Fear and Loathing in the Naturist Movement 
Texas Nudist Camp Owner Charged

Michael Fabrizio, radical environmentalist and animal rights activist, has been sought by Austin police for running a stop sign on his bicycle which he is known to ride nude into the night through the Austin streets with his crazy friends on Earthday. He is the past publisher of a now believed to be defunct naturists newsletter called NAVEL Naturists Advocating Vegetarian & Ecological Lifestyles. He has been a long time committed naturist.

I am a former member of The Naturist Society, and a former director of the Austin Naturists. 
     In October of 1989, I discovered a case of possible child pornography. I received a call from an Ed Donaghe, a 67 year-old proprietor of Acorn Sun Club, a nudist camp in Goliad, Texas. He said he was calling because he had taken some photographs to be developed in a store in Austin and the photo lab had called the police to arrest him for possession of child pornography, and wanted me to recommend an attorney for him. I felt that until I had more information on the case I could not recommend an attorney for him.
     The crime was labeled something like, children under 17 indulging in sexual activities. Though he originally told me that some of the photos had children in them, he later admitted that the photos were largely of girls, one entire roll being of the same girl. 
     I looked up his club flier in my files and discovered that Acorn Sun Club had a repressive policy of mandatory nudity at the camp and it was listed in the most recent issue of Nude & Natural, the quarterly magazine of The Naturist Society. Acorn, however, was not recognized by the ASA [not because of Donaghe but] because the club had failed to meet the minimum requirement of 10 members. 
     After reading the Tim Wilcox issues of the ICONoclast, I became concerned about child pornography and molestation within the naturist/nudist movement, so I contacted Lee Baxandall, president of The Naturist Society about my concerns. What follows is an exchange of letters between Lee Baxandall and myself. 

I understand that you want to hear what Nikki Craft is saying and determine independently whether she has damaging things to say of The Naturist Society, about which you had not heard such things. 
      Please then note that on the Wilcox matter, she was as ignorant as I; although the ICONoclast lost no time in proclaiming Wilcox guilty of the 1987 charges laid against him, and I refused to predetermine him guilty, the outcome has been that the prosecuting attorney dropped those charges! vindicating my caution; and Crafts real case is against the Sequoians, the club to which Wilcox belonged, and Louise Flanagan, a non-naturist, nudist WSA officer who protected Wilcox even after she knew of his past. 

[CRAFT INTERJECTS: PLEASE THEN NOTE that at the time this letter was written that it was way, waytoo late in the game for Lee Baxandall to be defending Tim Wilcox.] 

Crafts case is against nudists who weren't alert to the possible infiltrations of a child molester. However, because she is vindictive against me for having deprived her of support, she loses no opportunity to blast TNS. Any molester who ever took out a TNS membership is described as Naturist although their crimes were committed at nudist parks not naturist events, and they also belonged to ASA clubs (generally much longer than to TNS). 
      I regret having to go into this yet again, as Craft blows the issue itself out of all proportion; the incidence of child molestation in either nudism or very rarely naturism is so marginal as to suggest that the public menace here is more Crafts McCarthyist smear tactics than the negligence of volunteer club officers. Lee 

[Craft interjects: Embarrassingly for Craft? No, not for me.] 

Michael, the clubs generally do a good job of protecting the kids. And I'm sure Craft will tell you that TNS does too at our Gatherings the club, or we, provide security, although we haven't sought to praise and preen ourselves and make it the central fact of our Gatherings as Craft does to build up her importance. 
      We will print information on the disposition of the Wilcox information now there has been a court finding. That is what the courts are for. If Craft wants to do such and present credible findings she should go into law enforcement and stop being an irresponsible amateur casting dirt at the possibly guilty and the innocent and those who have paid their debts to society alike.
      Let the court decide the Acorn guys case too. Its good to know about the charges, for now Donaghe can be watched with them in mind. Yet for all you know the photos are proper nudist photos! For that reason I will not publish the Acorn info although you have supplied it (and you should have done so to TNS earlier!)
      You have no right to substitute your uninformed opinion for a legally constituted and functioning procedure. If Ed Donaghe wants help from nudist/naturist lawyers or organizations he may ask for it; if he doesn't, that's a decision he assumes responsibility for.
      I've checked Acorns file: There's nothing against Acorn, and some good press clippings in favor, and the 1988 ASA park guide lists it as a 100 acre nature reserve. Why don't you visit Acorn instead of sitting in your room and making all sorts of assumptions? Go see who attends, what the photo policy and practice are, and what the members think of Donaghe!
      Yes I am angry at you because you are quick to be self righteous and condemning. Like Craft, you build yourself up in your self esteem by avoiding real life responsibilities and relationships. Cheap thrills, Michael. Lee *** 

1. Did you read the ICONoclast or did you just dismiss all of it? There were enough names in that one issue to justify concern even if only a small fraction of them were actual molesters. But Lee, at what magic number will you admit that we have a "problem"? This is a serious issue, and I don't think we need hundreds of documented cases before we start getting concerned and taking action.

2. In my experience, people are never totally erroneous. I can't argue for Craft's evidence, but her writing and her arguments seem to exhibit some logic and competence, and it still seems awkward to totally dismiss all of it.

