A former Church of Scientologist member has claimed that she was held against her will onboard the Church’s Cruise ship, The Freewinds, for 12 years.
A former Church of Scientologist member has claimed that she was held against her will onboard the Church’s Cruise ship, The Freewinds, for 12 years. ABC

A former Church of Scientology member has claimed that she was held against her will onboard the Church's cruise ship, The Freewinds, for 12 years.

Valeska Paris, a resident of Australia, said she was forced to live on the ship by the Church's leader, David Miscavige, when she was 18 after her mother denounced the religion.

Ms Paris, who was born into a Scientology family in Switzerland, was placed into the Church's youth wing in the UK, where she signed a contract with the Sea Organiastion, bounding her to the Church for "a billion years."

"I was basically pulled in and told that my mum had attacked the church and that I needed to disconnect with her because she was suppressive."

Suppressive Person is a term used in Scientology to describe the "antisocial personalities" who make up about 2.5 per cent of the population, according to Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Ms Paris was not allowed any contact with her mother, or anyone she knew.

Ms Paris' mother, Arianna Jackson, denounced Scientology after the suicide of her husband three years earlier. Albert Jaquier was a self-made millionaire who died penniless, blaming the Church of Scientology for fleeting his fortune.

To make sure she did not connect with her mother, Ms Paris claims the Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige ordered that she stay on board the Church's cruise ship, The Freewinds, for "two weeks." Ms Paris claims she ended up being on the ship for the next 12 years.

"I was woke up in the morning and sent to the ship for 'two weeks.'

"I did not want to be there, I made it clear I did not want to be there and that was bad ethics, meaning it was considered not right," Ms Paris told ABC News in Australia.

Ms Paris claims she was not allowed off the ship without an escort for the first six years of her captivity and was forced to work hard labour in the engine room.

"They take your passport when you're on the ship and we were on an island. By that time I was 18 and had been in Scientology all my life, it's not like I knew how to escape," explains Ms Paris.

The Freewinds is used to deliver Scientology's highest level counselling course, whilst cruising around the Caribbean and docking at small islands.

Ms Paris would like to see the head of the Church of Scientology put on trial for allegedly imprisoning her for all these years.

"It's not right for someone to be running the Church and hiding behind religion to live like a king and use people around him. That man doesn't like anyone, he's a psychopath.

In a statement, the Church of Scientology denied Ms Paris' claim she was held against her will.