Shirley Sayer's statement of support
My name is Shirley Marie Sayer, and I'm also known as Aliah Eden Travesser. I am the grandmother of the two alleged victims in the Wayne Bent case, A. S. and L. S. I am the mother of John Sayer, their father, and the mother of their aunt, Misty Renae Sayer, John's youngest sister. Misty and myself were subpoenaed to testify on behalf of Wayne Bent at his trial, but Judge Baca did not permit us to speak, stating that he did not find our testimony to be "material or relevant."
I don't understand how Judge Baca could have made the statement that he didn't find our testimony "material or relevant," because to my knowledge he didn't know the details we were going to testify about. As the mother of John and the grandmother of both of the "alleged victims" A. S. and L. S., and having had exceptionally close association with all of them during their growing up years, I had very pertinent information which I believe could have been very helpful in the defense of Wayne Bent, also known as Michael. I have concluded that someone didn't want me to talk because what I had to say would have exposed the fallacy of the state's arguments against Mr. Bent.
Only those of us who knew firsthand the history of the girls and their family dynamics, and also the facts and circumstances in our church's community leading up to the healing events of the girls, would be able to recognize how much information was withheld from the jury by the prosecution and the judge during Wayne Bent's trial.
I was not permitted in the courtroom during testimony because defense counsel still hoped to get Judge Baca to change his mind and let me testify, but this did not occur. Even so, I have studied the trial transcripts and recordings and have seen just how much the trial was stage-managed by the judge and prosecution to acquire the conviction the State was fully invested in obtaining. If any line of questioning would begin to touch on "the rest of the story" -- details that the prosecution didn't want told -- they would instantly object, and the judge would sustain the objection. The jury was not allowed to receive important information that would have enabled them to come to the proper conclusion in this case.
I would like to share with you, in this statement, what I could have testified about if I had been allowed to testify.
During the trial the State's psychologist witness, Dr. Elizabeth Dinsmore, testified in regards to her test findings on A.S. and then attributed them to certain causes, (L.S. refused to be tested by Dr. Dinsmore) Dr. Dinsmore reported that her testing of A.S. showed that she was developmentally slow for her age, and that she seemed to be lacking in social skills. She attributed this to her living "in isolation" and not being able to interact with other people, and not having been schooled in the public school system. She said that A.S.'s testing revealed that she doesn't do well at all with complexity and ambiguity, and that A.S. was susceptible to depression and suicidal thinking, that her self confidence is very low and she doesn't know how to express what she is feeling and thinking; that she is very narrow in her thinking, and is concerned about doing the right thing or having the right answer. These difficulties Dr. Dinsmore attributed to Michael's treatment of A.S. However, all of these developmental issues were seen in her at an early age and before she had any personal association with Michael.
Because of my intimate knowledge of A.S.'s growing up years, and her family history, I am aware of very specific hereditary and physiological reasons for A.S.'s developmental difficulties, and specific family dynamics which have been proven to directly cause the emotional and relational difficulties that A.S. has had to deal with. These factors directly contributed to the negative way A.S. looked at things and interpreted them. I know that the court and the jury were not made aware of many critical factors that I could have testified about, but was not allowed to.
John and Elsa Sayer, parents of A.S. and L.S., were married in 1990 when John was 18 and Elsa was 16. I was in attendance at the birth of both of their girls, and I chose L.S.'s name.
John worked on the family farm that I had inherited from my father, along with his brother Shiloh and my husband, and where we also lived. He and Elsa, and later their girls, lived in town for a while before moving into a house across the road from us. From the beginning of their marriage their family was at my house every day, almost all day long, often staying into the evening. During this time period, my two daughters, Chrystal and Misty, would help me care for both A.S. and L.S. Their mother Elsa was usually outside doing other things, showing little interest in caring for her daughters. In fact, most of the time it was either my daughters and I who cared for them or it was John when he wasn't working. This was the pattern during most of the girls' growing up years. John cared for them in the best way that he could, considering that he had to work as well as care for the children when either myself or my girls were not available. John also did most of the cooking and cleaning of the home, as well as the laundry.
