Traverse City Record-Eagle from Traverse City, Michigan • Page 5

He Record-Eagle, Traveru City, Mich. 49684 Monday, April 4,1977 Key figure 6 doesn't exist' PageS By MARILYN WRIGHT Record-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY Adam Starchild does not exist. That's the word from Frank Holstein, chief investigator for the New Jersey Commission of Investigation who has been searching state computers and files for a solid lead to the man. The crime commission wants to talk to Starchild about his involvement in several a i a i that are suspected of using children for homosexual acts and the production of pornography. Holstein says Starchild is an alias and other Record-Eagle sources back that up.

Nonetheless, when newspaper combed New Jersey telephone books it found a listing for Adam Starchild. The listing gave no address but the number matched the one given for Ocean Living I i one of the organizations which names Starchild as an officer. The name is also listed as an original ineorporator of Brother Paul's Children's Mission on North Fox Island, as president of the Church of the New Revelation of New Jersey, and as a trustee of Educational Foundation for Youth of Illinois. All four organizations have been identified by Gerald Richards the president of Brother Paul's, as "fronts." He has told police that the real purpose of the' organizations is to promote homosexual behavior between boys, take pictures of it, and sell them through the nations' underground pornography distribution network. is now serving a two-to-10-year term in Jackson Prison for having sexual intercourse with a 10- year-old boy).

"Starchild" or at least a man who say's he's Starchild tells.a slightly different story. Contacted at the number given for Ocean Living Institute, he said that-the organizations were not set up for the purpose of using young boys to produce homosexual porn a added a organizations may have been "used" for that purpose by Dyer Grossman. Grossman, a New York State teacher, has also been connected to the organizations being investigated. He's currently being sought by the FBI on a flight warrant that declares him to be a fugative from justice. He's charged with criminal sexual conduct involving a 10-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy, in Port Huron.

During the conversation, "Starchild" claimed he was unaware of the existence of Brother Paul's Childrens Mission until he read about the allegations revealed in the Record- Eagle last December. The articles, he said, were sent to him anonymously from Detroit. ring hidden (Continued from Page 1) island where Brother Paul's is purportedly located. He's also charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with boys and being sought under a federal flight warrant.) A i i in Tennessee and Louisiana have already admitted that their welfare departments were duped into making payments to help support children used for homosexual and pornographic purposes, in the belief they were aiding legitimate charitable organizations. Not until police raids closed down the Boy Scout Troop in Louisiana and the camp in Tennessee did the states realize the kind of camps they were subsidizing.

A plot to establish homosexual pornography camps in several other states with the help of state and federal aid was exposed by Michigan State Police with the arrest of Richards. They found in his possession a letter purportedly from Grossman suggesting prospective sites for "child organizations. The letter speaks of how lucrative such "child care" sites can be, explaining that counties would pay up to $150 per month per boy; state agencies would pay up to $400 per month per boy; and federal agencies would pay up to $700 per month per boy. The letter and other information obtained by police suggest government funds could be used to help support current or potential child care operations in Michigan, New Jersey, California, Arizona, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Oregon, anfl the District of Columbia. The letter also suggests that profitability can be maximized if each such child-care site is set up under the auspices of the Church of the New Revelation or the Educational Foundation for Youth because of the income tax exemptions they had been granted by the Internal Revenue Service.

A check by The Record-Eagle confirmed that the IRS had indeed declared both organizations to be exempt from taxes without challenging or their claim of being charitable organizations. The same "automatic" exemption was also granted to Ocean Living Institute. a a organizations appear to be legitimate religious and educational institutions in compliance with the IRS Code governing federal tax-exempt status. Both the church and the institute were incorporated in Delaware in 1974, listing principal places of business in New Jersey. The church was formed to train and indoctrinate ministers and brothers and sisters in the principles and teachings of the church and to ordain them to carry out its work, according to its articles of incorporation.

Ostensibly, Ocean Living was formed to promote education and research in oceanography. Educational Foundation for Youth was more difficult to trace. The Secretary of State's i in Springfield, 111. could find no record of its existence. However, a clerk in Secretary of State's Chicago office, where the foundation allegedly was located, said it was a non-profit arm of a profit-making corporation.

