Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 12 April 1950) is a French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medicine, cult consultant, graduate in criminal law and anti-cultist.
[7] For his opposition to them, he was attacked by some groups, including the Church of Scientology, who in one instance called the secretary of the Greens and told them Abgrall was a secret service agent.
Abgrall was a "key actor" in these investigations, preparing official reports in France and Belgium, and was an active anti-cult movement spokesperson in the European media, in particular television.
Abgrall complained in 2004 when interviewed by Le Parisien that this had only been revealed to block his involvement in the trial, and that he had no conflict of interest as he "wrote an unfavorable report and paid [his] taxes.
Susan J. Palmer retrospectively criticized the arguments the books made about the OTS, judging them a "psychological interpretation" that, given later evidence, was "premature" and "incompatible" with the facts.
[5] His works on the OTS were reviewed positively by the journalist Arnaud Bédat, who called his conclusions "extremely convincing" and said that Abgrall was ideally suited to the task.
[6][11] Dick Anthony and Thomas Robbins have written that in their view, Abgrall's theories of brainwashing are pseudoscientific, and so unsuitable for use as a basis for legal judgments in cases involving cult membership.