Just Heard Some Shocking News

by jookbeard 106 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

• 

  Mad Sweeney

  I would like to address the concepts of "repentance" and "turning around" and "forgiveness."

  This is a deviant mental condition that can certainly induce a LOT of remorse because it is such a heinous act. That said, remorse and "saying sorry" doesn't change what was done and in this type of deviance it does NOT change the liklihood of repeating the crime.

  Can therapy?

  If it can, where are all the success stories? Where are all the "I Was a 20-Something Pedophile!" bestsellers with the proceeds going to both victims and furthering of successful pedo-therapy? Where are the magazine articles profiling the long-term recovery of pedophiles due to successful therapy? Yeah, there is a powerful stigma attached and naturally most would be reluctant to expose their past in such a way, but if pedophile recovery was commonplace we'd hear both the recovered pedophiles and therapists tooting their horns all the time and in all places.

  If recovery was commonplace (or even occasional) one would expect that therapists would have a good number of proven recovered pedophiles to hold up as examples. Where are they?

  So there isn't a cure for pedophelia (or at least there clearly isn't a widespread and nearly foolproof one that anyone's heard of). Therefore, one can't say that he "used to be" a pedophile. One IS a pedophile. There IS NO turning around without constant lifetime supervision to enforce proper behavior.

  Is there? If so, lets have some links. If not, then can you expect forgiveness for one who hasn't changed? Does the fact that he can't really matter?
• 

  aquagirl

  Once a pedophile,always a pedophile.I am 50.I was a victim at 4.The guy is still alive and still doing it.Been in jail many times.Still doing it.I really dont believe its a choice,I think its a compulsion and needs hands on treatment.Not to be allowed in a building with lots of naive children milling about.This is Wrongwrongwrong.
• 

  freddo

  Podo - you claim to know all about this case and yet you persist in saying we need to await the outcome of the second trial. You say the case was tried not half a mile from where you live - which case? The original Magistrates one, the Crown Court one or the Appeal?

  There was a second trial - I'm staggered you don't know about it and it raises huge question marks about your credentials in my mind - Porter was sentenced to 18 months and was out after 9 as is the norm in the UK when you "behave" behind bars.

  Why do you suggest approaching Avon and Somerset Police? What are they going to do in London over a 100 miles away?

  Something doesn't seem right Podo - you seem to suggest you have some medical input with the victims? Yet you left "the Truth" in 1982? And your father is a Bristol elder since 1972?

  Please convince me.
• 

  Podobear

  No... Freddo I do not claim to know all about the case. Please read through this relatively short thread and you will appreciate that you have assumed incorrectly. Comments like Aquas' (what can we say that would comfort you, Aqua?) demonstate why such thorough research and heavy judgment (in my eyes).

  At the time of the trial I owned a second business, "a pub grub PUB" within walking distance of the CROWN court in Bristol, Freddo. Burnham on Sea and Clevedon are two coastal towns within the catchment area of Bristol City. Those congregations suffered most from the attentions of Mr Porter, and Avon & Somerset / CPS are the Constabulary involved in bringing the action. London, where as far as it is known, Mr Porter has not offended is 130 miles away from the scene of his crimes.

  The call for retrial continues amongst some of those most deeply affected. Though the media is silent at present, I doubt that (Mr Porter's sister especially) will let it rest there.

  Our "West Country" regional TV and then National TV had the header stories for days.

  The best way to file protest and urge review (in this particular case) is to lodge appeal to the prosecutor.. and as one other poster divulged the Home Secretary of the UK cabinet is already involved.

  Hope that covers it Freddo. Best wishes.
• 

  freddo

  Thanks Podo - but you cover very little - this cannot have a retrial - it has already gone to the appeal court and Porter was jailed. You cannot have a retrial of an appeal at this level of crime. I am amazed you do not know this. Why are you asserting differently and what is your medical connection to witnesses?

  And it was Portishead and Clevedon primarily (not Burnham on Sea which isn't a catchment town for Bristol), that have been affected - and Tina Hughes (Porter's sister) has been interviewed on the TV and it was on National TV and radio too.

  As far as the secular authorities are concerned it's over. The charity commisson have investigated and advised.

  Porter's landing in Wimbledon is for any concerned citizen to highlight but of no interest to the courts unless he further offends or breaks his being on the sex offenders' register rules.
• 

  wobble

  So we are back to this monster being free to roam in Paedophile Paradise, i.e the congregational arrangement of Jehovah's Witnesses where no one bothers to protect the young and vulnerable.

  Scandalous.
• 

  quietlyleaving

  what I meant by my comment above

  Paedophiles tend not to re-offend when they have been for therapy.

  is that there are treatments available for pedophiles and that these treatments do tend to produce a result (roughly half respond) - motivation is a key factor. I agree, madsweeney and acquagirl, that there is no cure apparently but pedophilia is classed as a form of mental illness whilst those who commit a crime are classed as sex offenders. I would hope that if a JW experiences pedophilic fantasies that he seeks help. Elders need to reccomend medical help if JWs confide in them even at this stage of fantasy. This is something the WTS needs to educate its independent agents/elders on and they need to be held responsible for this. The WTS will have to put up with all of us insisting on this.

  When a crime is committed it is legally categorized by degree of gravity. All this helps us to look at the situation objectively.

  The judge in the case did not hand out a stiff penality whereas the attorney gen did. But even so she only gave him 18 months. One wonders why. From what I can gather Porter's crimes seem to consist of groping. Perhaps this is the reason he did not receive a harsher penalty. One would hope though that his jail term and the therapy he received plus motivation from his sprirtual beliefs will modify his urges. This imo is the best we can hope for. Do elders understand this? As podobear has pointed out some do and some don't.
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  I am glad someone finally addressed the therapy question. Thanks, quietlyleaving. Could you provide more details about therapy, how and why it is supposed to work, and the theories for why it sometimes does and sometimes doesn't? It doesn't have to be all laid out in a post; links will do fine.

  (note: I would be surprised if it really works 50% of the time. My guess is that the times when it seems to work either the guy wasn't a pedophile to begin with or he found a different outlet (other than real live children) for his perversion. I really don't think you can cure or change what these guys are on the inside; you may be able to control their behavior with constant supervision but that's about it. I'm willing to be corrected but have yet to see any evidence that I'm wrong.)
• 

  quietlyleaving

  disclaimer - I'm an ignorant lay person really

  but here are some helpful links

  http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/19/magazine/how-do-you-cure-a-sex-addict.html

  http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/159/7/1245-a
• 

  Podobear

  Freddo.. you are obviously more familiar with local Geography than I am. Since I went quite frequently to Police HQ, attended their Federation dos and stayed over night in the Training Accommodation, I must have imagined that Burnham On Sea is only 15 miles down the road.

  All I have imparted is what I know... UK law indeed does not allow double-indemnity. That is why I have not gone beyond local knowledge... am not privvy to the bundle and have directed folks to raise their enquiries with the appropriate sources. Ipso facto, you are correct and have established exactly what I have been saying. Thank you. The law is the law, and until there is some forum to reconsider this (that rests with the Home Secretary at this stage - does it not? Unless you know of any other higher authority in the UK).

  Thank you for your back up, and let's hope that all remains calm. Best wishes, Podo