I wonder about what mechanisms are in place to deal with child molesters, since as the head of a local group I have never heard of any policy or directives to be alert.
      Do the ASA clubs really investigate these problems? Knowing the ASA, I have my doubts. What if the leaders of the club itself are responsible? Who investigates then? I can certainly understand your not printing reports about individuals. What I believed to be most valuable in print was articles on awareness, prevention, what to do if you suspect, etc. And if not in N&N, then in some other manner I would like to see a rebuttal of Craft's allegations (not of Craft).
      I still have unresolved questions about this, but I'm not going to persist in pursuing them any longer; I'm just letting you know what they are. First, if Flanagan was the problem, why did you use her as your credible source to defend Wilcox by sending her letter to Craft? Second, I can't understand your defending Wilcox just because (and if) he is innocent of the most recent charges against him. How does his alleged innocence in a case justify past actions?
      Of course it's possible that Donaghe is innocent! However, I have serious doubts about his innocence and you should too. Again, if the details in my file don't raise your suspicion, I don't know what will. Ed tried to mislead me. He originally said that "some of the pictures had children in them," but when pressed admitted that one of the three rolls alone was of the same girl! Why did he need to get away from Goliad to have his film developed? Why doesn't he remember which lab he went to (when he was arrested at it)? Why is he worried that the police might have a copy of his photographs? What kind of twisted morals does he have that he thinks I should recommend an attorney to him, no questions asked? Why doesn't he want to contact TNS? If he is so pure with the movement, why does his flier say "naturalist"? Why does he have a mandatory nudity policy? Why couldn't he maintain even 10 members necessary to remain in the ASA? As for the photographs, why was it necessary for him (and another man?) to take so many pictures of naked little girls? And something I forgot to include in my file was information about Smokey.
      Smokey was one of the worst kinds of people in the world. He lived at New Manor [a clothing-optional apartment in Austin]. He not only dealt drugs, he manufactured them in a lab in his apartment. His arsenal was well-known. He carried guns around, and he threatened to kill a friend of mine (a guard) with one of his weapons. He surrounded himself with "drug whores." I don't even know the worst of it, because I tried to know as little as possible about him for my own safety. Anyway, a friend tells me that Smokey came back to New Manor to visit one day, and told him about how he and his girls had been living out at the Acorn Sun Club and how it was the greatest place.
      Lee, who would I talk to if I visited Acorn? Ed doesn't even have 10 members! Oh, well, there's Smokey, that's one at least, a few more if you count the drug whores! And if I failed to find anything, should I then totally dismiss all previous suspicious behavior?
      Lee, please don't give the standard line about leaving it all to the courts. I shouldn't have to respond to this. Why don't we just avert our eyes - the cops will come around soon enough!
      I have read your editorials for some time. My perception is that to you, style is more important than content. You complain bitterly about not going through proper channels, or unprofessionalism, or flawed personalities, or whatever, but you avoid addressing the issues. 
      Sure, discrediting a source often discredits its statements, but not always. In any event, it is an indirect argument at best. There's a big difference between: "Franklin says the committee is incompetent." "Franklin's an idiot!" and "No, it's a fine committee."
      Franklin may even be an idiot, but of course that is not a good defense of the committee. At best it diminishes an attack but provides no needed defense at all.
      Your tactic is hard to argue against, because it ignores the issues. How does one argue against a personal attack against another (or against her/himself)? How do you prove otherwise, and should you have to? What if Hitler was a naturist, Lee?
      In any event, you have some of the filthiest words for Craft that I have ever heard a human used against another. Certainly in her communication with me (or in print) she has not abused you as badly. It's quite ironic how, in effect, you scream, "That dirty, stupid bitch just wants to say bad things." Think about it a second. 
      You say I am quick to be self-righteous and condemning. How so? Did I ever quickly, comfortably, or clearly take any sides in this matter? Do I even have much of a position to be self-righteous about? Perhaps you are the one who is self-righteous and condemning. I just asked for information and struggled to do what I thought best; you, on the other hand labeled me a thrill-seeker for doing so.
      The clincher is this one: "You build yourself up in your self esteem by avoiding real life responsibilities and relationships." Come on, Lee. Isn't this kind of childish? Certainly I am not getting any publicity or notoriety for this. In any event, I fail to see how pursuing information in a sensitive area is avoiding responsibilities. Kind of seemed the opposite to me.
      "Cheap thrills, Michael." Lee, if you think I have enjoyed one minute of any of this, you are sadly mistaken. I don't do this because I like it, I do it because I must. That's not original, but it's still true.
      This is a turning point for me. You have made two blatant errors by claiming I avoid responsibility and that I am into cheap thrills. Since I now have first-hand information about the inaccuracy of your statements, I know you to be fallible in your judgment of character. It makes me wonder about similar statements you have made about others.
      I am now ready to leave The Naturist Society. You may claim this to be irresponsible, but I think otherwise. If what you say of me is true, I shouldn't be representing your organization. I am serious here. If you truly believe that I am self-righteous, condemning, and avoid real-life responsibilities, then you will not be disappointed that I leave. Surely, those characteristics are contrary to naturist values. Michael         Continued

Portions reprinted from the ICONoclast, p.o. box 2085, Rancho Cordova, Ca 95741-2085. Copyright 1995 by Nikki Craft. Commercial Use Prohibited. Comments, feedback and information about individual pedophiles are welcomed. 

Donaghe 1
Donaghe 2
Donaghe 3
Donaghe 4 
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