Defamation loss for NSW spiritual healer
Margaret Scheikowski, The Australian

A wealthy NSW spiritual healer has suffered a significant defeat in his defamation case against a blogger after a jury found many of her posts were true, including that he's the leader of a socially harmful cult.

Former tennis coach Serge Benhayon, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Leonardo da Vinci, sued ex-acupuncturist Esther Mary Rockett in the NSW Supreme Court over her 2014 blog and tweets.

But the four-person jury on Monday completed answers to 58 pages of questions, primarily in Ms Rockett's favour and against Mr Benhayon, the founder of Universal Medicine (UM), based near Lismore in northern NSW.

The "substantially true" findings included that he "has an indecent interest in young girls as young as 10 whom he causes to stay at his house unaccompanied", preys on cancer patients and "is a charlatan who makes fraudulent medical claims".

Other truth findings were he intentionally indecently touched Ms Rockett during a consultation, "engages in bizarre sexual manipulation to make money for his business", vilified people with disabilities, is dishonest and guilty of exploitative behaviour.

A jubilant Ms Rockett, who had run the defences of truth and honest opinion, flashed the peace sign as she left the court complex with her junior barrister Louise Goodchild.

But 54-year-old Mr Benhayon and his many supporters, who regularly attended the hearing that began on September 4, were not present for the outcome.

He told the jury about the "modalities" or healing practices used at UM's seminars, healing courses and retreats that included "esoteric healing" and came from a tradition of "ageless wisdom" going back to Hermes, Plato and Pythagoras.

"Everything is energy and therefore everything is because of energy," he testified when describing his gentle touching of fully clothed clients.

His barrister Kieran Snark SC said the treatment was set up to restore their energy, "not for the improper purpose of groping people", and his client could be seen as a person of sincere religious beliefs rather than a fraud or crazy.

But Ms Rockett told the jury he had subjected her to a "sleazy ovarian reading" at his clinic during a February 2005 healing session.

Her blog flowed from seeing a newspaper article titled "The Da Vinci mode", referring to 15,000 people having attended his retreats and presentations in the past decade.

Under cross-examination from her lawyer Tom Molomby SC, Mr Benhayon had referred to spirits - which he could sense rather than see - being in the courtroom as he gave his evidence.

However, he refused the barrister's repeated requests for him to count the spirits, saying he could not break the rule of his soul.

The jury also found substantially true that Mr Benhayon had exploited children by having them vouch for UM's dishonest healing practices and "exploits cancer patients by targeting them to leave him bequests in their wills".

Friends, if you find additional news stories or legal documents concerning Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon, please add the titles and URLs to
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Self-styled healer Serge Benhayon leads 'socially harmful cult': jury

By Michaela Whitbourn -- Sydney Morning Herald 15 October 2018 — 5:52pm

for news story read here:

[www.smh.com.au]


Earlier news coverage of the Rockett/Universal Medicine lawsuit:

Google "benhayon v rockett"

[www.google.com]

Google "jury" "benhayon" "rockett"

[www.google.com]

This is a taken from The Northern Star Newspaper:

“REVEALED: What the jury said about 'socially harmful cult'

19th Oct 2018

Subscriber only

A SUPREME Court jury this week handed down its decision that a Far North Coast woman did not defame Universal Medicine leader Serge Benhayon.

The jury found the conduct of Esther Rockett, a former acupuncturist based in Byron Bay, had not defamed Mr Benhayon.

Of 60 imputations Mr Benhayon alleged, 16 were not made out at all, according to a 58-page document containing a host of questions answered by the jury, which has been obtained by The Northern Star.

The jury found of the 44 remaining imputations, all were covered by Ms Rockett's defences of truth or honest opinion, many by both.

The jury found Ms Rockett's actions were not "actuated by malice" and that her conduct was "reasonable in all of the circumstances".

For the bulk of matters, the jury found Ms Rockett presented comments she published as opinion rather than fact, that the material involved was "substantially true" and that Mr Benhayon did not establish in court Ms Rockett's views weren't an honestly held opinion.

This included comments that Mr Benhayon is the leader of a "socially harmful cult", that he has "intentionally indecently touched his client Esther Rockett during a consultation in his treatment room", that he had indecently touched a number of other clients, and "instructed students ... to touch the genitals of victims of sexual assault".

The jury found the same to be the case in relation to statements Mr Behnayon "dishonestly promotes fraudulent ideas of karma for self-gain", that he is "sexually manipulative of his cult followers" and "preys on cancer patients".