Described as an import-export business, the parent company was incorporated in 1962 and was involuntarily dissolved in 1975 for failure to pay state franchise taxes. Nonetheless, the IRS continued to extend tax-exempt status to Educational Foundation for Youth ostensibly because it's an educational institution. Richards, the convicted sex offender who admitted his involvement in the pedophile-pederast-pornography network, has told state police quite a different story. He claims the Church of the New Revelation, Brother Paul's, Ocean Living Institute and Educational Foundation for Youth were set up as tax dodges and fronts for homosexual child pornography operations. Richards told police that he first came in contact with' the church through an advertisement it allegedly "We signed the incorporation papers but then never heard anything more about it," he said.

He said he had heard about Francis D. Shelden, the Ann Arbor millionaire and owner of North Fox Island, through Grossman, but said he had never met him. "Grossman told me there was a wealthy Michigan man who was interested in donating money to the church and Ocean Living Institute," he said. Shelden, 48, is also being sought by the FBI, accused of having sexual relations with an 11-year-old boy and with an eight-year-old boy, "Starchild" says that the Church of the New Revelation and the institute are "relatively inactive," and both are "post office box operations." The church is "small, local and private," he said, meeting in "members" homes. It's a "low budget" operation, he said, with an "annual budget under $100." The church has approximately "two members, Starchild says.

Ocean Living, however, has an active "mailing list of 2,000." He says his interest in the institute is "purely business," adding that he believes there is a great future in underwater exploration. Records of Ocean Living, however, disappeared along with Grossman, he said. Asked about a summer camp Ocean Living is supposedly operating for junior high students, "Starchild" replied that that was one of Grossman's "pet projects," but "nothing ever came of it." He said Grossman was scouting Francis D. Shelden elusive millionaire placed in Better Life Monthly. Better Life, with publishing offices listed at 256 S.

Robertson, Beverly Hills, a i (a a i a i address), was advertised in literature distributed within the homosexual community as "amonthly paper serving the interest of pedophiles (for whom children are the preferred sexual objects) world wide. Features legal advice, media reviews, photos, poetry." In another offering, Better Life Monthly was advertised as a "paper with articles, photos, poems, etc. relating to the subject of boylove. Also ads which put you in touch with others of like interest." Its masthead proclaims that it is "the news magazine of Better Life, an international service organization that is seeking liberation for boys and boy- lovers." Shelden, the missing Ann Arbor millionaire, has been named by Richards as a staff writer of the publication, police say. According to Richards, the church offered to help Better Life readers set up child care organizations and camps.

Richards replied to the ad, he told police, and "Reverend" Grossman came to Port Huron from New Jersey to help set up Brother Paul's Childrens Mission. It was on this trip, state police say, that Grossman is alleged to have committed homosexual acts with two Port Huron boys, ages 10 and 14. Police have photographs of the 10-year-old in the motel room where police say the incidents took place. Shelden is accused of criminal sexual conduct involving a 14-year-old boy at Port Huron and with an eight-year-old boy on North Fox Island. locations for the camp in California but was unresponsive whenever he was asked about it.

When questioned about a brochure published by Ocean Living which contains photographs of children at summer play, he claimed that it was "an old brochure" and that Grossman had supplied the photographs for it. "Starchild" appeared surprised when asked about Educational Foundation for Youth. "How did you hear about that?" he asked. "It never got off the ground." When told that there had been allegations that it, too, was set up as a tax dodge or front organization for child pornography, he replied that it existed only on paper. "It was formed but nothing ever came of it," he said, adding that it, too, was one of Grossman's "pet'projects," The founders of the church went along with Grossman's suggestions, he said, "because they sounded good and could give the church some steady Asked about allegations that the Church of the New Revelation had placed advertisements in Better Life Monthly, a publication pandering to "boylovers," he said that the church had never placed any ads in any magazines, but amended his statement to say that the church had never "authorized" the advertisements.