From the beginning, Elsa took no active role in seeing that the girls had proper meals to eat (fresh fruits and vegetables were usually absent from their meals, which usually consisted of some type of white pasta); or that they were clean and well dressed (they usually weren't, they would dress themselves with whatever they could find to put on); or that their hair was combed (it usually wasn't). From a very young age, maybe four or five, the girls were expected to do the cleaning and the cooking, if they wanted anything to eat and if John wasn't available to do it. They gained most of what they learned in those areas from John.
Elsa was not the motherly type and both of the girls suffered much from this. They would want to hug and kiss her and sit on her lap or comb her hair, but most of the time she would not allow them to give her affection and she would reprimand them for trying to do so. Usually she would tell them to get away from her and leave her alone, or demand that they go do something for her. At times she would hit the girls with the metal end of the flyswatter if they were not doing as she asked. The girls were always trying to please their mother to keep her from getting upset with them over everything. A.S. had a very sensitive nature and Elsa's displeasure and impatience seemed to especially affect her emotional development.
A.S had naturally been a very happy, quiet and obedient child from the very start. She naturally always wanted to please you and to help with things. She had a very soft heart and was hurt extremely easily. She was always very sensitive to people or animals getting hurt. She was also very sensitive to Elsa getting into arguments with John, and she would almost always cry when that happened. It was really hard on the girls because they weren't allowed to express their love or feelings toward their mother very often, without getting yelled at or told to leave her alone. A.S.'s internal tension over these things was reflected in her very low self-confidence and not knowing how to express what she was feeling, because of having had her sensitive affections stifled continually when she was trying to express them. These are the real reasons A.S. would be seen as trying to do what is right or get the right answer, and extremely fearful that she wouldn't. I watched it develop from an early age.
When A.S. and L.S. were still quite young they were very close to me and they would come and share their little hearts with me about things going on in their lives. I would teach them how to crochet or embroider and things like that, or I would hold them close and love on them as we would talk with each other. A.S., especially to begin with, would spend a lot of time with me and tell me things on her heart. Later it would be L.S. who would come to me sharing things in her heart and learning things with me. L.S. shared with me later that when she and her sister were young, they had a connection with me that they didn't have with their mother, and that most of the love and affection they received was from me and from their dad, and because of that I was bonded to them in a way that they weren't bonded to their mother. I really felt sorry for the girls, and desired that Elsa have a bond with them, but for whatever reason, she didn't seem to want that.
While John, Elsa, and their girls were living across the road from us, Elsa attempted to commit suicide by taking a large bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol. It is my belief that she did not intend to die, but used this method to control her husband. She had threatened to kill herself many times before in order to get her own way about something, or she would leave the house. Previously, John had always given in to her demands, or he would go and get her and bring her back home. But this time he did not give in, so Elsa proceeded to sign a paper giving over full custody of their two girls, A.S. and L.S., to John, and then took the bottle of pills, telling him that he had to watch her do it and that he could not take her to the hospital or tell me what she was doing. She also tried to stab John with a knife during this incident, but he took it away from her. A.S. and L.S. were babies at that time. Elsa's suicide attempt seemed to follow in the footsteps of her own mother, who had also attempted suicide by slitting her wrists.
During the trial, Dr. Dinsmore asserted that A.S.'s suicidal feelings were caused by her experience of being naked in Mr. Bent's presence, but I would say that A.S. came by her suicidal tendencies quite naturally because of her mother's and grandmother's half-hearted attempts to commit suicide. She seemed to have inherited a predisposition to her suicidal tendencies and this was a legacy she has had to deal with.
When, to my surprise, A.S. began expressing these kinds of feelings while living in our church community, Mr. Bent asked me to drive her to her parent's house in Clayton where they were living at the time. He felt her parents, as her legal guardians, would be in the best position to get her some help.