Of the 44 imputations made out by Mr Benhayon, 30 were found to stand up to three tests: to be "substantially true", presented as opinion rather than fact and that this opinion was based on "substantially true" material, including:

Serge Benhayon had intentionally indecently touched a number of his clients in his treatment room.
Serge Benhayon instructed students at Universal Medicine training workshops to touch the genitals of victims of sexual assault.
Serge Benhayon has an indecent interest in young girls as young as ten whom he causes to stay at his house unaccompanied.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of a socially harmful cult.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of Universal Medicine, a group which to his knowledge engages in misleading conduct in promoting the healing services it offers.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of Universal Medicine, a group which to his knowledge makes false claims about healing that cause harm to others.
Serge Benhayon as the leader of Universal Medicine exploits the followers of that group through his false and harmful teachings.
Serge Benhayon is dishonest.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of Universal Medicine, a group which to his knowledge preys on cancer patients.
Serge Benhayon engages in inappropriate conduct towards women.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of a socially harmful cult.
Serge Benhayon dishonestly promotes fraudulent ideas of karma for self-gain.
Serge Benhayon engages in bizarre sexual manipulation to make money for his business.
Serge Benhayon is a hypocrite because his Esoteric Healing has death as its goal.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of a socially harmful cult.
Serge Benhayon denigrates life and glorifies death.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of a socially harmful cult, which to his knowledge had engaged in dishonest healing practices.
Serge Benhayon, the leader of Universal Medicine, had exploited children by having them vouch for Universal Medicine's dishonest healing practices.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of a socially harmful cult.
Serge Benhayon is guilty of inappropriate behaviour with children.
Serge Benhayon is not a fit person to hold a Working with Children Certificate.
Serge Benhayon vilifies people with disabilities.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of a socially harmful cult that is paternalistic to women.
Serge Benhayon is sexually manipulative of his cult followers.
Serge Benhayon preys on cancer patients.
Serge Benhayon is a charlatan who makes fraudulent medical claims.
Serge Benhayon was to inherit the bulk of a follower's million-dollar estate as a result of exercising his undue influence on her.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of an exploitative cult.
Serge Benhayon makes bogus healing claims.
Serge Benhayon is dishonest.

The jury found further imputations to be "substantially true":

Serge Benhayon had intentionally indecently touched his client Esther Rockett during a consultation in his treatment room.
Serge Benhayon has persuaded followers to shun loved ones who won't join his cult.
Serge Benhayon is the leader of a socially dangerous cult.
Serge Benhayon has engaged in bullying to stop Esther Rockett exposing that he is guilty of inappropriate behaviour.”

Seems like most of the interesting articles are hidden behind paywalls. Here's one from The Sunday Telegraph about the harmful effect the restricted UM diet has on babies and children.


The Sunday Telegraph on October 20, 2018

by Jane Hansen

" FRESH warnings about a former tennis coach who preaches eating only foods with good “vibrational” values and recommends “treatments” such as esoteric breast massages have been issued after a court found he was running a “socially harmful cult”.

Universal Medicine (UM) was set-up by former tennis coach Serge Benhayon, who has no formal health or medical training but has invented alternative treatments such as ovarian readings and chakra puncturing, prescribes a diet to followers based on the “vibrational” values of food so as to not “hinder the flow of light of the soul”.

Mr Benhayon lost a defamation case against blogger and critic Esther Rockett last week, with the court finding UM to be a “socially harmful cult”.
Mr Benhayon also told the court he had lived over 2300 lives, one of which was as legendary Renaissance inventor Leonardo da Vinci.

Mr Benhayon has told followers they only need to eat once a day and recommends avoiding “pranic” or bad energy foods such as dairy and all grains.
The court ruled Universal Medicine founder Serge Isaac Benhayon was running a “socially harmful cult.” Picture: AAP ImageMr Benhayon Esther Rockett lost a defamation case against blogger and critic Esther Rockett.

In June, The Sunday Telegraph reported on several cases of children presenting at Lismore Base Hospital with diet-related illnesses from this, including a 10-month-old baby.

At the time, a Lismore paediatrician issued a general warning to parents of the consequences of putting babies and young children on restrictive diets.
Dr Chris Ingall told The Sunday Telegraph a baby was weaned onto a diet devoid of any carbohydrates and went into ketogenic crisis.

“The baby was on a diet with zero carbohydrates … and when the breastfeeding stopped, that baby fell off a cliff because suddenly the carbohydrates stopped completely, so the baby had no option but to start breaking down his own fats to get energy to the brain, Dr Ingall said.

The Sunday Telegraph can now reveal the baby’s parents were members of the Universal Medicine cult.

Professor of Public Health at the University of Wollongong and former president of the Public Health Association of Australia Heather Yeatman reviewed the diet chart of Universal Medicine said it was “a public health issue” when children were placed on such restrictive diets.

“It’s not surprising the baby fell off the rails, if a child is not having dairy or cereals they are likely to be low in energy intake and there could be the risk of stunting if children are not getting enough energy. It is critically important there is a balanced diet, especially at the weaning stage because it can impact overall growth and cognitive development. It’s a public health issue,” Prof Yeatman said.

