BERYLBLUE - I agree , I want the facts as well. It will take time to ensure enough of a thorough investigation is done to bring out more facts in the case
Renegade Mormons - Abuse of Children- Broken Bones -Many Girls Pregnant
by flipper 86 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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sammielee24
I can no longer support the "rights" of this group, whether they are charged, or not.
Warlock - I'm not sure I really hear about supporting the rights of the group as much as I believe that we may have stepped over the rights of the children or individuals. As a group, I'm not hearing people rally and support them but as individuals, children, brothers and sisters, I'm not sure that we haven't stepped on their rights by evicting them under armed guard. If paperwork has been produced but rejected by the State and then those kids subjected to forced DNA tests or other physical exams unneccessarily, they may have legal grounds to sue the State. I don't support the rights of the group as an excuse for abuse but then again I don't support the Witnesses as a group either because I see it as a cloak for some pretty abusive behaviour. One of the premier doctors at the first court appearance stated that more damage would be done to the young children by removing them from their mothers than good - his expertise was ignored. I hope for the sake of the kids that this does not drag on for years. sammieswife.
Meanwhile, this issue is now going interstate. Texas claims statutory rape charges could be pending based on the age of girls/young women at Eldorado; it is pretty much refusing to accept sect members’ claims, and paperwork, on the women’s ages.
So, they’re fighting back:In Utah, members of the polygamous church have asked the state’s governor to intervene in its fight with Texas authorities over the custody the children.
A letter written by FLDS elder Willie Jessop says Texas officials are rejecting Utah-issued birth certificates and other documents as “fake.”
The letter asks Gov. Jon Huntsman to exercise his executive authority to assist in protecting the civil rights of native Utahns and FLDS members. FLDS parents claim they have been denied their due process by the Texas courts.
“Without your leadership and personal intervention in this matter, the parental rights of every Utah family is at risk,” Jessop wrote.
Huntsman spokeswoman Lisa Roskelly said the governor has been in contact with Jessop and was reviewing his request. -
flipper
I guess the general consensus is we are just going to have to wait and see how this situation plays its way through the court processes. I too do not feel that abuse of children should be hidden or cloaked in secrecy in the name of religious freedoms. That is one very good reason we have laws to determine such things
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Shawn10538
Get used to it. More to come later. I am against all cults, so Moronism is fair game as far as I'm concerned. And my how like JWs all of your ezxcuses are. Are you getting them straight from the Watchtower? You even indicate a "new light" doctrine of sorts. Just like JWs will say that all the strange doctrines of the past were minor doctrines and they don't represent the bulk of the Society's teachings. I've heard the same crap from witnesses a million times.
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flipper
SHAWN- I agree with you- the protection of the children should come first - not religious freedom
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Big Tex
Fact is some girls are pregnant. What we still don't seem to have though is proof of their ages and further still - if they were already confident the girls were all underage, don't you think that the courts would have arrested or at least rounded up all the men inside?
My understanding was that several dozen girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were, or still are, pregnant. In Texas that is statutory rape. State law requires either judicial approval or written parental consent before the marriage of a minor is considered legal. If this did not happen, then there is no legal marriage and therefore it is sex between an adult and a minor. This is the definition of statutory rape, irregardless of claimed religious beliefs.
Forgive me, but isn't the fact that the children were removed the first step in the process you describe? Charges cannot be brought against the accused until evidence is gathered. Yes? How else can the state determine if there were written parental consent? What other ways can the state determine if there are cases of minor girls being forced into sham marriages with older men? There have also been unconfirmed reports of boys being sexually abused as well. Shouldn't this be investigated?
I'm not sure I understand where you're coming from on this issue. I'm coming in late, and I'm sure you've most likely answered this already, but is it your position that polygamous sects do not engage in underage, i.e. pedastric, marriages? This has been pretty well established and understood I would think by now.
Chris
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flipper
BIG TEX- I agree with you on your points. Statutory rape is statutory rape , any way you cut it. And I agree the only way they are going to find out information from these children is by interviewing them away from the compound where they won't be influenced on what to say by parents. It will be an interesting next few months to see what happens in the courts in Texas. But the children's welfare and safety has to be first priority
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Lone Ranger
As a former Mormon and a survived child of a Mormon father who raped all of us (Mom, my sister Gina and me), I know, that the leaders would see away, if things like this would happen. They are more interest to protect the church and the perpetrator than the victim and their family. And very often they gibve the victims the fault. Here a interesting article:
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flipper
LONE RANGER- I'm so sorry you were raped by your father my friend when you were young. In the wake of the decision by the courts to return the Mormon children to their parents " polygamist " type homes - the experience you relate here and the news clip of these Mormon abuses being covered up even carries more weight to it. Thanks for posting it. Take care my friend, I hope you have found some healing
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Lone Ranger
I guess, that Texas officials are afraid to have a second Waco, if they don't allowed to take a view kids to their parents.