Coastal town now is awash in 'Squirrel Busters' Defector from Scientology alleges harassment. Group claims it is making a documentary.

INGLESIDE ON THE BAY — The first time Charlie Orr saw the group of men outside his home, wearing odd helmets and sky blue shirts with a “Squirrel Busters” insignia on the chest, he assumed a neighbor had a rodent infestation.

“I thought, ‘Well, we had a termite man out here. Maybe we have a squirrel problem I didn't know about,'” he recalled.

But as Orr, 70, and other residents of this idyllic coastal community of palm trees, elegant white skiffs and pastel-colored homes soon learned — to their continuing regret — the Squirrel Busters had no interest in tree-climbing varmints.

Instead, they were targeting Orr's next-door neighbor, Mark Rathbun, 54, a high-level defector from the Church of Scientology who has become an outspoken critic of the church, denouncing its leadership as despotic and abusive.

“The whole idea is to make my life a living hell. To rattle me. They want to shut me up by any means necessary,” said Rathbun, who left the church in 2004, moved here in 2006, and now counsels other ex-church members.

Monique Rathbun with her husband. The couple married last year, and Monique Rathbun says she has been targeted by people associated with the Church of Scientology. Monique Rathbun with her husband. The couple married last year, and Monique Rathbun says she has been targeted by people associated with the Church of Scientology. Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Coastal town now is awash in 'Squirrel Busters' 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

“They want to make me an enemy of Scientology. I'm the best friend of Scientology. I'm saying these guys have corrupted it,” he said.

Founded six decades ago by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, the author of “Dianetics,” Scientology's focus is on self-betterment and spiritual advancement. But its history is ridden with conflict and lawsuits, and it wasn't until 1993, after years of bitter litigation, that the IRS recognized it as a church.

Scientology began cultivating celebrities decades ago, and among its better-known current adherents are movie stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

But the church is unforgiving of those who leave, and a “squirrel” is someone who also espouses false doctrines. These days, Rathbun is the biggest “squirrel” in the forest.

The smear campaign

Long a haven for people who want to fish, boat and gaze at sunsets, Ingleside on the Bay is an unlikely stage for the bizarre and nasty religious drama now playing here.

As reported in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the messy Scientology spat has involved public confrontations and calls to police, and led the city to draft an ordinance to regulate independent filmmakers such as the Squirrel Busters Productions.

With that item on the City Council agenda Tuesday evening, more than 50 people turned out for the meeting, about five times normal. More than three-dozen signed a petition urging that the Squirrel Busters be denied a permit.

The matter was tabled after the group withdrew its application, claiming the ordinance was unconstitutional and unenforceable, and could draw the city into “litigation it cannot win.”

In response, the city has referred the matter to legal counsel.

“It's just an unfortunate situation. It's aggravated somewhat by the videotaping back and forth by both sides that ends up on YouTube,” Mayor Howard Gillespie said. “I'm hoping it will not be as confrontational as it has been. I hope they do their videotaping and leave.”

Besides following Rathbun around, the Squirrel Busters have handed out a lurid pamphlet titled “Neighborhood Alert” that describes him as a mentally imbalanced, violent criminal who was expelled from the church.

Their literature also accuses him of “spreading sensational lies to the media and starting and promoting his own cult-like hate group.”

After several failed attempts to rent a house near Rathbun's, the group now occupies one about a block away with a clear view of his residence. Rathbun said they also have come to his door, followed him around in a golf cart and used a paddle boat to spy on him from a backyard canal.

Bart Parr, one of several Californians on Squirrel Busters assignment, insisted the mission is purely journalistic and not harassment.

“We're here to shoot a documentary of Mr. Rathbun and his activities. We don't follow him around, he follows us around,” he said last week. “The Squirrel Busters are trying to show what people like Mr. Rathbun, who are squirrels, are doing.”

Parr said he's not a Scientologist, and insisted the church has no connection to the Squirrel Busters activities. Instead, he said, it is privately funded by unnamed Scientologists.

“We're not going to be here indefinitely,” he said. “We'll finish the documentary in the next month and a half.”

