Sexual assault victim of Adi Da speaks out on AM San Francisco – April 1985
The following is a verbatim excerpt from a transcript of the TV show "AM San Francisco" that aired during April, 1985. The former devotee who called into the show made allegations during 1985 that she was the victim of a 1983 dildo assault involving Adi Da aka Da Free John aka Franklin Jones, which resulted in severe internal damage to her sexual organs.
Host: I'm also told that we have one woman on the phone right now who's
willing to tell us her story. Yes, first of all, you don't have to give me
your name if you don't want to, but can you please tell me your experience
during the past year or two?
Former devotee: Yes, I was a member of the church for many years, and the
reason I'm speaking out is because in my opinion Franklin Jones (now called
Adi Da) is a scoundrel in the strongest sense of the word. Because in
exchange for the trust and faith and belief that he worked for years to
cultivate in me and other people, I received his sexual treachery and
assault in 1983. And what Jackie (a former devotee appearing on the AM SF
show that day) says is true, it's his long-standing but secret custom to
break down a woman's resistance with alcohol and drugs, and then in a
painful and usually perverse manner he sexually abuses them. And he calls it
his sexual theater. Which is another strange way of describing it.
I personally was held down, forced to inhale large quantities of a drug, and
then assaulted by Jones and others at his direction. And this resulted, for
me, in painful and severe internal damage as well as emotional injury for
which I'm still in therapy.
And the one thing I want to make clear, because I think it's one of the
things that's so sinister about all of this, is from the various counselors
and therapists that I've spoken with, my experience in many ways parallels
that of child abuse. Where a person puts their trust in an authority figure,
only then to be betrayed and injured, and the resulting conflict and
emotional damage is enormous.
The victim (above) did not appreciate Adi Da's “sexual theater”
Posted on Mar-3-05
This woman is one of many who did not appreciate Adi Da' "sexual theater." There
are a lot of reasons why victims do not generally speak out, and I think these
are obvious enough that I won't bother spelling them out. However, there are a
few who did speak out and they should not be forgotten.
If anyone thinks that Adi Da's sexual escapades were just forms of "spiritual
teaching" done for the sake of devotees' practice they are absolutely nuts.
Sure, there was at times the pretense to a spiritual purpose behind some of the
encounters, but there's a clear pattern that emerges when one looks at the big
picture. It's all about Adi Da and his lusts and fetishes, coupled with his need
to dominate and control others.
Yes, many of the "sexual theater" events were consensual in some sense of the
word and rather harmless, but some of them were not. Mostly, the consent given
my devotees was given under false pretenses. They would never have done the
things they did if they didn't believe it was a form of spiritual practice that
was being required of them by one they revered as the divine in human form. Once
they figure out that Adi Da is not who they thought he was, these people tend to
get pretty upset, to say the least. There appears to be no mechanism to support
these people, however, and they tend to fall away from the community damaged,
weak, blaming themselves, and lacking the confidence or practical know-how to
strike back at their abuser.
The results of sexual theater have not been good. Regardless, Adi Da generally
exhibited little regard for its negative impact on others, further supporting
the theory that it was all about fulfilling his desires, and had little or
nothing to do with teaching anyone or aiding their spiritual practice. His lack
of any follow-up with the subjects of his "theater" after he was done with them
was at times tantamount to outright cruelty, given the circumstances.
The inner circle of devotees who have facilitated Adi Da's abuse of others bears
a lot of blame for allowing him to get away with this. It is beyond me why
someone with some balls doesn't force a confrontation with the inner circle, or
better yet Adi Da, over all of this.
Presumably, in Adi Da's advanced age one would expect that his abusive behavior
is mellowing out. Nevertheless, he should be held accountable for all he has
done, and prevented from doing any further damage.