Disgusting. When I was 17 and saw the Dateline special I was terrified that something like that could happen to me and no one would believe me. All my friends who saw the special only talked about how much "shame" the girls who were interviewed put on Jah's name. And I'm sitting there watching Connie Chung switch to cormercial break and I'm scared out of my mind screaming to God to let me out of this cult one day; safe and sound.And the screams just don't stop. Sometimes I just can't bear.
ARRESTED-ELDER SEX 12 y.o. IN K-HALL
by DannyHaszard 31 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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Oroborus21
Greetings,
The scariest aspect of this story is how alllegations can be made and a guy's life can be ruined without corroborating evidence. We live in a Salem's Witches world where our concern in protecting our young has overthrown the principles of justice and truth. God forbid that anyone ever make baseless allegations about you.
Regarding this case, the Elders might have DF'd simply for the notoriety "bringing disrepute on the Org" without any evidence of whether the guy actually did this or not. If the defense attorney is to be believed there is no evidence other than the testimony of the victims. That is always a scary prospect. Let's leave it to a jury who actually will see and hear the trial before convicting him in the court of public opinion.
-Eduardo Leaton Jr., Esq.
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ColdRedRain
To any JW lurkers out there, you know the drill.
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Mary
Osorto was one of several elders in the church's Spanish-language congregation until last year when he was "disfellowshipped," or kicked out of the church, after the rape allegations surfaced, according to court records. Elders are supposed to provide spiritual guidance to church members, using teachings based on the Bible, said Jonathan Dunn, an elder in the English-language Siler City congregation. "They have to be good examples to meet the high standards," he said.
Too bad the Governing Body and Legal Department hadn't of viewed ALL child molestation cases the same way. Then they wouldn't have been exposed on Dateline and 20/20 for harboring pedophiles.
It's naive of Bethel to think that child molestation doesn't happen in the Organization. It happens everywhere because you're dealing with imperfect humans. However, had the Governing Body gotten some decent legal advice from their bonehead attorneys, and ruled that any charges of molestation be immediately reported to the police and therapy given to the victim, they actually would have done themselves a huge favour. When the scandal from the Catholic Church broke, the media could have turned and said "..Jehovah's Witnesses report all these cases to the police and the person in question is removed from the congregation.."
If anyone's brought reproach upon Jehovah's name, it's the Governing Body themselves.
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Elsewhere
he was "disfellowshipped," or kicked out of the church, after the rape allegations surfaced, according to court records.
This means that either there are two eyewitnesses tot he rapes or that he confessed to the other elders. Either way we will never know because the judge ruled that the elders did not have to testify about any conversations they had with him.
The judge made a critical mistake resulting from not understanding this cult.
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mcsemike
Why would they seek NOT to have to testify? There should be no attempt to claim "clergy confidentiality" because JW's HAVE NO CLERGY, REMEMBER??? We are all one big happy family of EQUALS. This is why all the elders know who the pedophiles are so they can keep THEIR kids away from the perverts, but the rest of the sheep know nothing because "it's not their business" or "we're working with him to help him turn his life around". I have a degree in psychology. Less than one in 10,000 pedophiles EVER stop doing it after being caught or counseled. One out of six women will be sexually molested before their eighteenth birthday. And 90 to 95% of all victims will be molested by someone they know well: father, brother, uncle, elder, other JW, etc. Mothers who are JW's will even cover it up and/or allow it to continue because they want to protect their husband. What sickos! If the elders agree to tell the cops what the victim told them (as if the victim needs their permission or help, can't the victim go to the cops on their own?), then why can't those spineless bastards tell the police what the MOLESTER told them. Why don't the elders tell the congregation? They tell each other, don't they? I guess the elder's kids are more precious to Jehovah than the other children. Funny, I don't think Jesus felt that way, did he? I don't know if any JW with half a brain (and that's about all they have, they must share) should consider running to a kingdom hall at Armageddon, if God ever decides to regain his senses and end the slaughter of our innocent children. By all rights, the hall should be the first place destroyed by God, the buildings are worthless and so are half the people who go there. If anyone out there is disgusted with these facts, email everyone you know. Visit Silent Lambs and rally. Help Bill Bowen out, send some money. Tell your neighbors. Buy and wear a SL pin. Get a bumper sticker.
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Odrade
Oroborus, WTF is the matter with you? You would even argue in favor of the WT in a matter such as this? You're sick and disgusting.
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Frannie Banannie
The scariest aspect of this story is how alllegations can be made and a guy's life can be ruined without corroborating evidence. We live in a Salem's Witches world where our concern in protecting our young has overthrown the principles of justice and truth. God forbid that anyone ever make baseless allegations about you.
Regarding this case, the Elders might have DF'd simply for the notoriety "bringing disrepute on the Org" without any evidence of whether the guy actually did this or not. If the defense attorney is to be believed there is no evidence other than the testimony of the victims. That is always a scary prospect. Let's leave it to a jury who actually will see and hear the trial before convicting him in the court of public opinion.
-Eduardo Leaton Jr., Esq.
Well, Eddie......the man could lie confidentially to the elders and deny what he'd done and they would have done nothing, claiming that the girls were in the wrong and bringing reproach on Jah, the JWs, the cong., and themselves. All he had to do was deny it....the elders would have backed him all the way. He obviously admitted his guilt, since they do not wish to testify about what he said. Besides, stating that there's no evidence of whether he did it or not is just the defense putting their spin on the situation to get good PR for their client pre-trial. It's a "given" for defense attorney's worth their salt to do so.
Frannie
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stillconcerned
Conversely, Oroborus, why would you presume the allegations of the GIRLS are false?
If you read the article closely, the issue before the judge was the ADMISSIBILITY of physical evidence, and testimony by an expert witness ABOUT physical evidence,. which the public defender of the perpetrator asked the judge to disallow.
Kimberlee D. Norris, Esq.
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Inquisitor
Odrade
Oroborus was not bent on defending the witnesses. He was merely offering the reason accusations of child abuse need to be carefully deliberated on both in a Witness judicial committee and in the court of law. They need to establish if there is any validity to the claims. In a judicial committee, I suppose if the elders did things correctly, they will not merely accept pleas from the accused as proof of innocence, but will investigate possible witnesses and other evidences for the crime. Let's not be quick to assume that ALL witnesses only care about their reputation and not the welfare of their children! People must equally consider the possibility that the accused may be innocent (NOT referring to the case at the outset!). If he was, do you realize what a terrible terrible mistake it would be to bring such humiliation to him and his family?? That was what Oroborus meant by "our concern in protecting our young" may "(overthrow) the principles of justice and truth". I am NOT saying I agree with the manner the elders handle these cases. Frankly I am not familiar with their protocol. But I am trying to understand why they do the things they do.I do not know if you have any personal interest in convicting the witnesses for the way they handle molestation cases, but to bare fang and claws at someone who's trying to consider both sides of the issue, is not fair.
That actually reeks of the same injustice that is practiced by elders who refuse to listen to cries of genuine victims! Those who choose not to hear both sides of a story!
Food for thought...
INQ