Scientology tore my family apart

This Queensland father of three pays a heart-breaking price for turning his back on the controversial cult.

Adrian Kelsey lay slumped on the couch, feeling as if his heart had just been ripped out. Instead of the animated phone call he’d expected from his Mexico-based children Estefania, 13, and Rafael, 10, about their proposed visit to see him on the Gold Coast, he’d just learned from his crying daughter he was banished from their lives.

In a heated conversation with his ex-wife Fransyl, the former devoted Scientologist was told he was “disconnected”, a punishment for speaking out against the church. Adrian says that in cult parlance, this means he is officially labelled as a “suppressive person”, and no Scientologists – his children included – are allowed contact with him.

He says hearing his once defiant daughter Estefania renege on her earlier promise to love him “no matter what”, left him shattered and shaken. “My heart was lying on the floor,” says Adrian, his voice breaking at the recollection. “It’s the most difficult thing I’ve had to deal with in my life. You have to wonder what happened. What did Scientology tell her to make her change her mind? The manipulation and lies must be off the scale.”

Adrian, a former staff member at the church’s Florida headquarters, is now revealing his own experiences with Scientology. Little by little his belief in the religion was eroded by his research. The final straw was the way his parents were treated by the church. Although both were long-time Scientology “employees” in Sydney, Adrian says his father was gradually demoted to a $50-a-week gardener post as his Alzheimer’s worsened. When his dad needed skin cancer treatment, Adrian says Scientology refused to help.