Ron Miscavige Still living in West Allis, Still Drawing Crowds Talking Scientology

You may have heard this name before: David Miscavige.

Miscavige‘s official title is Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center, but he is also recognized as the leader of the Church of Scientology.

David Miscavige’s estranged father Ron Miscavige currently lives in West Allis. Last year he toured the country to promote a tell-all book about Scientology and his son. But on Tuesday he was back in the Milwaukee-area to talk to a big crowd at the Greenfield Public Library.

Ron Miscavige tells CBS 58’s Jacob Kittilstad that he now spends a lot of his downtime playing music (and that he actually has a gig lined up at the VA hospital later this summer with his Dixie Land Band). But he also says that it’s these talks - focusing on his separation from his family – that’s most important to him.

About 80 people showed up to hear the author speak. Ron Miscavige says a lot has happened since he put out his book titled "Ruthless" about one year ago.

"I was on Leah Remini's show 'Scientology and the Aftermath' on A&E. I was on Joe Rogan's show - I don't know if many of your listeners know about that,” Ron Miscavige said.

Ron talks a lot about raising his son David and how the family got involved in the Church of Scientology. He likes to point people to his website for more in-depth information that he has put together. But he is also can sum up his story in a few sentences.

"I escaped from the church on March 25, 2012. About a year and a half later they caught a private investigator trying to buy a house around the corner from my house in West Allis,” Ron Miscavige said.

"Since I left the church, they had my family disconnect from me. I lost my family,” Ron Miscavige said.

He says run-ins with private investigators – and getting a deeper understanding of how people are affected by Scientology – is what compelled him to share his life story.

To read details about that click here

When the book first came out the Church of Scientology dismissed it as a father's sad attempt to gain publicity. But other groups, including Mythicist Milwaukee, disagree.

“We're really inspired by people that tell their story on how religion has affected them in one way or another. And to find out that he was in West Allis, it was just...it was great, a great opportunity to meet him and help him. We've got his website back up, his social media back up,” Sean Fracek, co-founder of Mythicist Milwaukee, said. The group organized the talk at the Greenfield Public Library.

“The church bought over 500 variations of my name so no matter how you go on the internet it will take you to their hate site where they're trying to character assassinate me which, I'll be honest with you, I don't even care,” Ron Miscavige said.

Ron Miscavige is originally from Pennsylvania but now considers himself a Wisconsinite. He says that lately he has not had any run-ins with private investigators near his home. But he says he did approach a group of people who were following him during a recent vacation to Florida.

Ron Miscavige is also scheduled to appear at Mythinformation Conference on Saturday, September 30 at the Pabst Theatre.