Father Bud's Boys Farm

Father Bud's Boys Farm was a rural foster home located on a farm in Monteagle, Tennessee, owned and operated by the ordained Episcopal priest Cladius Vermilye, known by the alias Father Bud. Juvenile delinquents were sent to the farm by youth corrections and welfare agencies in Tennessee. Boys at the farm were supplied with drugs and alcohol to make them pliant for participation in orgies, which were filmed and photographed. Materials were distributed to a mailing list of sponsors who could pay additional fees to arrange personal visits to the farm for direct access to the boys. Film stocks were mailed from the farm to Gerald Richards in Michigan for development and distribution through networks including MAIL-O-MATIC in North Carolina and F&S Distributors in California.¹

The farm was incorporated under The Church of New Revelation in New Jersey, described by authorities as a sham referral agency for pornography distribution rather than a legitimate church. Francis Shelden appeared on a seized list of sponsors for the farm's materials. The farm was raided by authorities on November 10, 1976, and the Detroit Free Press reported it as a national pornography hub the following day. The raid linked the farm to the broader network including the Delta Project, Odyssey Network, and North Fox Island operations.¹

Connections

The farm was connected to Troop 137 in New Orleans through a letter sent by Vermilye to scoutmaster Richard Halvorsen personally inviting him to visit. This link established the connection between the Tennessee farm, the New Orleans troop, and the Chicago-based trafficking network run by John David Norman. The farm's incorporation through The Church of New Revelation linked it to Dyer Grossman and Adam Starchild, who had served as the incorporating agent for Brother Paul's Children's Mission on North Fox Island. The investigation into the farm was part of the cascading exposure of interlinked operations that began with the Gerald Richards arrest in Michigan in July 1976.¹