Australia Jehovah's Witnesses Child Abuse/Governing Body Of Jehovah's Witnesses Court Case

by mind blown 34 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  sizemik

  I think it is also an indictment of the victorian police and govt. agencies that failed in their duties to make sure" all" religous institutions complied with the law,allowing the WTB&TS to snub their nose at this law for 3 years is pathetic,shame on them .

  I think that's a bit harsh actually smiddy . . .

  The State Govt. of Victoria should firstly be praised for drafting and introducing this type of legislation in the first place. All relevent institutions were given time to comply over a period of years . . . all have done so with WTS the only exception. WTS were advised, reminded and warned on several occasions of there need to comply . . . the State Judiciary even offering training, advice and assistance free of charge.

  The legislation only came into force a few months ago . . . I believe the deadline for compliance was near the end of June 2011. Until it actually becomes enforceable no action can be taken by either the Police or the Judiciary. Sure, Steven has had to crank the handle on this . . . but the Police and Judiciary are now fully involved and supporting the proceedings.
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  hotspur

  I have to admit ... I, for one, was entirely sceptical of Steven Unthanks attempts to bring this to court ~ mention of 144,000, FDS etc, must surely have caused the authorities to wonder what on earth this guy was all about. But, credit where credit is due, he has done a fantastic job of bringing this to the fore.

  Well Done Steven Unthank!

  This brings me to the UK... we have very strict regulations governing the 'minding of children' - you cannot do anything where children are involved (sports coaches for example) without having to undergo a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check. I'm really puzzled how the JWs in the UK have managed to get around this. Maybe it's time to do a similar thing here... although there is not the strength of Law here in this regard as there is in Victoria, it surely merits some investigation.

  There were some serious allegations made in congregations about child molestation in 2002/3 - that generated police inquiries so there is precedent.
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  sizemik

  Hotspur . . .

  Australia still being commonwealth may still have some cross precedence (I think) . . . I'm sure case law here in NZ still uses some Aust., Canadian, UK etc precedents. Not sure about criminal law though.

  The results of the Police inquirey would make interesting reading . . . were there press releases?
• 

  finallysomepride

  bookmarked
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  Band on the Run

  In strictly legal terms, the FDS is nonsensical. Lawyers can win battles and lose wars, though. As I noted, previously, the war against the WTBTS was won when the elders were ordered to comply. The vast majority of humans care passionately about children. It is instinctual. The press has to be very bad in terms of the Witness public image. I assume the Society has people with expertise in public relations to spin stories. The Roman Catholic Church has been severely punished. Their lawyers won battle after battle for decades and lost the war massively. Unthank is appearing as some sort of Pro Se so the judge is going to aid him a bit in presenting his case.

  Strictly on technical legal terms, I can see the WT arguing that any govt. oversight creates a slippery slope towards govt. control of religion. Did any other religion refuse to comply? I note that "no other institution" failed to comply. If every other church complied, it means they had sense to waive claiming every possible legal entitlement. Of course, JWs may be the only religion, short of Manson, to not give a damn about children being sexually abused. I can imagine most clergy and leaders want to do everything in their power to stop it. I am an abuse victim. The Witnesses seem to think that child sexual abuse occurs for so many minutes in time, a minute portion of one's life. The reality is that until your dying moment you are compromised by it. Treatment can certainly help but it can not restore.
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  wobble

  Thanks for posting the info. so very clearly, it is so useful.

  I found it amusing to note that , if fined, the WT/JW's could find out that 144,000 is truly a literal number. They may find this out 35 times in Ozzie dollars, serves 'em right.
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  Igot2bme

  I am planning on getting in touch with the television news media preferably NBC. I know that they have done stories on WTS child abuse scandals before in the past. I really want to submit this developing story. I feel the ramafications could be huge against the WTS if there is more exposure in the states.
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  the pharmer

  (marking)
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  Band on the Run

  I keep reading about how news is fundamentally changed b/c people no longer wait for the news establishment to decide what to tell them. B/c of the Internet, people can self report. There are ways forum members can post this news item on news sites. I don't know how to do but it is possible.
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  WontLeave

  Has anyone written to the Society to ask why they're declaring in Australian court that the FDS doesn't exist? I'm sure this case will go on for some time if the government takes it over and runs with it. Anyone getting a response from the Watchtower either stating the (possibly "worldly") lawyers were mistaken or invoking "theocratic warfare" could have a bombshell of info for the court. If the WBTS got hundreds or thousands of letters asking if the FDS is a non-entity, perhaps they'd feel forced to answer the question. Then, they'd be in a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation, where either answer would be suicide. Failing to respond may be equally self-destructive. Have they finally lied their way too deep to spin their way out of it?