Update: Evans still claims he is suing multiple people, located in multiple countries, after having engaged in what some describe as extortion by demanding they each pay him 8000 Euros. Reportedly, some of his targets are now being represented by a Croatian law firm and dealing with the issue, which still appears implausible, given the international aspect.

Helping people escape a cult, as a former member, is a valuable and commendable endeavour. Thankfully, the internet has made it much easier for people to both propagate and access information, facilitating this process. In the foreseeable future, one sunny day, there will be cargo cults with more members than the Church of Scientology, as members defect in droves.

A similar mass defection is happening among Jehovah’s Witnesses, a very restrictive doomsday cult known in the press for covering up child abuse, separating families and refusing blood transfusions at the cost of children’s lives. The level of control the cult has over members’ daily lives is difficult to imagine in today’s first world countries.

As perhaps the most prominent and outspoken JW defector, Lloyd Evans has been inspiring people to find the courage to leave for many years, through his YouTube channel, covering the cult on a constant basis, in painstaking detail. There is no denying his contribution to the movement and the very real impact he has had on many people’s lives. Gradually, he secured massive support, including financial, through people’s donations, which allowed him to focus on advocacy without the need for another source of income. He was particularly focused on advocating for victims of sexual abuse.

Early this year, however, it came to light that Evans had been leading a double life, regularly visiting prostitutes for the past 4 years, in Croatia and Thailand, both countries being known for their issues with human trafficking and forced prostitution – particularly Thailand, infamous for “sex tourism” and underage prostitutes, trafficked form neighbouring countries.

Whereas the whistleblower was a collaborator of his, no longer willing to work with him for this particular reason, Evans himself admitted to these escapades, contrasting with his prior image of a devoted family man, preoccupied with human rights and combating sexual exploitation.

Compartmentalising personal vices and one’s engagement in a noble cause (or what they perceive as such) is, of course, nothing new. A nod to the many priests and pastors out there living less than holy lives, while preaching against the exact things they are doing behind closed doors. Evans decried this story becoming public as a violation of his trust and privacy.

The whistleblower, Kim Silvio, along with many who had held Evans in high regard, had a different take: it was in the public interest to disclose the fact that part of people’s donations, given towards supporting a good cause, was likely being funneled into the pockets of unscrupulous pimps. Opinions on this issue vary greatly, some still reckoning exposing Evans’ private life served no purpose at all.

However, Kim Silvio’s instinct proved correct, judging by how Evans went on to handle things.

“No harm done”

His deflections were as follows:

  • Jehovah’s Witnesses were responsible for him, I quote, “not having mastery over his penis”, as the cult’s brainwashing and restrictions had sabotaged his sexuality.
  • His wife was also partially at fault, as they were incompatible in that sense.
  • He had used prostitutes to avoid truly cheating on his wife by having another relationship.
  • He had only used consenting prostitutes over the age of 18.
  • His advocacy was unrelated to his personal behaviour.
  • His detractors had committed an act of betrayal he vowed to chase them up legally for “until his dying day”.
  • His detractors were responsible for his family now being in a financial predicament and for his current mental health problems, resulting from this scandal.
  • He had only wronged his wife and he had no obligation to disclose how he was spending donation money.
  • Exposing his hypocrisy placed the entire JW defection movement in danger and left any future activist prone to attacks.

Justifiably, part of his former supporter group interpreted that as narcissistic hogwash in every sense.

First of all, one’s unmet needs don’t justify years of deception. Evans must have behaved like a pathological liar to cover up his escapades before his family, at the same time exposing his wife to STDs by repeatedly having sex with prostitutes. Divorce exists for a reason – or at least telling one’s spouse, so they can make an informed decision. Arguably, someone capable of lying and putting a loved one at risk is not likely to be more ethical towards strangers.

Secondly, there is no such thing as guaranteed consensual sex with a prostitute. It doesn’t exist. Neither does the practice of a man asking to see the prostitute’s ID to check she’s an adult. Not that it would matter in Thailand, where the legal age of consent is 15. The likelihood of Evans having engaged in conduct which is illegal in Europe is very high, at the same time as advocating for victims of sexual abuse, particularly children. This man would switch between these two mindsets in real time, for years.

People reacted viscerally when they found out PETA, having enjoyed a lot of support, was euthanising healthy animals by the thousands instead of saving them. It’s rare that a charity or organisation collecting donations does the exact opposite of what it claims – however, it happens, causing major outrage.

Mr Evans proved to have a humongous head by asserting the entire effort of former JWs had been endangered by this disclosure, as if he were sine qua non, when in fact there are many carrying out the same type of activism without enjoying his level of fame.

Self-victimisation and a thirst for revenge

Was Evans actually betrayed? Some infer he was. However, not only did Kim Silvio have a responsibility towards his donors, as well as SA victims who had placed their trust in him; she had found out about his double life from him, of his own initiative, being burdened with his secret and his implicit demand for her to keep it that way.

When the scandal broke out, Evans swore to sue 12 people who had covered this story, including Silvio. Shortly after, they each received the most ridiculous letter, purportedly from a lawyer, containing very poor English and demanding the payment of thousands of Euros to compensate him for having been defamed.

Spoiler: despite his vows to pursue the matter through the courts up to the highest levels and until his dying day, Evans did not, in fact, sue anybody.*

*It certainly appeared this way at the time, as the lawsuit was implausible, both because no lies had been told (as confirmed by him) and because his targets resided in various countries. Things are still unclear at the moment.

When contacted via the phone number and address in the letter, said legal firm, presumably in Croatia, where he resides (should the letter be genuine to begin with) obfuscated communication with the recipients. The lawyer named in it never responded to anyone in person. The whole thing had been an embarrassing show of smoke and mirrors and a racket, to confuse Evans’ large audience.

Did he leave a cult to start one?

As more people in the ex JW community became aware of this situation, another aspect came to light: Evans had, in fact, used his platform against many activists in his own community for years, perhaps seeing them as competition. The proverbial canaries in the coal mine had been speaking out against his behaviour for years, complaining of the following:

  • doxxing
  • attempts to ostracise members
  • attempts to secure people’s loyalty and weaponise it against others
  • unfounded accusations of dishonesty
  • intolerance to different opinions
  • intolerance to criticism as a major ego bruise etc.

It seems apparent Evans unobtrusively placed himself as the head of this movement and acted like a bully all throughout. His behaviour this year only solidified this conclusion.

As mentioned, hypocrisy in people dedicated to noble causes is not uncommon; quite the opposite. Neither is a tendency to have a big head, unfortunately. This situation is particular as it involves former cult members, previously subjected to control and manipulation, if not gaslighting.

When people leave cults, many times with great difficulty and sacrifices, they do so to get away from this type of authoritarian behaviour. It’s a shame for the exact tactics they left behind to be used on them presently by the person claiming to liberate them.