DECLARATION OF BERNARD “BERT” LEAHY
My name is Bernard “Bert” Leahy. My date of birth is September 20, 1964, and my address is 210 Towngate Drive, Wylie, Texas 75098. 1.
I am a professional videographer and have been involved in videography production for 19 years. 2.
In June 2011, I was contacted by a man who said his name was David Statter, who asked me to provide videography services for what he described as a “reality TV” program that he was producing about a former Scientologist named Marty Rathbun and his wife, Monique Rathbun. I later learned that David “Statter’s” real name is David Lubow. 3.
I met David Lubow in person for the first time on June 14, 2011 at the Pier 99 Restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas and took a photograph of him across the street from the Pier 99 Restaurant on that same day. A true and correct copy of that photograph, showing Mr. Lubow in a white shirt and Bart Parr in a dark shirt, is attached to this Declaration as
Exhibit “A”
. Mr. Lubow introduced me to a group of people at the Pier 99 Restaurant who told me they were part of a production crew called “Squirrel Buster Productions” which consisted of Richard Hirsch, Joanne Wheaton, Bart Parr, and Ralph Gomez. On the following day, another man named Jim Moore joined the Squirrel Busters group. 4.
While at the Pier 99 Restaurant, Mr. Lubow told us we had to leave immediately because Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun, had been located at the Texas State Aquarium which was near by. The Squirrel Buster crew and I got into a van and went to the Texas State Aquarium where we found that the Rathbuns had departed. 5.
For the next three days, the Squirrel Buster crew and myself were directed by Mr. Lubow to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun in Ingleside on the Bay, Texas and other locations in that area where we took videos of the Rathbuns during which the Squirrel Buster crew taunted and harassed the Rathbuns continuously. The Squirrel Busters crew took orders directly from Mr. Lubow as to what activities were to be filmed and undertaken each day I was present. 6.
Among other things, a.
Mr. Lubow told me he was able to keep track of the whereabouts of Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun because he had employed 2 private investigators to do surveillance and track the Rathbuns’ movements on a 24/7 basis. b.
Mr. Lubow told me that the purpose of the Squirrel Buster’s operation was “to make the Rathbuns life a living hell”, and “to turn their neighbors against them” so that they would be forced to move. c.
Mr. Lubow told me that Ralph Gomez’s job was to provide “muscle” for the Squirrel Buster crew. 7.
On a couple of occasions that I was with the Squirrel Buster crew, the police arrived to ask what the Squirrel Busters were doing and to take down our names. 8.
In addition to myself, Bart Parr also operated a video camera. Mr. Parr was directed by Mr. Lubow to upload the video images we had taken during the day and send them to someone in Los Angeles,
California. 9.
The Squirrel Buster Productions crew, other than Ralph Gomez, talked to me about their membership in the Church of Scientology. By the second day, I was uncomfortable with the Squirrel Buster Productions’ activities and their confrontations with Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun. Our activities were an obvious harassment and invasion of the Rathbuns’ privacy. 10.
Mr. Lubow promised to pay me $2,000 per week for the Squirrel Buster Productions project, which he said could last for several months. The amount of weekly payment and the long-term nature of the project made it an attractive professional opportunity for me. However, by the third day of filming with the Squirrel Buster crew, I was increasingly uncomfortable and embarrassed by the intrusive harassment which the Squirrel Buster crew and I were inflicting on Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun and I decided that I could no longer participate in such an operation. The activities of the Squirrel Busters and the related filming were not a reality TV program or documentary as described to me by Mr. Lubow. 11.
On June 17, 2011 I informed Mr. Lubow that I had decided to return home and, although he asked me to stay, I insisted that I would not continue. Mr. Lubow gave me a check for $900 in payment for my services. A true and correct copy of the check, drawn on an account in the name of Falcon Industries, Inc. and given to being by Mr. Lubow, is attached to this Declaration as
Exhibit “B”
. 12.
After I had returned home to Allen, Texas, I called Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun to apologize for my participation in the Squirrel Buster Productions. 13.
Later, a man who identified himself as “John Allender” left a voice mail message on my phone stating that he was in charge of the Squirrel Buster Productions, that he liked my work and wanted to hire me for other projects. By searching for his name on the Internet, I determined that John Allender is a representative of the Church of Scientology. 14.
After returning home to Allen, Texas, my house was under surveillance on several occasions by persons driving in a white car in the alley behind my house. I declare under penalty of
perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed in Collin County, State of Texas, on the _______ day of October 2013. Bernard “Bert” Leahy
