Ben Curry, child groomer and cult leader

I have nothing personal against Ben Curry, noted full-timer for the British section of the IMT. On the contrary, I thank him for helping drive me out of the organisation after his bullying and cultish behaviour in the aftermath of my expressing political differences led to my resignation. Prior to that, we had a good personal relationship. I don’t think of him as particularly exceptional compared to other full-time organisers of this disgusting cult. He is an identikit, conformist cult leader, who will do what he has to do to build the organisation, even if that means grooming 13-year-olds. This testimony from a former member of their Irish grouping, which was still in the process of forming itself as a section, provides more information on this sickening affair.

RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT

One of these contacts was introduced by Ben as a “high school student”. I set a meeting, initially planning a one-on-one. But when I noticed the number 2008 on his account, things started to feel off. Far from high school, he had either just turned 14 or was as young as 13. Had I not spent so many months keeping the branch from falling apart, I probably would have put a stop to things there. But against my better judgment I agreed to meet, bringing along the the Dublin comrade who was at least a citizen and so at lower risk. Although clearly too young to be involved, we were impressed by his enthusiasm and knowledge. The meeting ended with him offhandedly mentioning that his parents didn’t want him participating before he turned sixteen.

At the next branch, Ben labeled him the number one priority contact. Another potential contact, who has since been recruited, was de-prioritized to be revisited in the future. Not long later I first expressed some misgivings to the comrade in Dublin. I know from several years of teaching that teenagers are often smart and well read. That kind of intelligence can develop early, but emotional intelligence and decision-making ability are things humans don’t fully develop until more than a decade later.

Just eight days after our first meeting, the child was invited to branch. He kept his camera off, said very little, and left midway when his parents called him to dinner. Only two weeks after he was first mentioned in branch.

The now-comrade, by comparison, was added to the contact list on Valentine’s Day and assigned to members in Northern Ireland. By and large, though, he was ignored for two months until I gave up and met with him for an Imperialism reading group. He had not done the reading, because no one had told him to or explained what a reading group entailed. We had another priority.

Ben was excited at the prospect of a contact so young because it meant getting to surround someone with Marxism before they were influenced by other ideas from friends and family. He described the ideal situation as effectively cutting him off from these “alien” influences. To him, the fact that this contact’s brain was not fully developed seemed a benefit.

There are certainly examples of young people throughout the international who developed theoretically, joined the IMT, and made excellent contributions. It is worth acknowledging, however, the difference between a 17 or 18 year old participating with their parent’s permission in a sufficiently large and professional section and a 13 year old participating against his parent’s wishes with a group of two or three, all at least 15 years older. I will remind the reader, too, that the first comrade I met in Ireland loudly and publicly encouraged participation in individual terror and was under the influence of drugs at every IMT event. From what the kid had told us, his parents were deeply conservative and against his involvement in anything outside school. We learned, too, that he had lied about meeting friends when he met with us.

When I expressed my discomfort with the situation in branch, I was largely ignored. Instead, Ben asked the minor to join the IMT the second time he attended, barely two weeks after the first contact meeting. Since we didn’t have finances set up, we wouldn’t be taking money from him and so there should be no issues, right? Toward the end of this meeting, when I was the only member of the Irish group present, Ben Curry exclaimed that “if you consider yourself a member, that’s good enough for me.” I did not agree, but I didn’t know what to do. Even forgetting the serious risk Ben was putting a child and local members under, one cannot declare members by decree. Especially when one is not a voting member of branch.

More than once I had pointed out how dangerous this situation was, how you need police-vetting to even enter a school in Ireland. Ben agreed at first that we would need to get the parents’ permission, but encouraged the minor to attend branch until he got it. When after a few weeks that didn’t happen, his plan changed to “if they don’t give permission then he can still attend branch with his camera off”.

I’d had enough, and it was clear Ben was not going to listen to me. Having developed a friendship with the new member in Dublin, I confided in him that I did not feel Ben had our best interests at heart. Should something go wrong, he would suffer no consequence. On the other hand, as a transgender immigrant in the midst of a mass anti-LGBT “grooming” narrative, I was at great risk. The Dublin comrade seemed sympathetic, and agreed to take over meetings to lower my risk.

While this was happening, I had started my first permanent, fulfilling job in Ireland. And although I enjoyed the stability and foundation for a new career, I rarely got home before six thirty. Preparing for and attending branch Monday at seven was killing me. Though I hated doing this, I sent apologies on 16th May with a message requesting branch be moved to any other day.

They decided to keep branch on Mondays as it was the only day the “priority contact” – once again, a 13 or 14 year old child whose involvement I found deeply troubling – could attend. They’d just move the start time by fifteen minutes.

Seeing how troubled and hurt I was by the situation, my partner implored me to take a step back. It was clear my efforts were being taken for granted and continuing would be detrimental to both myself and the future of the branch. As painful as it was, I agreed that the revolutionary leadership cannot be built by one person. We hoped that in my absence, others would step up, contribute, and develop the political and professional level. This also coincided with our first vacation in years, for a week in early June. I explained the situation and promised to return in late June.

When I did return, the child had disappeared. No explanation was offered for his absence, and branch was once again held at seven on Mondays. However, the issues I previously held were eclipsed by an extended rape and domestic violence scandal and cover-up involving the Canadian section of the IMT, Fightback/La Riposte. To this day I do not know what happened with the child and at times wonder how his parents would have reacted to learning of the situation in Canada.

This disgusting situation is shocking, but not surprising. When I was a member I recall that there was a 14-year-old kid in Socialist Appeal, who I actually spoke to on more than one occasion and attended branch meetings with us in East London. He had even been encouraged to try and recruit his classmates. He eventually went to Denmark for schooling, and it is unclear if he remained involved in the organisation. Recruiting school students was seen as a perfectly legitimate tactic to grow the organisation.

Like every totalitarian movement, Trotskyists are keen to indoctrinate the young with their poison. As Aristotle once said, ‘Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.’ It is not above them to try and brainwash teenagers, whose critical faculties are still raw, into joining their sordid groupuscule. It gives me great pleasure to name and shame these disgusting groomers. I just hope that parents are keeping a close watch on their children to prevent them from associating with such monsters, and find my blog and other sources exposing their malicious practices. I’m just glad I don’t have to be associated with such evil practices anymore.