Additional Documents Sought In COJ Cases

ORLEANS – A motion has been filed in U.S. District Court to “compel” the president of Rock Harbor Truth to produce documents subpoenaed for by the Community of Jesus and two other local nonprofits.

The motion to compel filed Oct. 2 in Boston alleges that Shawn DeLude has failed to comply with a subpoena from August seeking documents relevant to two ongoing court cases between the Community, Arts Empowering Life, Inc. and Performing Arts Foundation, Inc. and Oliver, Ellen and David Ortolani.

Oliver Ortolani, a former Community member, filed suit in U.S. District Court in July 2025 against the three entities alleging child labor and trafficking that occurred as part of the construction of the Community’s performing arts center in Brewster. The defendants in that suit, referred to in legal filings as the “Charitable Organizations,” filed suit against Oliver’s parents, David and Ellen Ortolani, in November 2025, alleging that they were directly involved in the work program at the center of their son’s suit.

According to the Oct. 2 motion, the organizations subpoenaed DeLude on Aug. 4 for “documents only that related to the Ortolanis, the two lawsuits, or the subject matter of the two lawsuits for a two-year period of time” dating back to Jan. 1, 2024. The organizations allege in the motion that DeLude instead only produced “a handful of fragmented, self-selected texts” from a six-week period in the summer of 2025.

DeLude’s attorney is also withholding other documents and communications on the grounds of “overbreadth” and “relevancy,” according to the motion. The motion also identified 94 pages of documents sought through the subpoena that allegedly were transferred instead to Oliver Ortolani’s legal counsel on the grounds that they constituted “work product.”

“Plaintiff’s counsel insisted on improperly intercepting these critical documents by demanding that Mr. DeLude transfer to her all of the documents he would otherwise be producing, so that plaintiff’s counsel could screen the documents that were in Mr. DeLude’s possession…so that plaintiff’s counsel could decide what would be withheld,” the motion reads.

DeLude, who left the Community when he was 15, is the founder of the Orleans-based nonprofit Rock Harbor Truth, which describes itself as “a survivor-led nonprofit dedicated to truth, healing, and justice for those harmed by high-control religious and institutional systems.” The nonprofit has taken specific aim at the Community since Oliver Ortolani filed his suit in 2025.

In the motion, the organizations say that DeLude has been a “key player in encouraging the Ortolani family to bring and maintain” the suit brought against them. 

“He is entitled to do all this,” the motion reads. “But Mr. DeLude is not a disinterested ‘spectator’ to this lawsuit. His parents are longtime members of the Community of Jesus, and he has made it clear that he has a position about it.”

The motion references some of the communications provided by DeLude through the subpoena in which DeLude allegedly boasts about his role in helping bring about the suit against the organizations. In other communications, DeLude “strategized with the Ortolanis about how to mobilize criticism of the Community” and discredited indemnification agreements that the family allegedly signed with the Community, according to the motion.

In another text addressed in the motion, Ellen Ortolani allegedly thanked DeLude for Rock Harbor Truth’s work.

“This upcoming phase of discovery could change lives for sure,” DeLude allegedly replied in response. “Never has the COJ been placed in this position. I’m hopeful we can have a celebratory talk soon.”

“All of this, it must be repeatedly stressed, is perfectly within Mr. DeLude’s right to do and say,” the motion reads. “But the fact of the matter is that he is in possession of communications that are plainly discoverable.”

According to the motion, DeLude’s attorney declined to explain how the withheld documents were overbroad or not relevant. The organizations also challenge the assertion from Oliver Ortolani’s lawyer that the intercepted documents qualify as “work product,” arguing in the motion that neither Delude nor his staff with Rock Harbor Truth are “representatives” to the Ortolanis.

“Information provided by third parties who are not representatives of a party cannot constitute ‘work product’ as a matter of law,” the motion reads.

The organizations in the motion also challenge allegations made in Oliver Orolani’s suit. Ortolani alleged that children, including himself and his siblings, worked “nine to 16 hours a day without proper safety gear, training or breaks,” and that child workers were “assaulted” or “shunned by the Community” if they complained or showed “even mild frustration with the harsh regime.” 

Ellen and David Ortolani were instrumentally involved in the work program, the motion says, adding that the program’s curriculum was approved by the Nauset Regional School District. The motion also notes that of the children allegedly involved in the program, only Oliver Ortolani made claims that they were involved in trafficking.

“He has two brothers who were also participants in the homeschooling program at the same time as Oliver,” the motion reads. “Notably, neither has made any such claim. Even more notably, no other student — male or female — has made any such claim.”

The motion calls for all communications within the scope of the subpoena to be provided, and for an “in-camera review” of those documents to determine which, if any, are privileged. 

In July, a motion to dismiss the case brought by Oliver Ortolani against the organizations was denied in U.S. District Court, allowing the case to move forward. 

DeLude did not respond to a request for comment for this story.