Priestess' duty is 'to have sex with men'

 Priestess' duty is 'to have sex with men' 

LOS ANGELES:  The priestess of the Church of the Most High Goddess, whose religious garb consists of a red sequin strapless dress, fishnet stockings and' black high heels, insists that having sex with bundreds of men is her religious duty. 

"In my religion, oniy women act as priests,"she says, "and they absolve the sins of men through sexual rites." 

Known as Sabrina Aset to her flock, Mary Ellen Tracy says she takes pant in an ancient, misunderstood Egyptian religion in which sexual rituals put men on the "path back to the divine" 

But, after 3½ days of deliberations, a Superior Court Jury has convicted her of operating a house of ill fame and two counts of prostitution. Her husband, Wilbur, 51, also was convicted of operating a house of ill fame. 

Tracy. 46, said she was ordained as the high priestess by her husband in 1984 and that as many as 10 other women acted as priestesses, all ordained by Wilbur Tracy. 

Men who want to attend the church phone ahead for an interview with Tracy, who decided whether to accept them. 

After being spiritually cleansed through rituals that include sexual acts with the priestess, the men then leave a "sacrifice", usually money, in a practice that Tracy acknowledged "gave the police a few problems". 

She said ald she had turned down many men who were insincere about the spiritual aspect of the ritual and instead asked for massages. Tracy conceded that her religion "is very advanced for its time".-AP. Reuter.

High priestess' laments persecution of sex church

May 2, 1990

LOS ANGELES -- The self-proclaimed high priestess of a church serving as a front for prostitution said Wednesday that testifying about the sexual rites of her religion has been like 'casting pearls before swine who trample them underfoot.'

But Mary Ellen Tracy, the mother of eight who claims to have had sex with more than 2,000 men as part of the rituals of the Church of the Most High Goddess, also said the religion 'has been my whole life. I've endured a lot of sorrow and personal humiliation (but) I'm sincere in my belief.'

Tracy's remarks were made during her closing arguments in a six-day trial of a federal civil rights suit that she and her husband, Will Tracy, brought against the City of Los Angeles following their Sept. 8 convictions on prostitution charges.

The suit alleges the city denied the Tracys their freedom of religion and expression. The Tracys are representing themselves in the proceeding.

In the last hours of her testimony earlier Wednesday, Mary Ellen Tracy testified that nude photos of her in adult publications were meant to recruit fellow worshippers, not to attract clients for prostitution.

Wrapping up their case later in the day, the Tracys, who are appealing their convictions, were met with skepticism from U.S. District Judge William Matthew Byrne, Jr., who interrupted the couple several times to say he did not believe portions of their testimony.

'The testimony of Mrs. Tracy led me to considerable doubt regarding what was a (religious) revelation and what was not,' said Byrne, whose decision in the case is expected Thursday.

The suit -- dubbed 'the civil rights case from hell' by the assistant city attorney opposing the Tracys -- asks the court to bring an end on religious grounds to their prosecution on pimping and pandering charges.

According to the tenants of their religion, a woman may become a high priestess after having sex with at least 1,000 men -- a requirement Mary Ellen Tracy said she achieved in April 1986. The religion also requires its male members to orally copulate Mary Ellen Tracy, offer a $150 sacrifice, then 'purify' themselves by having intercourse with her, she said during the trial. 

Will Tracy, in his closing argument, said filmmakers pay actors to have sex 'because the purpose is acting. ... What's happening here is religious expression is totally being denied under pandering laws.'

'To discuss our religion in this manner has been like casting pearls before swine who trample them underfoot,' his wife said.

But Assistant City Attorney Byron Boeckman countered that, if the Tracys win an order granting them immunity from prosecution for sexually related offenses, 'one can imagine every pimp and every panderer in California ... and the United States ... claiming they are a religion to avoid charges of prostitution.'

If the Tracys' prevail, 'there would be no way to enforce any laws relating to drugs or prostitution. Cloaking the activities in religious garb would save them,' Boeckman told the judge.

He also pointed to a number of factors he said indicate the religion is 'a scam to protect the Tracys from the laws of California.'

Boeckmannoted, for instance, that anyone who contacted the church was asked whether he was a police officer and that customers were required to perform oral sex before Mary Ellen Tracy would accept their money.

Much of Wednesday's testimony focused on several ads placed by the Tracys in sexually oriented newspapers, showing nude photos of her and reading, 'I love sex. ... I'm looking for clean, sincere, mature open-minded gentlemen to have sex as part of hedonistic religious rituals.'

Mary Ellen Tracy said the ads were only aimed at people specifically interested in religious rituals and not in sex alone.

'We wanted to weed out people who were just interested in sex,' she said.

At another point, she said she met some of the men on the beach, as well as on Hollywood and Sepulveda boulevards, both known hang-outs for prostitutes.

'You brought back whatever showed up, didn't you?' Boeckman asked.

'No. I was somewhat discriminating,' Tracy said.