Joe Childs at the Tampa Bay Times sent reverberations across the world of Scientology-watching last night with his stunning investigative story about the arrest of Denise Gentile, twin sister to Scientology leader David Miscavige.
Gentile, 53, was arrested in January for DUI, possession of nine marijuana “blunts,” and failure to yield. Childs painstakingly pieced together the background of the arrest, which is sordid and fascinating. According to Childs’ reporting, Denise Gentile and her husband Gerald owned and rented numerous run-down rental properties in Pinellas County, Florida that became havens for drug dealing. Denise, the article says, even took rent from one tenant in the form of marijuana cigarettes.
A dope-smoking slumlord is certainly not the preferred image for Scientology’s ruling family. As Childs points out, Scientology not only eschews drug use, but touts its various anti-drug campaigns. In recent months, however, David Miscavige has had to contend with numerous image problems involving his own family, which only exacerbate the numerous crises currently gripping Scientology itself. -Read more here