He "supposed" Grossman may have placed some. Grossman had come to the institution highly recommended, "Starchild" said, with a masters degree in oceanography and experience working with "Money was no problem," he added, because Grossman came from a "wealthy Long Island family." Police suspect that North Fox Island, shown In recent aerial photo, was the setting for a camp allegedly used for homosexual pornography purposes. The island it owned by Francis Shelden, the missing Ann Arbor millionaire now sought by police. (Record-Eagle photo by John L. Russell) Arrest helped unravel nationwide web TRAVERSE CITY The first thread in the nationwide network of homosexual child pornography began to unravel last July when Michigan State Police arrested Gerald S.

Richards, a 29-year- old teacher in Port Huron, and charged him with having sexual relations with a 10-year-old boy. In arresting Richards, who is now serving a two-to-10-year term in Jackson Prison, police agents also seized a vast amount of homosexual pornography which featured young boys as sex objects. Some of the material led police to suspect the nature of Boy's Farm, a boys camp in the tiny community of Alto, Tenn. Authorities there commenced an intensive investigation. Other material-hinted that North Fox Island, located in northern Lake Michigan, may have been used as a site for illicit relations with and between children.

In September, two months after his arrest, Richards was sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to criminal sexual conduct with a minor. The same month, authorities in New Orleans raided the headquarters of a Boy Scout troop and arrested the scout leader, charging him with running a homosexual pornography operation. New Orleans police say that as many as 30 young boys, including wards of the Louisiana Welfare Department and members of the now-disbanded Troop 137, were used in the operation for homosexual relations and pornography. So far, the raid has resulted in the arrest of 15 men from across the country. They are charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated rape and aggravated crimes against nature on juvenile males.

The raid on Boy Scout Troop 137 provided investigators with fresh evidence that Boys Farm in Alto, was also using young boys for similar purposes. Tennessee authorities moved against the farm in November, arresting its director, The Rev. Claudius I. (Bud) Vermilye, Jr. The Episcopal priest has since been indicted on 16 separate counts alleging'the use of boys for homosexual and pornographic purposes.

Among items seized in the raid were pictures and films depicting homosexual acts between youths at the farm and a list of more than 270 "active sponsors" of the farm. One of the sponsors listed was Ann Easter Bunny Headquarters Solid Chocolate Easter Baskets Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs Wicker Straw Easter Baskets Solid Chocolate Easter Bunnies Blaster goodies for every member of the family Where quality is a tradition 153 E. Front, Next to Captain's Quarter! Arbor millionaire Francis D. Shelden, the owner of North Fox Island, further feeding'the Michigan State Police investigation that had begun four months earlier with the arrest of Incorporation papers filed with the Michigan Secretary of State identified Shelden as director of "Brother Paul's Childrens Mission," purportedly located on the island. In December, an warrant was issued for Shelden charging him with criminal sexual conduct with a 14-year-old Port Huron boy.

Five days after The Record-Eagle published a story revealing the presence of the "mission" on North Fox Island, police issued a second warrant for Shelden's arrest, charging him with criminal sexual conduct with an eight- year-old boy on the island. Also charged is 35-year-old Dyer Grossman, a New York teacher who is listed as vice president of Brother a Grossman is accused of criminal sexual conduct with a 10-year- old boy and a 14-year-old boy in Port Huron. Both men are missing and being sought by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as fugitives from justice. The identification of Grossman unlocked a whole new area in The Record- Eagle's investigation. By checking incorporation documents in Michigan, Delaware, and New Jersey, the newspaper was able to establish a direct link between Brother Paul's Children's Mission and the Church of the New Revelation in Kearny, N.J.

Officers of the "church" were the same people listed as incorporators of the "children's mission." Grossman served as vice president of the mission and as "youth director" of the church. He was also listed as executive director of Ocean Living Institute of Kearny, N.J. And the incorporators of the children's mission have been identified as the same people who serve as officers of Ocean Living Institute, and the Educational Foundation for Youth. All appear to have been created in conjunction with the Church of the New Revelation. --Marilyn Wright FRO FABRICS always first quality fabrics notions GAUZE, GAUZE and more gauze PLAIDS STRIPES SOLIDS Have we got the gauze for you! Perfect for that new spring or summer outfit.

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