Bentinho Massaro

Jade Alectra, Keilan McNeil and Jacqueline Graham, former team members or close partners, published lengthy accounts despite confidentiality agreements which they said carried very high penalties. They accused Massaro of manipulation, psychological harm, financial pressure and abusive behaviour in intimate and hierarchical relationships.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Directly implicated

Barcroft and Vice documentaries and recordings analysed by The Guardian show Massaro shouting at members of his entourage, joking about the word “cult” and claiming, among other things, an ability to influence rain through intention.

Attribution

Directly implicated

A former partner interviewed in The Guardian investigation described sessions during which Massaro interpreted her thoughts and reactions as “distortions”, a practice she said she experienced as psychologically destructive and which reportedly left her emotionally devastated.

State of the evidence

Alleged

Attribution

Directly implicated

Massaro developed a worldwide audience through videos, retreats and paid programmes. Reports document his claims that he had attained a higher level of consciousness or “frequency” and that humanity might experience a mass awakening by 2035.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

An extensive investigation published by Be Scofield, based on interviews with former associates and internal documents, accused Massaro of building a community based on submission, diminished critical thinking, estrangement from relatives and mechanisms of psychological control.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Directly implicated

Person targeted by the proceedings

Be Scofield

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

Videos examined by The Guardian show Massaro urging followers not to fear death and to regard it as a spiritual transition. Another video contains an extreme statement saying, in substance, that one should “wake up to something important” or kill oneself, which police subsequently examined following a follower's death.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

An old video, recirculated during the 2017 investigation, shows Massaro recounting that he had tortured a cat as a child. The excerpt became a recurring element in criticism of his public personality.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Directly implicated