Is Church Old-Time Religion or Prostitution? : Arrested Canyon Country Couple Claim Beliefs Involve Sex for Sacrifices

They say they are practicing the world’s oldest religion. But police say their enterprise resembles the world’s oldest profession.

Such is the debate surrounding Will and Mary Ellen Tracy, a Canyon Country couple who have hit the national talk-show circuit to promote the unorthodox theology of the Church of the Most High Goddess, a “sex church” the Tracys operate in West Los Angeles. They appeared Feb. 16 on the “Sally Jessy Raphael Show” and taped a “Geraldo” show this month that has yet to air.

Mary Ellen Tracy says she and other women act as priestesses who absolve the sins of male followers through sexual religious rites that predate Christianity. So far, she says, she has brought more than 2,000 male converts into the church.

“Anything God wants from me, I will give him,” said Tracy, 46. “If he wants me to be monogamous, I’ll be monogamous. If he says go have sex with 20,000 men, I’ll do it.”

Last week, Los Angeles Police Department vice officers arrested the Tracys--Mary Ellen on suspicion of prostitution and Will on suspicion of pimping--citing the couple’s request for donations to the church. “If you accept money for a sex act, it’s prostitution,” Detective Alan Vanderpool said.

Religious Sacrifices

Will Tracy, 51, acknowledged that church followers must contribute money or services to participate in rituals that involve sexual intercourse. But he said the contributions are religious sacrifices protected by the First Amendment. He said he will ask that the case against him and his wife be thrown out on religious grounds. Their arraignment is scheduled May 2.

The Tracys live in Canyon Country but operate their church out of a four-bedroom, Spanish-style house they rent just outside Beverly Hills in West Los Angeles. The sparsely furnished house has no pews or pulpit. The few wall hangings include posters of movie stars and a framed nude photograph of Mary Ellen Tracy.

During services, priestesses teach the male followers about church doctrine, she said. The men confess their sins and have their transgressions forgiven during sexual intercourse, she said. Will Tracy said he is the religion’s high priest, which he referred to as an administrative post.

The church incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Nevada on Dec. 14, 1988, but has not applied to the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status. Will Tracy declined to discuss its finances.

Vanderpool, a 13-year vice squad veteran, called the church a creative scam, similar to fraudulent escort services and massage parlors, to circumvent prostitution laws. But even Vanderpool agreed, along with constitutional scholars, that the Tracys’ church poses an intriguing legal question: Does the First Amendment protect an avowed religious practice that appears to be prostitution?

In rare instances, state and federal courts have ruled that some illegal acts can have religious purposes, said Erwin Chemerinsky, a USC law professor and constitutional expert. California and Arizona courts have said that some American Indians may use the hallucinogen peyote, normally an illegal narcotic, to practice their ancient religions, he said.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Amish residents of Wisconsin to pull their children from school after the eighth grade, in defiance of compulsory education laws, to shield the youngsters from secular teachings in high school, said Thomas Grey, a Stanford University law professor.

But claims of religious intent do not guarantee protection from the law.

Bigamy Illegal

Bigamy, although once sanctioned by Mormons, is illegal. Courts repeatedly have struck down religious objections to vaccinations because there is a compelling public interest to control disease, Chemerinsky said.

But how would courts rule on the Church of the Most High Goddess, where Mary Ellen Tracy and the other priestesses wear strapless red-sequined dresses, fishnet hose and black spiked heels?

Neither professor was familiar with the Tracys’ endeavor. But, speaking before the couple’s arrest last week, the experts said Mary Ellen Tracy’s provocative dress would definitely hurt the church’s chances in court because fishnet stockings and sequins do not denote piety.

Judges find pious intent important when ruling on religious practices that may violate the law, the professors said. While courts will not declare a religion valid or invalid, they will decide whether a group sincerely believes the doctrine it professes.

For example, in 1962, a federal court in Washington rejected claims by the Boo-hoos, a hastily created religious sect, that smoking marijuana was a sacrament, Chemerinsky said. The claim was not sincere, the court decided, noting that the Boo-hoos’ emblem was a three-headed toad.

Another skeptic is Burt DuBrow, producer of the “Sally Jessy Raphael Show.” DuBrow said he now regrets letting the Tracys appear on the nationally syndicated talk show. “I question the validity of the church,” he said.

Weekly Column

The Tracys insist they are devout, despite Mary Ellen Tracy’s weekly column in a sexually explicit newspaper, the Hollywood Press, and an erotic video, “When Love Came to Town,” that she made in November for $500.

Will Tracy said he received a revelation five years ago to found a church that would re-establish the Cult of Isis, a goddess revered in ancient Egypt. The church was formally established in May, 1987, he said.

John P. Crossley, a professor of religion at USC, said he knew nothing about the Tracys’ church but confirmed that some ancient religions, such as the Cult of Isis, did include sex acts in their rituals. The religion is thought to have died out by 476 with the fall of the Roman Empire, he said.

The Tracys would not discuss their personal lives in detail. They would not talk about their seven children--ages 4 to 18--except to say they are not involved in the church.

Mary Ellen Tracy holds a master’s degree in environmental science and chemistry from Portland State University and wrote her thesis on an enzyme found in pears. “She’s very bright--no two ways about that,” said her former faculty adviser.

Will Tracy once ran a chain of karate studios in Oregon and briefly worked as a building inspector for the city of Santa Monica before he was fired four years ago. Santa Monica officials refused to comment on Tracy, who says he makes his living as a writer.

Los Angeles police arrested the couple Tuesday night after Vanderpool posed as a man responding to a sexually suggestive ad the Tracys placed in the L.A. Express.

Vanderpool said Mary Ellen Tracy requested a $150 donation for the church and told him to perform oral sex on her to show his allegiance to the church. When he refused, Vanderpool said, she ordered him to leave. Other officers arrested the couple as Vanderpool was shown out the front door, he said.

Mary Ellen Tracy faces one misdemeanor count of prostitution. Will Tracy is accused of one count of pimping, a felony. Both are free on $2,000 bail.

Another woman found at the house, identified only as Jane Doe, was arrested on suspicion of living in a house of ill fame, a misdemeanor, Vanderpool said.

Will Tracy confirmed most of Vanderpool’s account but said his wife merely asked if the detective was willing to support the church in some way.

The Tracys have had other run-ins with the law, but Tracy said they were based on misunderstandings.

Before the church was formally organized, Mary Ellen Tracy was charged with prostitution and her husband with running a house of ill fame in Santa Monica in February, 1986. The charges were dismissed 11 months later after detectives refused to identify an informant who allegedly paid her $100 to have sex, according to court records. Will Tracy said the informant never existed and denied the prostitution allegation.

The couple’s legal problems also have involved the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services, which removed six of the Tracys’ children from their Canyon Country home for one week in November.

The department said the Tracys were maintaining unsanitary living conditions. But a Newhall municipal judge dismissed the child-endangerment charges last month, saying sheriff’s deputies illegally entered the house without a warrant. The Tracys said they provide the children with a good home.