Later, her best friend Tonda Dale told me that A.S. had expressed suicidal thoughts a few months before she had requested the healing ritual with Mr. Bent, where she requested to be unclothed in his presence in an act of spiritual healing.
These patterns with A.S. emerged within the family, long before she knew Wayne Bent, and had nothing to do with any association with him. These family traits would have, and did, affect the way A.S. was able to interact with others, and Michael. The displeasure, impatience and rejection that she had grown up experiencing from her mother, she would naturally project onto others in her life, including Mr. Bent, and even onto her concept of God.
When A.S. was a toddler she had pneumonia which resulted in her having very high fevers, which we had a very hard time bringing down. Also, throughout her childhood she was plagued with earaches. I had known that high fevers can be a very large contributing factor to many learning disabilities, but before the trial and during our interview with defense expert witness Dr. 'Ned' Seigel, he shared with us that it has been proven that children who have a lot of earaches when they are young usually have learning disabilities.
So with A.S. there were two medical situations which of themselves could give a very high possibility that she had learning disabilities resulting from these physiological causes. But there is much more as well. A.S.'s father has learning disabilities in some of the same areas as A.S., and also her grandfather, John's father, has them and can only read and write a few words. There are other close family members as well who also have learning disabilities. Therefore, with all of these contributing factors, I think it would be fair to say that if A.S. didn't have some kind of a learning disability or disabilities, it would be a miracle.
For Dr. Dinsmore to attribute these apparent developmental issues to the "isolation" of our church community, or because our children do not attend public school, or because A.S. and L.S. were being "groomed" by Mr. Bent, only reveals that Dr. Dinsmore was ignorant of the facts, or was prejudiced, or both. If anyone's testimony was not "material or relevant", as mine was prejudged to be by the court, it was Dr. Dinsmore's.
Elsa first started homeschooling the girls using A Beka books and "The Writing Road to Reading." It was very difficult for A.S., not only because of her learning challenges, but because often Elsa didn't have the patience to explain things in different ways until A.S. understood. Often John would end up helping A.S. and also L.S., when they needed it. But L.S. had a much easier time learning. Based on my knowledge of A.S., I feel that if she had been sent to public school, she would have turned out like her grandpa, not being able to read but very few words. But because she was home schooled, she was able to receive the "one on one" help that she needed. Over time she did well in her school work. She just needed a lot of extra help.
Later, Elsa started using the School of Tomorrow course for homeschooling A.S. and L.S. This consists of "Paces" or "individualized self-instructional" booklets. This home-school course is made in such a way that a child can very easily teach themselves, and if they do have a question or do not understand something they can always ask someone. Both of the girls did well in School of Tomorrow. Because of A.S.'s learning challenges, she had to work harder at it and it took longer for her, but both girls received good grades in it.
If Elsa or John were not home and the girls had a question on some of their schoolwork they would ask me to help them, or to give them one of their tests. There are also many adults here at Strong City with high levels of education that both of the girls were free to ask questions of anytime they wanted or needed to. They also had full Internet access, and were able to look up anything that they needed to or desired to learn about online. Their Internet use, or anyone's in our church, was not restricted to religious content as Dr. Dinsmore suggested. A.S. and L.S. also had their own Internet blogs, and freely wrote of their experiences there. L.S. made several home movies and A.S. also made one. Recently, A.S. received her High School Diploma and L.S. is in the process of receiving hers.
On June 17th, 2008, after Mr. Bent had been arrested on charges related to the spiritual healing rituals with my granddaughters, A.S. and L.S., Misty and I went to Clayton to visit some other relatives. Before we left town we had opportunity to visit with A.S. where she worked. I typed out notes after this visit. I asked A.S. if what was being reported in the news was what she actually said or if they had twisted what she was saying to mean something else. She asked, "What was reported?" I said, "Well, they said that you told them that Michael kissed you like a husband and wife kiss and that Michael fondled and kissed you on your breast. Is that what you really said?" A.S. said, "No, he did not fondle my breast."
