Chronicle: Children of God Cult Returns as The Family — 1993-10-10
• Houston Chronicle: Elusive "father' of cult has held a following for 25 years — 1993-10-10
• Philadelphia Inquirer: Church declines to aid sect accused of abusing children — 1993-10-19
• Christianity Today: Sex Abuse Charges Disputed — 1993-10-25
• Noticias a Fondo: ¿Quien Ampara a la secta Niños de Dios? — 1993-11
• Sydney Morning Herald: The Family's Planning — 1993-11-06
• Página 12: Reclamos por La Familia — 1993-11-13
• Cronica: "Niños de Dios": Padres Reclaman — 1993-11-30
• La Nacion: Los Ninos de Dios, exegeta con vertientes sexuales — 1993-12-09
• Hamilton Spectator: Cult leader fears AIDS scare at jail — 1993-12-11
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Family: Hippie throwback or dangerous, abusive cult — 1993-12-12
• Hamilton Spectator: Burlington woman free in Argentina cult case — 1993-12-14
• Toronto Star: Argentine court frees Canadians in sex case — 1993-12-14
• La Nacion: Quarracino cuestiono por TV la liberacion de miembros de una secta — 1993-12-19
• Protagonistas de Mercedes: Informe especial sobre libertad — 1993-12-20
• Protagonistas de Mercedes: Llego hasta Mercedes el consul de E.E.U.U. — 1993-12-27