i too have a problem with the legal issues.
if someone confesses to the elders that he has committed a murder... then even if he is genuinely sorry then he would still be expected to go to the police and confess and face the consequences..in fact this would be seen as evidence of his contrition.
so it is my belief that the same would be true of someone confessing to or found guilty of child abuse. they ought to inform the authorities, whether or not this is a legal requirement.
if after serving whatever legal and organizational penalty is imposed, the abuser returns to the congregation then i think the congregation should be informed of his wrongdoing and he must accept whatever treatment the congregation members individually decide to give him. it used to be a instruction to all 'aids' sufferers that they inform everyone and accept whatever treatment is given. i see no good reason for child abusers to be treated differently. and if they move the congregation they go to should be informed too..and of course they should not be allowed to have contact with minors.
the point being made about the 15 and 16 year old is merely that legally (at least here in the uk) the 16 year old is a molester. he is of legal age. the 15 year old is not- whether or not he or she consented. but as has been noted this is a very different scenario to an older person abusing someone much younger. the point is that he would not neccesarily be unable to reach out for priveleges in the future even tho technically he is an abuser.
but all of these incidences depend on the accused being found guilty. even the case mentioned regarding the schoolteacher is based on the guilt of the person not the accusation. surely we can't just accept that in every case that a teacher, elder, priest, min servant, policeman, social worker, etc etc is accused then he must be guilty. because the easiest thing in the world is for someone who has a grudge against any person of authority to make an accusation of molestation in the full knowledge that even the hint of impropiety would be enough to strip them of their position.
interestingly the watchtower instructions demand that someone only has to be accused in order to require headquarters being informed. this is a strange requirement if there is no basis whatsoever that the accusation is true.
but i would ask ..flipper and all others that are so forthright on this subject ....what would be your solution? how would you handle such an accusation?
if a younger member of your family came to you completely out of the blue and informed you that she had been molested by another member of your family - someone that you liked and had the utmost respect for - what would you do?
(thru out my comment i have refered to the abuser as male and the victim as female. this has been purely for the sake of argument - i recognize that there have been female abusers and male victims)
