Graham Baldwin

Graham Baldwin (born c. 1954) is a British anti-cult activist who formed and directs the South London organization Catalyst Counseling, commonly called Catalyst, which received charity status in Britain in 1995. Catalyst primarily provides "exit counseling" to ex-cultists, but occasionally Baldwin would be consulted for news organizations, court cases, etc. Baldwin was a university chaplain. Baldwin has been called an "exit counsellor" by some newspapers like The Times and The Telegraph.

Catalyst and anti-cult activity Baldwin has been the director of Catalyst since its formation in late 1993. but the charity has been accused of doing it anyway.

In 1997, Baldwin traveled to Portugal to help retrieve some children from a new religious movement for a British woman.

In July 2000, Baldwin was involved in an incident with the Jesus Christians and their supposed kidnapping of Bobby Kelly, a British 16-year-old who met some Jesus Christians at a shopping mall. His grandmother, in an article in the Daily Express, attested that the Jesus Christians told him to give up everything including family. On 27 July 2000, Bobby Kelly was identified as an inhabitant of a tent in a forest on the Surrey-Hampshire border near Mytchett. Media producer Jon Ronson attempted to cover the story in an article in The Guardian in January 2006; however, it was never published because of Baldwin's presence in the article and his previous libel actions against the newspaper.

Libel actions against The Guardian In 1986, Mark Scott obtained custody of three children from his ex-wife, Claire Scott. Mark and Claire were members of the International Saturday Group (ISG), based in Areia, Portugal, led by Mark's mother Nadine Scott. Claire Scott left the group and moved to Britain in 1987 after her and Mark's divorce. and a Portuguese court awarded her custody of their children on the condition that Claire Scott does not leave Portugal.

On 23 January 1997, The Guardian published an article called "Into a Shadowy World" in which the authors portrayed Baldwin as a "self-promoting, obsessive and dangerous crusader" against new religious movements. On 20 November 1998, a jury decided that the article defamed Baldwin.

The Guardian 's editor Alan Rusbridger believed that the newspaper article was a "responsible and careful piece of journalism" and that losing the case was a "sad reflection on the libel laws." Baldwin brought The Guardian back to court for a second libel action. The Guardian argued that it and Rusbridger were protected under qualified privilege since it was for the public interest. However, in July 2001 Judge David Eady determined that they could not use that defense. Rusbridger and The Guardian paid Baldwin more damages in a settlement made on 31 January 2002.