Then I asked A.S. if she could show me exactly where Michael had touched and kissed her. She said, "Yes." She then pointed to a place about four inches or so up from the base of her sternum bone and about 2 inches or so to the left of it. (In the court transcripts she said over her heart, where you say the Pledge of Allegiance.) I then pointed to a place on myself saying, "You mean here?" I was a little high from where she was pointing and she said, "No, down a little." So I moved my hand down a little bit, maybe an inch or so, and said, "Here?" She answered, "Yes". I said, "Well, that is not really your breast, although it could be called that; like when you would say that you laid your head on someone's breast. Normally you would call that your chest." She then said, "Oh!...well, I did not know what else to call it." I said, "So did he kiss you there too?" A.S. said, "Yes." I then said, "That is probably what happened then, you said that he kissed you on your breast and so they took what you said and ran with it." A.S. said, "Yeah, but I told them that Michael did not molest me...I told them that I had went to him and asked him to do what he did, that he did not molest me." She then told me that she had laid with Michael because the other girls did. I said, "I see."
A.S.'s description, to Misty and me, of what she meant by her use of the word "breast," matches her statements in her discovery interview, her "safe room" interview, and her testimony on the witness stand. In her discovery interview Ms. Montoya asked A.S. if Michael had kissed her "on the pillow portion, that feeds babies, of your breasts; was he kissing those?" A.S.: "No." When asked to clarify exactly where Michael had touched her A.S. said, "Right above the breast." Ms. Montoya repeated, "Right above the breast?" A.S.: "Yeah, when I mean right there, I don't know what you would call it, the upper breast." Ms. Montoya: "Okay, the clavicle. Were you molested?" A.S.: "No."
In A.S.'s "safe room" interview she said "he kissed my breast," and she also said, "He wouldn't touch us sexually."
At one point in the conversation it came up that Willow, one of our young church members, was released back to her parents from State custody that day. A.S. seemed happy that Willow was free to go home, exclaiming at one point, "...as IF the young people were in any danger out there!" She was stating, in her way, that she knew the children had not been and would not be harmed within our church community. Our visit ended after this.
My granddaughter L.S. refused to be evaluated by Dr. Dinsmore because she sensed that something wasn't right. She sensed that the State was trying to find something to use against Mr. Bent that wasn't true, through the "conclusion" the doctor would come to. She felt the State wanted to use this expert witness to prove that she was too young to make decisions for herself and that she had been manipulated, which she knew very well wasn't true. She also felt that they wanted to find some behavior or something in her life that they could construe to prove that she had been sexually molested by Mr. Bent. Thus, she felt she had to refuse to cooperate with those she felt had an agenda against him.
Dr. Dinsmore's "professional" conclusions
about L.S. were that she was a very young adolescent in her demeanor and
emotional state, that she was in love with Wayne Bent, and that she wanted
to be his "number one wife." These conclusions were all simply unsubstantiated
and incorrect, having been formed almost entirely from her voyeuristic
perusal of L.S.'s pilfered journal. Because I have a close relationship
with L.S. and understand where she is coming from, and what she means when
she talks about her relationship with God, I can tell you that Dr. Dinsmore's
opinions and conclusions about L.S. didn't so much reveal anything about
L.S. as they revealed about Dr. Dinsmore herself, and her own confusion,
which she herself confessed on the witness stand:
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L.S. may have appeared to Dr. Dinsmore as being in love, like some kind of romantic infatuation, with Wayne Bent because she has no comprehension of the type of love that L.S. is experiencing. That love is not for the physical human body of Wayne Bent, even though she does love him as a person just as she would love any other person or friend; but this love is something way beyond a human love for a human body. This love is a love in the Spirit and for the Spirit that lives within Wayne's body and in L.S.'s body, as well and any true child of God. The Spirit that lives in her body is the very same Spirit that lives in Wayne's body and this love that flows between them is Michael or the Christ, the Anointed One.