Lance Martin is a vocal critic of UM who blames it for breaking down his marriage in 2012. He said he had raised concerns with the diet because he did not want his then three-year-old following it.
The former tennis coach has no formal health or medical training. “They don’t have carbs and really restrict protein and I was concerned my daughter would be dairy-free and gluten-free when she was growing and it would impact on her development,” Mr Martin said.

Another parent, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said his sons were always starving when staying with his ex-wife, a member of Universal Medicine.
The principal of the boys’ school had reported the children to Family and Community Services because of the restrictive diet, he said.“They were put on this crazy diet and the kids couldn’t concentrate at school and the principal had been buying my son food because he was so hungry,” the father said.

Family and Community Services refused to confirm how many reports they had received about children regarding Universal Medicine.

Mr Benhayon and Universal Medicine were approached but declined to comment. "

Friends, this story is far from finished.

Stay alert and see if Benhayon and his crew decide to leave
Oz and start out afresh in some other part of the world
where government supervision is lax.

Though, sorry to say, the USA may fall in that category, as we are famously
trusting and give tax exempt status to anything calling itself a religion/spiritual non profit.

By the way, if lamb is still an important part of the Benhayon diet, wonder if UM has ties to the sheep industry.

Baaaaaaah.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2018 08:34PM by corboy.

There’s definitly inroads in to US and other European countries too - especially Germany. I do think they will suffer low attendance at upcoming events though. Anyone googling Serge or UM is met by pages of press reporting the deformation trial. I’ve seen legal twitter feeds describing the case as one of the greatest own goals in legal deformation trial history (and this is from people with nothing to do with the group and no prior knowledge of it).

It’s a huge own goal and a victory for freedom of speech. AND it seems the beginning of people shrugging off their fear of UM and speaking their minds publicaly about them. Search for them on Facebook and local groups are filled with it.

Wanna bet that Universal Medicine may change its name and its PR people find may find ways to hide that
Serge B is the leader when courting new recruits?

To give one example, Rajneesh changed his name to Osho after he got arrested - and garnered lots of very bad publicity in the US.

A time for sincere Thank You's.

Thank You to Rick Ross and the Cult Education Forum. A place where people with genuine concerns can go to get information, support and speak freely.

Thank You to HerbertKane178, for opening this thread almost nine years ago. The deep concerns you held for your wife about falling prey to the influences of the cult Universal Medicine were indeed well founded. What you unwittingly also did was to initiate the Glorious exposure we have recently seen of this dangerous Cult. It's now hard to estimate just how many lives you've saved and how many families will remain intact.

Thank You to Esther Rockett and her Lords of Form. Without your dedication to exposing Serge Benhayon we would not have the amazing judgement the High Court recently decreed.

Thank You to the unnamed dozens of people behind the scenes who have all worked diligently for a common cause. The exposure of Serge Benhayon and the Cult Universal Medicine.

Thank You Corboy for your continued support and invaluable information. Its interesting to hear about other cult leaders changing their names. The thing with Serge Benhayon is he goes by so many names, he might be hard pressed to find a new one. Besides he prefers to hold on to the coat tails of past masters!

Looks like the UMers do stink after all!

Thank you Essay for your kind words. Hopefully this thread has helped some people. I know of a few who left the cult after spending time reading it, and that’s very gratifying. I hope there are many more who changed their minds about joining it after reading of the experiences of everyone who has contributed to the thread over the years. Nearly 1/4 million views now!

The good news continues as local organisations in Lismore shed themselves of contact with UM. Benhayon has been removed from The Northern Star’s “70 Most Influential People” list. His ex wife resigned from the Lismore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Board - that would seem to be a case of leave before you’re kicked out judging by the huge response on Twitter and Facebook to her remaining in the role after the NSW Supreme Court verdict was made public. Many, many locals in Lismore now are expressing their true feelings on UM and more extractions are to be expected.

In the UK hub of UM, Frome, the local FB pages are filled with comment on UM. There’s some very lively debate, and well worth reading as it gives an insight in to just how integrated UM has become in the local community there too. It will be interesting to see how locals choose to act upon the information now available on UM and Benhayon, especially as the travelling circus is about to arrive. The next workshop begins on 2nd November at The Lighthouse.

It's so interesting to see that people in the affected communities finally feel empowered to speak out and make their opinions heard. For years and years Universal Medicine managed to suppress most of the negative opinions online and within those communities by harassing, bullying and aggressively combating any "detractors". On the Frome facebook group there was indeed a lively debate and it was noticeable how the usually so vocal UM student body was just...absent. Not a word from any member of their addressable communities or social media "spheres" (that's what they call their little online groups where they discuss and organise their recruitment and infiltration strategies), they have all gone into hiding and they are no doubt waiting for the storm to pass. Not exactly the outcome Serge had in mind when he tried to silence Esther Rockett the "cyber bully" and I can't help but to feel huge relief and a little bit of schadenfreude.