Scientology Member Denies Former Wife’s Sex Abuse Allegations

The former husband of a woman who left the Church of Scientology, alleging she was forced into marriage as a minor and sexually abused by her then-spouse, is denying her allegations in new court papers, calling her allegations “false and reprehensible.”

The plaintiff identified only as Jane Doe and is a self-professed former friend of the late Lisa Marie Presley. Doe’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names as defendants the church, her former husband, Gavin Potter, church leader David Miscavige and the Religious Technology Center, which was founded in 1982 by the church to control and oversee the use of all of Scientology trademarks and symbols as well as Scientology and Dianetics texts.

After an alleged forced marriage, Doe was “coerced and compelled” to have repeated sexual intercourse with Potter, became pregnant at age 19 and filed for divorce in 1997, the suit states.

But in court papers filed Friday in support of his motion to force Doe to use her real name in her pleadings, Potter says Doe’s claims against him are “false and reprehensible,” and that his declaration is meant to tell the true story of their relationship.

Potter’s motion argues that allowing the plaintiff to remain anonymous while making allegations against him in the church is prejudicial to his defense.

Potter says that since December 1984, he’s been a member of a Scientology religious order, the Sea Organization, which is responsible for advancing the faith’s research and operations.

“I never at any time engaged in any sexual activity with Jane Doe that was not consensual,” Potter says. “Aside from being something I just would never do, this would have been contrary to the strict ethical code of the Sea Org.”

Shortly after Potter and Doe started dating, he asked her to marry him and she agreed, Potter says.

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” No one forced us to get married,” Potter states. “We made the decision to marry because I loved her and I believe she loved me.”

Doe’s parents approved the marriage and the plaintiff’s mother made the wedding arrangements, according to Potter, who further says she seemed cautious about consummating their marriage on the first night.


“Anticipating this, her mother and father had gifted us a basket with snacks and champagne to help her relax and to make this less of a nervous experience,” according to Potter.

In September 1996, two years after their daughter’s birth, Doe left the marriage “in the middle of the night ” stole Potter’s car and returned about 10 weeks later, Potter says.

“I later learned that during those 10 weeks, Jane Doe had become intimately involved with a number of different men,” Potter says.

The former couple’s divorce was finalized in March 1998, and Potter maintains a relationship with their daughter, he says. A hearing on his motion is scheduled Oct. 24 before Judge Michael Small.

In her suit, Doe says she was a Scientology member from birth, and that she was recruited in 1989 at age 14 into the Sea Org.

After the alleged forced marriage, Doe was “coerced and compelled” to have repeated sexual intercourse with Potter, according to her complaint brought in December 2022.

In 2002, Doe, along with her 7-year-old daughter, accompanied her “good friend” and fellow Scientologist, Lisa Marie Presley, to FLAG, a Scientology spiritual and training center in Clearwater, Florida, and to Disney World for a birthday celebration, the suit states.

FLAG is Scientology’s primary training center and visits to it usually required both advance permission as well as the transfer of auditing files from the Scientology member’s home base — Los Angeles in Doe’s case — so that the visitor can partake in FLAG activities, Doe says in a sworn declaration.