A former Scientologist has exclusively opened up to the Daily Star about what he claims to have been a ‘psychologically abusive’ experience being a volunteer worker for the church at the age of 15
The Church of Scientology stands accused of a shocking catalogue of abuse, manipulation and cover-ups, according to explosive new claims from a former insider who has blown the lid off the secretive organisation.
Alexander Barnes-Ross, who claims he joined the church as a vulnerable teenager, has described it as a “totalitarian cult” that preys on the young, exploits its workers, and destroys families, all while raking in millions from its followers.
In a bombshell interview with the Daily Star, Barnes-Ross alleges that Scientology recruits children as young as 15 into full-time labour, forces staff to sign “billion-year contracts”, and subjects members to psychological abuse and forced confessions. Amid the avalanche of accusations, the Church of Scientology has refuted and disputed all claims made against it.
In the midst of experiencing a vulnerable state, at the height of his 15 years in the organisation, Barnes-Ross visited the Church of Scientology on Tottenham Court in London. There, he underwent a personality test, known as the Oxford Capacity Analysis (OCA), a free questionnaire used to assess a person’s strengths and weaknesses.
Now aged 30, Barnes-Ross exposes Scientology’s alleged wrongdoings and helps others who claim to have left the Church, with scars. But his advocacy and work has come at a price.
To clarify, these are not the views of the Daily Star, purely those of a person.
‘An extremist totalitarian belief system’
Barnes-Ross said: “I’ve very quickly become a pretty major target for the Church of Scientology. They have an organisation called the Office of Special Affairs or OSA for short, which is Scientology’s dirty tricks department, and they have been relentlessly attacking me for the last year. I’ve received over 10,000 attack tweets. I’ve had a hate website put up in my name.
“I’ve had dozens of articles [in Scientology-affiliated publications and websites]. I’ve had my front door kicked in.
“I’ve had letters written to my family, to my employer, to my friends, all in a desperate attempt to smear my name, and to disrupt my life in any way, shape, or form. Just last week, I received a cease and desist letter from Scientology saying you should cease and desist speaking out against Scientology or else this is a final warning.
“So I wrote back and said, ‘If you want me to cease and desist speaking out, maybe you should cease and desist abusing people’.”
Barnes-Ross eventually joined as a staff member, quickly rising to the role of director of public, where his main job was recruiting new members by selling books and administering the same personality test that had drawn him in.
Barnes-Ross claimed that he was trained to manipulate and deceive potential recruits, often working seven days a week for as little as £20, under a “religious worker” contract that he believes violated minimum wage laws.
Who is Xenu?
He recalled: “I was asking ‘I’ve heard about Xenu, this galactic warlord, and all is that what you believe?’ And obviously they flat out denied it, and they manipulated you into thinking that this is something that may help you.
“And I then learned the tips and tricks of how to do that because I became the recruiter. So what I ended up doing without realising, it was manipulating people and deceiving them in order to sell them Scientology under the guise of thinking I was helping them.”
In Scientology, Xenu was the extraterrestrial ruler of a “Galactic Confederacy” who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth, then called “Teegeeack”. He killed them by stacking them around volcanoes and killing them with hydrogen bombs, and the souls of these beings, known as thetans, became attached to humans, causing spiritual harm.
This story, which is part of a secret teaching called “Advanced Technology” and is known as “Incident II”, is only revealed to advanced members who have completed extensive and expensive courses.
When Barnes-Ross became a recruiter, he started using the same “manipulation” techniques that had been used on him when he was 15, he claimed. Barnes-Ross explained: “I got awards and commendations for being one of the top recruiters in Scientology.
“David Miscavage, the leader of the church, actually sent a film team to fly over from LA to the UK to film me and what my team were doing because we were so successful. But the thing is you think you’re helping people.
“Because Scientologists think that their way of doing things is not just a way of helping people. It’s the only way of helping mankind.
“So, it’s an extremist totalitarian belief system because there’s no ability to have any other interpretations or way of thinking about things and anything that kind of conflicts with it is seen as a problem.”
As Barnes-Ross’ parents were not Scientologists, the church pressured him to distance himself from them, the ex-Scientologist said. He explained: “You can’t start [joining the Sea Organisation] until you handle your life.
Cutting ties and the infamous billion-year contract
“So for example, my mom wasn’t a Scientologist, and so I had to handle that situation. And what that would have resulted in because my mom’s not a Scientologist, I would have had to have disconnected from her in order to join the Sea Organisation.
