George Feigley (June 23, 1940 – April 13, 2009) was an American church leader. He has been described as a sex
cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
leader. Feigley served over 32 years in prison for sex crimes against children, from 1975 to 2008.
In 1971, Feigley founded an organization he called the Neo American Church (not be confused with the more notable and unrelated
Neo-American Church, a
psychedelia
Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
n religion founded by
Arthur Kleps in the mid 1960s) and the associated Neo American School. The church and school were located in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
.
Church doctrine emphasized the transcendent or mystical power of
orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region charac ...
. According to police reports, it also advocated the use of children for sexual gratification. While leading the cult, Feigley authored several publications under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
G.G. Stoctay. These included a book entitled ''The Sale of Lillian'', which described the
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
of a 10-year-old girl, and contained graphic illustrations of such abuse.
The
charisma
Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects.
Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...
tic Feigley, who called himself "The Light of the World", gathered a small group of followers, mostly women, into his church. As of 1983, the group, which at one point had numbered over twenty persons, included about ten adults, one or two of whom were men (five children of group members were then living in foster homes where they had been placed by the state).
Imprisonment, escape, and re-capture
Feigley led the church in freedom for only about five years, as he was arrested in 1975 on multiple counts of
statutory rape
In common law jurisdictions, statutory rape is nonforcible sexual activity in which one of the individuals is below the age of consent (the age required to legally consent to the behavior). Although it usually refers to adults engaging in sexual ...
,
indecent assault
Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault.
England and Wales
Indecent assault was a broad ...
, and corrupting the morals of minors. He was found guilty of statutory rape of two teenage girls and was sentenced to 10 years to 20 years in prison. His wife was found guilty of corrupting the morals of minors.
Notwithstanding his imprisonment, some of Feigley's followers remained loyal, roaming to follow him as he was moved from prison to prison or when he was a fugitive.
In 1976, Feigley scaled a prison wall at
SCI- Rockview and fled to
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
. While he was on the lam he hid at a farm near
Thornton, West Virginia
Thornton is an unincorporated community in Taylor County, West Virginia, United States. Thornton is located on Three Fork Creek along the Northwestern Turnpike (US 50) at its junction with County Route 7. Thornton also hosts an annual Pumpkin Fe ...
, which he and his followers referred to as the "Aaron Farm".
He was apprehended in 1978, but escaped from the
Taylor County Jail in
Grafton less than a month later while awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania. He was assisted in this escape by fellow prisoner James Lee Gilbert, who joined the cult after engineering the escape.
After his second escape he was free for two months before he was recaptured, hiding on another farm near
Sneedville, Tennessee
Sneedville is the only city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,282 per the 2020 census.
History
Settlement began in the 1790s, following the American Revolutionary War,Will Thomas Hale and Dix ...
.
In 1981, plans for Feigley to escape from
SCI- Graterford by
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
were uncovered. In response Feigley was transferred to Western Penitentiary.
His women followers visited him regularly at the State Correctional Institution at
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon is a borough in (and the county seat of) Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along the Juniata River, approximately east of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Altoona and west of Harris ...
. The organization continued to operate; a 1983 raid on Feigley's home found young children playing with sex toys and boxes of child pornography. Feigley's wife and others pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and were sentenced to prison.
In 1983, James Lee Gilbert and another of Feigley's followers, Laura Seligman, died in circumstances that led authorities to believe they were intending to break Feigley out of prison.
(They drowned in a sewer line close to
Western Penitentiary
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
* Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
where Feigley was then held.)
In 1994, while still in prison, Feigley was convicted of instructing his wife and another man over a prison phone to rape a 14-year-old girl. Feigley was found guilty of conspiracy to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and sentenced. Because of problems with the search warrants, Feigley's wife and the girl's mother were able to plead guilty and receive probation.
Prisoner activism
In 1996, while imprisoned, Feigley co-founded the
prisoners' advocacy website and
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
corporatio
www.prisoners.com along with his wife Sandra.
He contributed to the website to the extent possible while he was in prison. Www.prisoners.com purported to be "The Voice of the Imprisoned" and criticized the
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care and rehabilitation of approximately 37,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of P ...
for alleged
abuses
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
. It also provided information useful to prisoners and their loved ones.
The website also featured biographies of and works of art by prisoners, and health essays by Feigley under the pseudonym "Professor Stoctay". However in addition to this advocacy for prisoners, Prisoners.com also published some of Feigley's rationalizations for his crimes.
As of April 2019, the website is defunct.
Release
Feigley became eligible for
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
in 1990, but parole was denied then and at each subsequent annual review. Having served the full time for all his convictions, Feigley was released from prison on August 15, 2008, to some consternation. His convictions were not covered under Pennsylvania's
Megan's Law
Megan's Law is the name for a federal law (and informal name for subsequent state laws) in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Laws were creat ...
s (his 1976 conviction preceded Megan's Law, and conspiracy to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse — his 1994 charge — isn't covered under the law), so he was not required to register as a sex offender, nor was he on parole as he had served his sentences in full.
His return home was met with a crowd of protestors. A neighbor circulated a petition to prevent Feigley's return to his home.
Death
Feigley, who left prison in poor health, died on April 13, 2009.
See also
*
List of prison escapes
The following is a list of historically famous prison escapes, and of people who escaped multiple times:
Famous historical escapes
There have been many infamous escapes throughout history:
13th century
* In 1244, whilst imprisoned in the Tower o ...
*
List of helicopter prison escapes
There have been multiple prison escapes where an inmate escapes by means of a helicopter. One of the earliest instances was the escape of Joel David Kaplan, nicknamed "Man Fan", on August 19, 1971, from the Santa Martha Acatitla in Mexico. Kapl ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feigley, George
1940 births
2009 deaths
20th-century American criminals
American escapees
American rapists
American people convicted of child sexual abuse
American people convicted of indecent assault
American people convicted of rape
People from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Prisoners and detainees of Pennsylvania
Religious figures convicted of child sexual abuse