Ted Mayett

A former security executive with thirty years experience in the gaming industry described Ted Mayett as fitting the profile of a “degenerate gambler with illusions of grandeur.”

This comment was made on an anti-religious newsgroup in response to Mayett’s explanation of why he had joined a Las Vegas church and later made claims against them.

Mayett, a professional gambler, had worked the Las Vegas casinos and its fringe gambling opportunities for years prior to joining the church. Here he apparently believed he would find individuals gullible enough to participate in a so-called system he had devised to “beat the casinos.” Regarding Mayett’s description of his “offer” to parishioners, the security executive commented as follows:

“A very, very old con. ‘I have a very scientific system which I’ll turn you on to and we’ll split the winnings.’ If the mark gets lucky and wins, the operator gets his share. If the mark loses, it’s no skin off the operator’s back and besides, the mark must have fouled up because the system does work every time. You’d be amazed at how long a clever operator can string a mark along. It’s just a numbers game. The more marks you have: working’ [sic] the more you make. Those who run this and similar scams tend to be degenerate gamblers themselves and usually spend their ill gotten gains feeding their own habit.”

Mayett had made donations to the church, perhaps to gain the confidence of its parishioners. With regard to this ploy, the security executive commented:

“This doesn’t fit the profile unless: a) Mayett was long gone before the check bounced or b) when discovered, he very loudly and with much indignation used threats or intimidation of one kind or another to get his confidence money back….”

The latter proved to be exactly the case.

Mayett’s apparent failure to profit from his involvement in the Church of Scientology eventually led him to make claims against that church. He began doing hate marches against the church, attempting to upset parishioners and intimidate church executives into returning his donations. He continued his marches after his money had been returned to impress new friends he had found in a hate group on the Internet. It seems Mayett had found a new group of individuals who appeared truly gullible enough to take him into their fold: members of the anti-religious movement.

Mayett’s efforts to ingratiate himself with these extremists have since expanded to include hate marches in Los Angeles and Florida, where he participates alongside a child molester and now convicted criminal, anti-Semites, holocaust revisionists and anti-government “activists.” These individuals have attempted to subvert the First Amendment rights of others by claiming that their own rights were threatened if a religion was allowed to exist. Mayett’s personal contribution includes attempts to dehumanize those he first sought to use to his own gain, referring to these parishioners on the Internet as “monkeys” or “my monkeys.” He regularly drives by their churches to see how many “monkeys” showed up for Sunday services.

In attempting to explain why parishioners avoided his business offers during his involvement with their church, Mayett ventured the opinion that it was “maybe because I smiled so pretty.” Some who come in contact with Mayett may indeed be gullible enough to believe that an individual who has made a career out of taking other people’s hard-earned money is truly concerned with constitutional rights. The former security executive felt otherwise, stating that, from his experience, “After a while you develop a sixth sense about people who “smile so pretty.”