She went to a Fort Worth hypnotist for help. He sexually assaulted her, warrant says
A 30-year-old woman who was wary of the side-effects from the anti-depression and anxiety drugs that she was prescribed went to see a hypnotist who she said sexually assaulted her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
About three months after her first visit, Fort Worth police arrested the hypnotist, Philip Max Lamb, 68, of Fort Worth, on a charge of suspicion of sexual assault by a mental health provider. Lamb has not yet been indicted. The woman told police officers that he sexually assaulted her for three days.
The Star-Telegram typically does not publish the names of sexual assault victims.
Lamb’s attorney of record, David W. Crawford, declined to comment concerning the case. Lamb could not be reached for comment.
The state of Texas, along with several other states, does not regulate or license the practice of hypnotism, hypnotherapy or hypnotherapists, according to Darrel Spinks, executive director for the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists.
The affidavit includes the following allegations:
A former psychiatrist diagnosed a woman with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by physical and sexual abuse during her early childhood and she elected to try alternative treatment. The woman’s father directed her to the office of Lamb, who advertised more than 30 years of practice, study and training on his website.
The victim was not initially comfortable meeting with Lamb because she had personal and emotional issues with men in her past. But her father agreed to take her to Lamb’s office in Fort Worth and sit outside the room during her three office visits.
‘The perfect little victim’
During her first session on May 15, Lamb gained the victim’s confidence, according to the affidavit. Lamb told her that she was “the perfect little victim” and hypnotized her. The woman left Lamb’s office feeling that he could “save her,” she told police.
Lamb told the woman she reminded him of his granddaughter and that she could trust him. The woman thought Lamb would help her overcome her depression, anxiety, PTSD, and alcohol dependency.
During her second visit on May 22, Lamb told the woman that he would be performing an exorcism on her to release her of negative energy. The woman began to scream and vomit during the session. Before she left Lamb told the woman that she needed to isolate herself from her parents and everyone, and that he could be her only protector.
Lamb shared his personal cell phone number with her and said the woman should contact him at any time after hours if she needed. The woman told Detective L. Bowden, the Fort Worth officer who wrote the affidavit, that she was so desperate to be emotionally and mentally healed that she believed everything that Lamb told her.
Later that day, the woman texted Lamb’s cell phone about her feelings concerning her emotional health. During her third in-office session on May 30, Lamb asked the woman to come to his house to use his vibrating table, which he said would release her negative feelings. Lamb also asked if she was schizophrenic and told her that her other personality was “a little [expletive deleted].”
“The victim told the suspect that she would speak to her father regarding her next session; the suspect in turn told the victim that ‘Daddy can’t come,’ and instructed the victim that her parents were not allowed to be present during her next session at his house,” the affidavit said.
The woman discussed the vibrating table with her father and stepmother, but told Bowden that she believed her parents were trying to stand in the way of her progress because the suspect was conditioning the victim to isolate herself.
On June 2, the woman was having night terrors and dreaming of demons, so she spent the night with a close friend who prayed over her. She later awoke screaming and then sent Lamb a text message telling him what happened. Lamb told the woman to come to his house the next day.
“The victim has a strong faith in her Christian beliefs which was another aspect the suspect attempted to exploit,” the affidavit said.
‘Bad energy’
On June 3, the woman drove to Lamb’s house and he offered her an alcoholic beverage to calm her, the affidavit said. This struck the woman as odd, since she was a recovering alcoholic and knew she faced risks involved with drinking. Lamb told her to have a drink and relax before getting on the vibrating table.
The woman poured her own drink and Lamb told her to change clothes upstairs and led her to his bedroom. Lamb then led her downstairs to the pool outdoors.
“The suspect instructed the victim to enter the pool and began to hold her above water as the victim floated on her back,” the affidavit said. “The suspect told the victim that she was an angel and that he was the embodiment of Christ. The victim then observed the suspect’s eyes turn completely black and she did not know if she was hallucinating or if the suspect spiked her drink.”
Lamb told the woman that he needed to release her bad energy by performing various sexual acts with her, the affidavit said.
Moments before, Lamb said that she was not his first and would not be his last. The woman told the detective that she did not know what Lamb was talking about at first but later said she believed he was speaking about being able to manipulate his clients into submitting to him.
The woman said at first she was uncomfortable with Lamb’s requests, but accepted them as attempts to help her with her mental issues because she had been conditioned to do so. The woman said she trusted Lamb and felt as her therapist and professional counselor, he had power over her.