This love has nothing to do with the physical characteristics of a human body or the age of someone, since this love is in the world of the Spirit, and it can only be comprehended and experienced in that Spirit. And yes, she does want to be the "number one" (unique) wife of the Spirit of Michael, or Christ, just as all of the Bride of Christ does. All those who claim they are Christians should understand this, for the Bible speaks of it in many places. We all desire to have that same experience of being His wife, since we are told that He loves us as if there were not another human being in the world. If He loves us as if we were the only human being in the world, then that would make each of us His number one (or unique) wife. It is not wrong to love with God's love and this is the love that L.S. has, bubbling up within her and flowing out of her in rivers.
If you have read her letters to the DA, you can see that this is a young girl who knows what she is about and what she wants. Her letters were succinct and her demeanor and emotional development are far above that of even some adults. She knew that she was being oppressed by a government that was stepping beyond its boundaries. And she was demanding the State to stop abusing her. It seems there are a few adults associated with the State who could learn some things from this young girl.
I feel also this "youngness" in her demeanor and emotional state has more to do with the fact that L.S., and some of the other young women here, have not been ruined in the ways that a large amount of the young people of the world, especially in this country, have been. She is filled with innocence that hasn't been spoiled by being subjected to hours of TV and computer games, and continually having her mind bombarded with foul language, drugs and alcohol, or learning things that only bring corruption to the body, mind, and spirit such as those things taught in sex education classes in the public school system or a list of other things that could go on for a very long time -- as are other young children or young adults who do not live in an environment that protects and nurtures them as she has been protected and nurtured. I do not see her as immature; she is more mature in many ways than most young women her age. But she is innocent and I believe that is a wonderful and refreshing thing in this day and age!
The State's remarkable and tragic misinterpretation of L.S.' religious experience shows why the State is supposed to stay out of people's religious business. The beast cannot understand or be sensitive to the affairs of the Spirit. We are supposed to be free to follow our conscience, but that is no longer the case in the United States, as this case against Wayne Bent has demonstrated.
In the years that followed my joining The Lord Our Righteousness Church, I had many opportunities to observe the character of Wayne Bent and to interact with him. A large majority of the church lived and traveled together most of the time, for many years starting from the fall of 1992 until the spring and early summer of 2000. After that we lived very close to each other at Strong City. This gave all of us many opportunities to find out who Wayne Bent really was as a person, even if someone hadn't really known him before we came to New Mexico. We lived very happily this way until the State of New Mexico came into our land and kidnapped three of our young people and brought false charges against Wayne Bent aka Michael Travesser. These heinous actions by the State of New Mexico has brought much pain and suffering to all of us. But I am happy to say that all of the children have since returned to us, and now we are awaiting Wayne/Michael's soon return as well.
Wayne was always honest and giving of himself to the extreme. There was no selfishness in him. He was always faithful to the work God had given him to do, never putting his own desires and pleasure ahead of his calling to care for God's lambs. He was always dedicated to that calling, never wavering for a moment. And with the children he was as a mother hen with her chicks, always protecting, caring for their welfare and their hearts. It was such a joy to watch the children of all ages flock around him receiving his special attention to them, taking them on his knee or just holding them close to his heart. They loved these times, especially when we were all together after some family meeting with everyone in the land, when they could shower their love on him with little gifts they would find or make to bring to him, and he would pour out his love on them as well. These little children were innocent and you could tell he wanted them to stay that way. I think all of us in our hearts desired to be as these little children, who could freely climb up into his lap and fall asleep as he held them.
I was the victim of molestation as a child. If Wayne Bent had been some kind of a child molester or a pervert in any way, I would have definitely known and sensed this within my own being. Wayne Bent/Michael has always been very appropriate with me. I have always felt, in all of my interactions with him throughout the twenty-one years that I have known him, that I could trust him with anything.
As a mother of four and as a grandmother
of seven, five of those grandchildren having lived in close relationship
with Wayne Bent/Michael, when my daughters and grandchildren were growing
up, I was never fearful of them being around or completely alone with him;
and I still feel this way. In fact, I believe they couldn't be in a safer
place than in his presence! in his arms!
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