Paul Hartingdon (from MovingOn)

In case this info is helpful to any SGA's in Aust and NZ:...Stuart Hartingdon and Paul Hartingdon and 'Abel' are all the same person. Stuart H. is his real name, his first Family name was Abel Merino (he was one of the first Australian recruits in the early 70's and I've known him since then), and then he changed his Family name to Paul.

This guy has been around since the beginning, although he and his American wife (her legal name is Beverly H. and her Family name is Joy) also spent some time in India in the early 80's. (There are photos of them in the old Family News's there). He and his wife and family have been used for many years as a 'good sample' and spokespersons for TF because they have been so skilled in the art of denial and lying 'sincerely and convincingly' (although obviously the veneer is now cracking), and because they have stayed together since marrying in the mid seventies. They have about 10 kids, a few of whom have left TF, but I think they pretty much keep them under their influence still.

When I was transcribing his interview, I noticed on closer inspection of his face, how incredibly strained and tense he looked, and there was a real fear in his eyes like a pig about to be scewered, or like a mafia messenger-boy looking down the barrel of a gun.

(If any of Paul H.'s kids are reading this, forgive my analogies, I'm sure you love him and he loves you, but the fact that he's been a front man for TF for so long, and that he has called us ex members 'liars' all this time that we've been telling the truth about the plight of many of TF kids, does not bode well for him or his future, and how he comes across to 'un-brainwashed' people 'in the know' on the outside).

I remember Paul Hartingdon showing up at a press conference I held in Sydney with all the TV crews in about 1993-4, when I was really trying to draw attention to fact the TF's big whitewash/PR campaign here (during the court cases) was covering up what had been happening for TF kids. I was about to show the press the Family videos to prove my point, but before I began, he distributed a press release to all the reporters which painted me as 'one lone looney with an axe to grind' who was a 'pathalogical liar', and he also distributed a legal notice from TF's legal team threatening that if any of the media showed on air what I was about to reveal, they would be sued. That's how much bogus 'power' they were pretending to wield here during the height of the court cases.

It was somewhat discouraging at the time. However, I did get interviewed by several current afairs shows during that time and showed footage from the videos on a couple them, but it didn't make a whole lotta difference to the outcome of the cases, due to TF being so aggressive in their counter-attack campaign, and I was only one lone voice (although a couple of SGA's and another FGA did come on TV with me at one point). Now 10-11 years later we've finally had the chance to really show the whole truth.