On June 4, the woman said, she felt sick and disoriented and stayed in bed most of the day. When she received a text message, Lamb would tell the woman how to answer so as not to alarm anyone.
“The suspect did not want the victim’s parents to become concerned and attempt to locate the victim,” the affidavit said. “The suspect told the victim not to tell anyone where she was or who she was with because he was afraid he would lose his practice. The suspect told the victim that their souls had been intertwined for thousands of years and other people would not understand their relationship. The victim advised that she felt terrified and paralyzed.”
‘Terrified to say no’
The woman was fearful and confused, and told the detective as the hours passed Lamb became more aggressive. Lamb told the woman that she was an angel and would then describe the woman’s body parts in vulgar terms while telling her how sexually tempting she was, she said. The woman said she was terrified to say no to Lamb because she did not want him to hurt her emotionally or physically.
“The victim felt as if the suspect was predatorial and continued to whisper in the victim’s ear, ‘I’m going to keep you,’” the affidavit said. ‘“We can keep doing this, just don’t tell anyone my name. Tell everyone that you are staying with a friend. Once I get my own place you can stay with me forever. You won’t have to pay for anything because I will keep you.’”
The woman said she had been sexually and physically abused in the past by an ex-boyfriend and that Lamb was aware that this type of aggressive behavior made her scared. Lamb preyed on the woman’s emotional state and she said his treatment of her reminded her of her ex-boyfriend, which caused her to fear Lamb even more.
The woman said she was more lucid on June 5 and tried to leave Lamb’s bedroom but that he carried her back to his bed, laid her down and told her to take off her clothing. The woman said she was shivering out of fear and refused to remove her clothes and Lamb yelled at her.
“Did you hear me, woman!” he yelled, according to the affidavit.
Lamb started taking off the woman’s shirt, but she refused to remove her pants. Simultaneously, the woman’s stepmother began to repeatedly call the victim’s cell phone. Lamb became angry and asked: “What 30-year-old has parents that are this controlling?”
Lamb told the woman how to respond to her parents. The woman said Lamb made her feel like a piece of meat and continued to exert control over her mental state.
On June 6, the woman told Lamb that she wanted to leave and go home. Lamb told the woman not to tell her parents where she had been or what had transpired. The woman went home and tried to work but “broke down” around her coworkers.
The woman was sent home and she told her parents about what had happened during the past four days. The police were contacted police later that same day. .
‘I don’t know her’
A sexual assault exam was conducted at a hospital in Fort Worth the following day, and the woman gave police text messages that she and Lamb exchanged.
On Aug. 12, Det. Bowden interviewed Lamb, who believed the detective was asking about a different client who could have possibly filed sexual assault charges.
“This was concerning as the suspect admitted to providing ‘after hours’ services to numerous clients,” the affidavit said. “When questioned about his relationship with the victim, the suspect stated, ‘I don’t know her.’ The suspect continued to be evasive regarding questions about the victim as a client.”
When asked, Lamb entered the first six digits of the woman’s cell phone into his phone and a contact entry appeared that showed her first name and exorcism as the last name. Lamb said the woman was in a very dark place and was suicidal. When asked what happened during the woman’s sessions, Lamb said he never touched her at the office, according to the affidavit.
Lamb told Bowden that the woman was terrified and was having nightmares because she was molested as a child. Lamb also told Bowden that it was common for him to give his personal cell number to clients so they can contact him after hours. Lamb also said he had personal, physical, emotional, and sexual relationships with numerous clients after their “office sessions.”
Lamb described the vibrating table as a custom-built sound table that vibrated the water molecules inside a person’s body to help them to release bad energy. Lamb said he had consensual sex with the woman, according to the affidavit.
“We were basically two consenting adults,” Lamb said, according to the affidavit. “Agreed on and both parties participating equally. I didn’t force anything on her. I really had sweet emotions for her. I tried to do my best to take care of her.”
Lamb told the detective that he told the woman not to tell her parents because they would not understand their relationship. Lamb said he knew the woman was mentally unstable, vulnerable, emotionally immature, easily manipulated, and dependent upon counseling, the affidavit says.
Bowden concluded because Lamb held himself out as a provider of mental health care services, the woman was exploited and the sexual encounters were without consent.
“The suspect admitted to providing hypnosis and spiritually led services for the victim which directly affected her mental health,” the affidavit said.
Lamb was arrested Aug. 30, but was released after posting a $15,000 bond and spending less than a week in jail.
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 6:25 PM.