“So Scientology did very slowly start to tear my family apart, but do it in such a way that it made me feel like I was doing it for my own greatest good.”
The Sea Organisation (Sea Org) is the senior-most staff of the Church of Scientology, composed of its most dedicated members who are required to sign a billion-year contract of service. It was founded by L. Ron Hubbard as his private navy and now runs all Scientology management organisations.
After being labelled a “potential trouble source” for questioning the church’s methods, Barnes-Ross was allegedly forced out in 2014, and therefore didn’t make it to the Sea Org nor signed the billion-year contract. He did, however, continue trying to regain favour until about 2016.
It was only years later, around 2020 or 2021, that he began researching Scientology online, discovering widespread allegations of abuse, and decided to speak out publicly as one of the few UK-based former members to do so.
Barnes-Ross said that he came to the realisation that had he gone through with signing the billion-year contract and become a Sea Org member, he would’ve been “transported” over to Scientology’s headquarters in Clear Waters, Florida, USA. He said: “I would have been 18 or 19 at the time, so technically not child trafficking, but absolutely would have been human trafficking.”
‘At the time, I didn’t realise it was abuse’
Before coming to the realisation that Scientology wasn’t the religion he had thought it was, Barnes-Ross worked to get back into the good graces of the church. He described the alleged disturbing way he tried to do so.
“You have to admit to doing something, and I was crying, and it was a horrible abusive experience. But at the time, I didn’t realise it was abuse.
“I thought it was them applying Scientology to help me become a better person, and then once I’d been kicked out, I was given a program of courses I had to do from home to try and get back into good graces. I had to do a petition and basically send it to all of my friends and people in the org, which is what Scientology calls a church.
“Send it around to everybody basically begging for readmission into the church. It’s nothing but an exploitative and abusive control mechanism.”
The UK headquarters of Scientology is located at Saint Hill in East Grinstead, West Sussex, and it operates under highly restrictive and secretive conditions, Barnes-Ross explained. He claimed that staff members at Saint Hill are provided accommodation in exchange for seven days a week of service. But he said they are not allowed to own mobile phones, cannot leave the property without written permission and an escort, and are subject to constant surveillance through motion sensors and CCTV cameras.
Despite the rigid system allegedly put in place, Saint Hill was an exciting place to visit, it was L. Ron Hubbard’s home from 1959 to 1966. Barnes-Ross said: “As a Scientologist, Saint Hill is this magical place because it used to be the home of L. Ron Hubbard, so it’s kind of seen as this beautiful magical place where you can walk in the footsteps of L. Ron Hubbard.”
He further shared: “Therefore, everything is done exactly as it should be done in terms of the way Scientology. It’s meant to be a wonderful magical place, because Scientology is designed to keep abuse from everybody knowing about it.
“So the day-to-day life of a Scientologist is universally harmful. So for example, when I was locked in a room and told I couldn’t leave, I wasn’t allowed to tell anybody that had happened because I would have been labelled as a source of trouble because you’re not allowed to talk about bad things in Scientology.
“So I am 100% certain I wasn’t the only person that experienced that. I am 100% certain there are people at Saint Hill who want to leave and are very depressed and are concerned about how they start a life outside of Scientology.”
Nowadays, Barnes-Ross continues to campaign for legislative reform, arguing that current laws on coercive control, such as those outlined in the Serious Crime Act 2015, fail to protect individuals in religious or group settings.
In a lengthy official statement sent to the Daily Star by David Bloomberg, Scientology’s head of media relations, Barnes-Ross was accused of “harassing” the organisation. Bloomberg has also refuted every single claim made by Barnes-Ross, referring to the allegation as “outrageous” and “false”.
Bloomberg further shared the following statement: “Alex Barnes-Ross is a serial harasser who said his participation in the Church of Scientology meant ‘everything to me’ until he was kicked out after stalking a young female coworker. Since then, he has devoted all of his energy to seeking revenge—making online hate and real-world harassment his “full-time job” and primary source of income.
“Barnes-Ross promotes his own emotional instability, brags about his close affiliation with criminals and has stated publicly and repeatedly that his goal is to suspend the free practice of religion. YouTube has taken down no less than 17 of Barnes-Ross’ videos because they depicted stalking, harassment and egregious invasions of the privacy of Scientologists.
“Even the UK Information Commissioner’s Office concluded that Barnes-Ross’ anti- Scientology conduct ‘appears to have been calculated to harass and offend’.”
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