Did Daniel Raffaele, founder of the hate group, Stop the AVN make threatening phone calls to the President of the Australian Vaccination Network?
Naming and shaming
Who made those phone calls to Meryl Dorey? We have been asking on this blog if anyone recognised the voice or had any information on the caller, but to date, nobody has come forward.
The AVN is now in a position to inform you that these phone calls originated from the home of Mr Daniel Raffaele, founder and creator of Stop the Australian Vaccination Network. Raffaele has a history of threatening Ms Dorey, once saying that, “Whatever end this campaign [against the AVN and Ms Dorey] comes to, which will include the demise of the AVN, is her decision. She has made the choice to remain arrogant and cruel. If the demise of the AVN brings with it the demise of Meryl Dorey herself, she only has herself to blame for that.” (emphasis added)
Blaming the victim
Blaming Ms Dorey for Raffaele’s own lack of control and tendencies towards violent rhetoric is morally and ethically reprehensible.
The reason we are releasing this information now, is that the police have informed us that they will not be pursuing criminal charges against Raffaele. It is therefore felt that the best way to protect Ms Dorey and her family is to inform everyone of these threats.
Normal procedure?
It is our understanding that in cases where there is evidence that threats originated from a certain residence (and the police were able to confirm that these calls – “Die in a Fire” and “Just burn” – were made from a phone in Daniel Raffaele’s home), and there is no alternative explanation as to who else could have been responsible for these threats, charges would normally be laid against the person in residence at that location.
Since Mr Raffaele refused to make a statement or to offer any other explanation (on the advice of his solicitor) when he was interviewed by the police, one might have expected that charges would have been laid as a matter of course. Especially considering Mr Raffaele’s history of violent threats against Ms Dorey.
Instead, the AVN was informed that the Director of Public Prosecutions had stated that it would be difficult to gain a conviction and so, charges would not be laid and this issue would not be pursued further by the authorities.
What sort of evidence would be needed to charge?
It is hard to imagine how much more evidence would have been needed in order to make a charge stick. Daniel Raffaele’s history of threats and harassment of Ms Dorey is extensive and public. He has called himself and been called her “arch nemesis” several times. He has stated openly that he feels extreme hatred for her.
Below are just a few of the dozens of screenshots Ms Dorey has of Mr Raffaele expressing either threats towards or hatred for her as well as a picture of him accepting an award from the Australian Skeptics for his role in the hate group, Stop the AVN. (Please note – if any of these screenshots appear too small to read, just click on them and they will open up full-size in your browser)
Wendy Wilkinson, Ken McLeod and Daniel Raffaele from Stop the AVN accept an award from the Australian Skeptics
I jus became aware of this matter and it is absolutely appalling! It makes me completely suspicious now about all skeptics- skepchick, Scienceblogs. Scary, ugly, illegal what Daniel has done. These people need to be in straight jackets.
Meryl, disagree as we might, you should not have to put up with such behaviour.
AFAIK there are still hearing pending, so I will not comment on specifics.
Violence or threats thereof have no place in our society, regardless of the disagreement.
Thank you Daniel. You have no idea how much I appreciate that. For 15 years, I ran this organisation without any threats at all and with a great deal of respect from most people on both sides of the fence. We agreed to discuss the issues at hand without threatening to kill each other, without the sending of pornography, without the hateful phone calls and without the constant complaints to government departments. For the last 3 years however, it has been non-stop abuse, threats and harassment so I thank you for what you have said. There is no place for threats in a scientific debate which this is. And those who use threats do so because they have no information with which to support their position.
Basic human rights aren’t something that change simply because someone disagrees with what you say. I think the right to feel safe in your own home is one of those.
That said – I do think we should all be accountable for what we say in public discourse. We should be held accountable for what we say publicly on the internet, particularly if it could harm people.
As such, I think it is important that complaints can be made to appropriate government bodies – and for those bodies to be fair and balanced in reacting to such complaints. Vexatious complainants can and should be dealt with as well.
As I said before – violence, threats, obscene material and harassment are unnecessary in any debate. Can anyone recall a time where such measures have actually changed someone’s mind???
I hope you realise that not all pro-vaccination people wish harm upon others. I am only here because of my concerns regarding the health of Australian Children (and adults). I realise you are here for the same reason- and hopefully mature conversations will be enlightening to us both.
Daniel – you are a breath of fresh air – I wish the others who mistakenly call themselves ‘skeptics’ would look at how you deal with this issue. Do we disagree with each other as to the relative benefits and risks of vaccination? We certainly do. Do we want to kill each other because of that disagreement? Of course we don’t!
This is a scientific debate – let’s keep it about the science and keep the personal attacks right out of it. Thank you again, Daniel.
How is Raffaele a ‘Skeptic’ when he is pushing the mainstream views on immunization?
He isn’t, C.H.U.D. – that’s why I call them pseudo-sceptics – because they aren’t sceptical at all. We at the AVN and others like us are the REAL Australian sceptics.
Being a skeptic has noting to do with mainstream views or alternative views – a skeptic is simply a person who applies the scientific method or perhaps uses Sagan’s bullshit detector.
How is it that Mr Raffaele is still walking around freely? He should be in a straightjacket. In a cell. Under constant supervision. I live in NJ, so consider me a specialist when it comes to corrupt lawmakers and cops. That said, I CALL BULLSHIT on these jackass figures of authority. You don’t like what Meryl does? Tough shit. She’s a citizen and it’s YOUR job to PROTECT her from lunatics like Raffaele.
Disgusting and completely unacceptable behaviour. This is not how one goes about having an open, respectful debate.
Hope he (Daniel Raffaele) serves a nice long jail sentence.