Resignation letter from Shirley Pike

 

Date: May 28, 2000

From: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET0101/ET22-6521.html

Dear brothers, sisters and officers of the North Region and the Central Counsel,

It is with great pain and sadness that I am writing to you today. One week ago, I resigned a president of the North Central Region, giving verbal notification to the National Coordinator, William Harvey, Ph.D. Serving the North Central Region's centers, study groups, and individual devotees has been one of the most joyful and fulfilling experiences of my life. Never have I had the privilege of knowing so many wonderful, loving, giving, and spiritual dedicated people. I thank all of you for your gracious and kind support of me as we worked together for our spiritual growth and development.

The reason for my resignation will probably dismay and shock you. A few weeks ago I received information from a fellow long-time devotee of an e-mail she had received concerning acts of pedophilia by Sathya Sai Baba. I had the e-mail forwarded to me and I personally investigated the information contained in that e-mail. I spoke personally to various individuals who had first hand experience with inappropriate behavior by Sai Baba.

These individuals are respectable, credible, intelligent and have no axes to grind of any sort. I came away from these conversations believing these individuals and have therefore resigned and am sending you this letter.I am in the midst of a personal grieving process, involving all the typical stages of grief,including shock, denial, bargaining, profound sadness, despair and acceptance.I am grieving because I believe that Sai Baba is a charlatan, who has used the power gained by the love and reverence of his followers and the truth of ancient Vedic Doctrines and Scriptures to sexually molest boys and young men from about the ages of eight to thirty.It is these allegations of unspeakable, abhorrent sexual molestations that forced me to write this letter to you.I have personally investigated these allegations and spoken with several people who have either had direct personal sexual experiences or who know someone very well, i.e. an immediate family member, who has been abused.

Two of these individuals are former regional officers,who have resigned their posts and whom I have known for many years. I trust them, know them to have exemplary character and believe they would not lie.Further they have nothing to gain and everything to lose by coming forward with their experiences. These experiences include numerous accounts of Sai Baba rubbing male genitals with oil, mutual masturbation,mutual oral sexual gratification, and even anal intercourse by Sai Baba. As a child psychologist who is familiar with the emotional devastation that sexual abuse causes its victims and the classic patterns of abuse, I found these accounts and the individuals' reactions, to my horror, highly credible.

As a school psychologist, I am a mandatory reporter. This means that under Iowa law I am required to report any allegation or well founded suspicion to the authorities. If Sai Baba were a mere trickster fleecing people from their money, I would prefer to go quietly into the night, preserve my friendships with devotees, and not disrupt the faith of others. But as an officer who has promoted Sathya Sai Baba as an Avatar, I have both a moral and a legal obligation to warn all of the members and officers in this region and the national leaders that any male between approximately the ages of eight and thirty is potentially at risk for sexual molestation should they go to India to see Sathya Sai Baba and have a private interview.

I do not expect anyone to take what I am saying at face value. If you wish to investigate on your own as I have done, than feel free to contact me and I will provide you with the information to reach those who have had direct experiences and you can make your own determination. Please begin by looking at "The Findings" by David Bailey on this website: http://www.myfreeoffice.com/saibabaexposed/davidbailey.html.

You can telephone me at (319)373-2434 or e-mail me at: sairama@home.com, but only if you are sincerely interested in additional information. I do not wish to engage in arguments or debate. My heart goes out to one and all and my love for you remains steadfast. I will miss your good company more than you can know. May God bless you and keep you and give you peace.

Shirley Pike