Steven A. Katsaris v. Jim Jones, Sandra Bradshaw, Peoples Temple, Paula Adams et al.<\/i> was a defamation case that sought damages of $15 million from the Temple.<\/p>\n
Steven Katsaris\u2019 daughter Maria had joined the Temple and eventually emigrated to Jonestown, where, according to the lawsuit, she and all other residents of the settlement were required \u201cto terminate all meaningful family ties (except those likely to yield inheritance monies for \u2026 Peoples Temple).\u201d The effort to isolate Maria began even before she left, though, when Temple leaders coached her to accuse her father of child molestation should he ever try to meet with her alone. The plan did not go into effect until the following September when \u2013 against Maria\u2019s wishes as she expressed them over the Jonestown radio \u2013 Steven went to Georgetown. Maria refused to see him. Instead, according to an affidavit Steven filed in conjunction with the case, an Embassy official passed along \u201cbackground information\u201d from the Temple that \u201cI was a child molester and had sexually abused my daughter and offered that as a reason that Maria did not want to see me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Temple later repeated the defamatory remarks in an open statement<\/a> it issued in response to the Concerned Relatives\u2019 Accusation of Human Rights Violations<\/a>. \u201cIncluded in the [Concerned Relatives] group,\u201d the lawsuit quotes the release as saying, \u201care people \u2026 who have molested children, including their own, such as Maria Katsaris just publicly exposed her father.\u201d<\/p>\n Charging that the statement disseminated by the Temple was \u201cfalse [and] libelous on its face,\u201d the Katsaris lawsuit was filed on May 18, 1978 \u2013 about a week after the press release was issued \u2013 and lists Tim Stoen as the only attorney for the plaintiff.<\/p>\n