The Story Of Davidito Book -

By the time Davidito was three years old, Raël decided that the experiment needed to be codified. He wanted a permanent record of the child’s life and the methods used to "raise a genius without limits." According to Raëlian doctrine, children are born with infinite potential, but traditional parenting—with its rules, taboos, and emotional attachments—destroys this potential.

Thus, in 1987, Raël commissioned The Story of Davidito. The book was written by Raël himself, with illustrations provided by a Raëlian artist named Daniel "Moulin" Turcotte. It was published privately by the Raëlian Foundation and distributed only to high-level members at a cost of several hundred dollars per copy.

The book was presented as a three-volume set, though only the first volume—It’s Only a Game—is widely known. The subtitle, "It’s Only a Game," is central to the Raëlian philosophy regarding child-rearing: children should see all activities, including sexual exploration, as mere games devoid of guilt, shame, or adult consent frameworks.

The story of the Davidito Book is more than just a true crime oddity. It serves as a crucial warning about the dangers of charismatic leadership, religious exemption laws, and the deification of "alternative" parenting.

The Raëlian Movement still exists today, with an estimated 55,000 members worldwide. They continue to operate UFO-themed resorts and run a company called Clonaid, which fraudulently claimed to have cloned a human baby. Raël still leads them from a location he refuses to disclose. And copies of The Story of Davidito—whether in police evidence lockers or hidden in a follower’s basement—still exist. The Story Of Davidito Book

A key theme of the book is the removal of the mother-child bond. Davidito is taught to call his biological mother "the woman who gave birth" and to view all adult Raëlian women as interchangeable "guardian angels." The book explicitly states: "Davidito has no mommy or daddy. He has many friends. This is better."

The Story of Davidito has never been widely distributed. For decades, it existed as a rare, expensive collector’s item — sought after by true crime enthusiasts, cult researchers, and morbidly curious internet sleuths. In recent years, PDF copies have circulated online, reigniting debate.

Critics point to passages that appear to describe psychological and physical coercion. Defenders (mostly former members or sympathizers) argue the book has been taken out of context and represents an alternative pedagogy far ahead of its time.

However, legal records tell a different story. The group eventually disbanded after multiple child welfare investigations. Davidito, now an adult, has spoken publicly only rarely, and his accounts have been conflicting — a common trait among individuals raised in high-control groups. By the time Davidito was three years old,

Following the 1993 court ruling, The Story of Davidito was classified as child pornography in Canada, France, the United States, and many other nations. It is illegal to possess, distribute, or sell the book. Most known copies were seized and destroyed by authorities.

However, a small number of copies remain in private hands—mostly in the possession of law enforcement agencies, academic researchers studying cults, and a few hardcore Raëlian faithful who hide them as sacred texts. For a time, scanned pages of the book circulated on dark web forums and obscure true crime sites, but major platforms have aggressively removed them.

Because of its extreme rarity and legal status, surviving copies of The Story of Davidito are rumored to have exchanged hands for tens of thousands of dollars on the black market. True crime collectors and cult memorabilia hunters often search for it, though most end up finding forgeries or incomplete scans.

The experiment failed. Spectacularly.

By the age of 12, David Sato D’Amours (Davidito) began to rebel. According to French court documents and Raëlian defectors, the boy became violent, depressed, and suicidal. He was reportedly given tranquilizers by the cult’s doctors to keep him compliant. In 1992, at age 12, Davidito attempted to run away from the French compound.

In 1995, the French government opened a formal investigation into the Raëlian Movement, and The Story Of Davidito Book was Exhibit A. David was removed from Raël’s custody. In a rare moment of legal victory, the French court ruled that the book was "an apology for paedophilia" and that Raël had subjected the child to "physical and psychological violence."

Today, David Sato D’Amours is a private citizen living in Canada. He has given exactly one interview (to a Quebec newspaper in 2008). In that interview, he stated that he does not use the name "Davidito" and that he has spent years in therapy trying to deprogram himself. He described the book as "a fantasy written about me, not by me. I was a prop." He has no relationship with Raël.