The leader of a religious group that authorities believe preys on children was released from a Pennsylvania prison Friday but won't be required to register as a sex offender, triggering outrage in the community where he plans to live.George Feigley, now 68, was convicted in 1975 on charges including statutory rape, indecent assault and corrupting the morals of minors.
Because Feigley's 1975 conviction predated the passage of Megan's Law, he will not be required to register as a sex offender. And, having served his maximum sentence, he was not put on parole upon his release.
Feigley's Neo American Church, which authorities have called a sex cult, operated a school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that police said was a front for sexual activity.
The church's manifesto says, "We hold that the changes called creation and procreation are divine and that human sexuality is to humans the most available expression of that function of divinity," according to community activist Scott Portzline, who has researched Feigley's history and that of the group. "Sexual activity is the greatest act a human can do."
I'm not sure what I think about the term ".. a front for sexual activity..." (implying that the normal sexual activity that is not hidden?) But whatever.
This particular nutbag was a libertarian, politically, opposing all government regulation and such institutions as schools.
Although this is Feigley's first time actually being released from prison, it is not the first attempt to escape.
In 1976, Feigley escaped from a Pennsylvania prison. He was captured two years later in West Virginia but escaped again from a local jail and was recaptured by the FBI.
In 1983, two members of the Neo American Church drowned in what authorities believe was an attempt to break Feigley out of prison.
advertisementLaura Seligman and James Gilbert drowned in the sewer line outside the prison where Feigley was being held.
The two had crawled a mile and a half through the line, according to Portzline. A rainstorm caused an overflow gate to open, flooding the line. *
hattip: Lou
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A case like this is a clear demonstration of the necessity of extremely close regulation of private education.
The only reason religious privilege in particular is used to avoid government regulation of private education is to facilitate the abuse of kids, either physically, like this scum bucket, or mentally, like the schools that teach Bob Jones types of science and history. I am tempted to argue that the latter is as damaging as the former, and that it should come with similar consequences.
Cue the cries of "It happens just as often in the public schools" in 3...2...1...