Attempts Friday to reach Scientology spokeswoman Linda Wieland in Los Angeles were not successful. Wieland earlier had said the church has no connection to the Squirrel Busters.

Rathbun's defection

Rathbun, who joined the Scientologists at age 20, rose to its highest echelons before falling out with church leadership.

“I had the No. 2 position from 1998 until I left. I answered to no one but David Miscavige, who was chairman of the board,” he said. “I was the personal counselor for Tom Cruise, Lisa Marie Presley, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley.”

Rathbun, who also was the church's director of external legal affairs, said he left abruptly after witnessing the harsh beating of a colleague.

“I knew it was coming, but that was the snapping point,” he said.

He came to the Texas Coast, and kept a low profile until about two years ago, when he began giving a series of lengthy interviews to outlets ranging from CNN to the New Yorker to the St. Petersburg Times, in which he describes Scientology as more of a cult than religion.

“I did a lot of soul-searching before going public. I was concerned there might be some type of Waco or Jonestown event,” he said.

Rathbun said he also has spoken to the FBI several times about abuses within the church.

His wife, Monique, whom he married last year, also has been targeted.

“They've gone so far as to try and convince me he's evil and I should get away from him. They've gone to my friends and my ex-husband,” she said. “They've got websites up, saying I'm a man. And they smear me on their little blogs.”

Rathbun's website and blog now attract heavy daily traffic, and he has become a de facto leader of Scientology's “independent movement.”

He said the increasingly aggressive behavior of the Squirrel Busters means church leaders are desperate to shut him up.

“You're seeing stuff playing out here that is unprecedented. That's why I feel the whole thing is melting down,” he said.

No sign of abating

And as the conflict has worsened and become better known, public opinion on the bay has hardened against the Squirrel Busters. Orr, who describes the Rathbuns as perfect neighbors, got fed up long ago.

“I've told people I'm thinking of forming a group called the ‘Ass Busters,'” he growled. “We'll block the street, capture them and take 'em all about 50 miles out in the gulf and see if they can swim back.”

Down at the Bahia Marina, a sign on the door tells all Squirrel Busters they will be arrested for trespassing if they set foot on the premises. The owner, Carol Regnier, also has ordered several dozen more signs to be sold at cost to residents with similar sentiments.

She said she first encountered the group with video cameras near the marina entrance.

“They told me they were doing a documentary on one of our neighbors, that he was a very notorious figure. They wouldn't tell me what he had done, but said it was something religious. So, I'm thinking, ‘My God, this guy has molested kids in the church,'” Regnier said.

“Before they left, one of the young men said, ‘We'll have him out of there in less than two months,' so I knew it wasn't a documentary,” she said.

She said the group members twice tried to rent houses near Rathbun's, but that she turned them down because she felt they were being dishonest about their intentions.

“What's strange to me is them spending all this money on this. How much good works could they do instead? It's supposed to be a church. Why aren't they doing things to help people?” she asked.

On Wednesday night, yet another encounter between Rathbun and several of the Squirrel Busters at a local business led to an ultimatum.

“Every time those two groups end up at my restaurant, the police come, and it's hard enough running a restaurant in this town,” said Christian Wiseman, owner of Nightlingers, a steakhouse in nearby Ingleside.

When Rathbun complained that Ralph Gomez, one of the Squirrel Busters, had approached his group in the restaurant and taken photos or video, Wiseman had had enough.

“I went up to Ralph. I said, ‘Look, dude. I'm only gonna tell you once. Any more shenanigans, and you'll be stuck eating at McDonalds or Sonic. I'm not going to have you harassing my customers,'” he said.

But the great Scientology spat shows no signs of abating. How it will end is anyone's guess, but few think it will be pretty.

“Both sides are pretty dug in and Mark is not going anywhere. I don't see him running away and they're pretty tenacious. It seems like a standoff,” Wiseman said. “It's completely bizarre. It reminds me of kids playing spy, all the little intrigues, and people following each other around with cameras. It's not what we would consider adult behavior.”