BIZARRE

TN Scientologist Charged in Kidnapping Case

After two people found being held against their will.

A Scientologist running his own self-proclaimed “treatment centers” in Tennessee has been charged with kidnapping after holding two people against their will at one of his facilities. Police at the Cannon County Sheriff’s office discovered the man’s victims being held in small cabins with “no obvious amenity for life” earlier this year. One of the victims told police he was being held there to be “cleansed through Scientology,” while another victim, described as a mentally handicapped woman, was locked inside her cabin for 14 hours a day. Marc Vallieres, the operator of the facility, was charged with two felony counts of kidnapping on Friday. Two other men who worked as caretakers at the facility were charged with false imprisonment, local media reported Friday. A judge also ordered that all of Vallieres’ treatment centers be closed. The facilities were reportedly not officially operated through the Church of Scientology, though police say Vallieres had received training through the church.