Judge Jails, Fines Sex Church Leaders in Prostitution Case

A Canyon Country woman who claimed to be the high priestess of an ancient Egyptian religion that incorporates sex in its rites was sentenced Friday to 90 days in jail and fined $3,000 on prostitution charges.

Her husband, who said God ordered him to re-establish the church, was sentenced to 180 days in jail and fined $1,000 for running a house of prostitution.

Will Tracy, 51, received the maximum sentence possible from Los Angeles Municipal Judge Marion L. Obera. She called him the mastermind behind the prostitution service that operated out of a house in West Los Angeles.

The judge ordered Mary Ellen Tracy, 47, to take an AIDS test and attend AIDS education classes at the Sybil Brand Institute for Women. Tracy was convicted this month on two misdemeanor prostitution charges and one charge of running a house of ill fame. She could have received 180 days in jail for each conviction.

Dismissal of Sentence Asked

Her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Maureen J. Tchakalian, asked Obera to dismiss the jail sentence, adding that first-time offenders typically receive probation.

“There are first-time prostitutes, and those who are convicted for the first time,” Obera said. “And I feel Mrs. Tracy is in the latter category.”

Tchakalian then asked Obera to delay the start of the jail sentence, noting that the couple’s eight children--ranging in age from 5 to 19--would be without parental guidance. Her request was rejected.

The Tracys had tried to turn their trial into a debate over First Amendment rights, arguing that authorities were prosecuting them because they practiced an unorthodox religion that they called the Church of the Most High Goddess.

In the church, women acted as priestesses who absolved the sins of male followers during rituals involving sex. Mary Ellen Tracy claimed to have had sex with more than 2,000 men in the name of religion.

She once told an interviewer: “Anything God wants from me, I will give Him. If he wants me to be monogamous, I’ll be monogamous. If he says go have sex with 20,000 men, I’ll do it.”

During the trial, Mary Ellen Tracy told how she had been raised a Roman Catholic, flirted with agnosticism in college, converted to Mormonism and finally took the name Sabrina Aset when she assumed the role of high priestess five years ago at the urging of her husband.

The jury also heard Will Tracy, acting as his own attorney, tell how God ordered him to re-establish what he said was the world’s oldest religion. He once compared himself to Jesus Christ and Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, saying they too were persecuted because of their religious beliefs.

Church Called Scam

But police said the church was a scam because the male followers had to make cash donations--the Tracys called them sacrifices--to partake in the sexual rites. Prosecutors also noted Mary Ellen Tracy’s unorthodox vestments: fishnet stockings, black spiked heels and a strapless dress studded with red sequins. In court Friday, she wore a simple white dress.

Before pronouncing sentence, Obera rejected requests by Will Tracy and Tchakalian for a new trial. They argued that a copy of the Hollywood Press, a sexually explicit newspaper that runs a weekly column by Mary Ellen Tracy, was included in a box containing evidence reviewed by the jury. Since the paper was not officially entered as evidence, it could have prejudiced the jury’s deliberations, they claimed.

But Deputy City Atty. Jonni L. Hoffman said the column only set out the basic tenets of the religion and did not supply new information to jurors. “It was not at issue that Mary Ellen Tracy enjoyed sex,” Hoffman said.

The Tracys were ordered into custody but could be freed after posting bail. Obera had not yet set bail for Will Tracy. Bail for his wife was set at $8,000.