Australia formally charges former JW elder

by Honesty 23 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  Honesty

  Former Jehovah's elder on sex assault charge

  A FORMER Jehovah's Witness elder who apologised to his alleged victim on Facebook has been charged with two counts of indecent assault. Richard Hill will appear in the Heidelberg Magistrate's Court on March 1 over allegations that he sexually assaulted a six-year-old girl in 1981.

  The victim, now 38, told Fairfax Media that Mr Hill did everything except penetrate her - ''he tried, but couldn't manage''.

  She said she ''did not realise the gravity'' of what had happened until she was about 14.

  At that point she told her mother, who could not act because of a Jehovah's Witness rule that allegations of sexual abuse would only be acted on if two elders witnessed it, she said.

  Much later, the victim confronted Mr Hill on Facebook. ''He turned around and apologised,'' she said. ''He became an elder within the church and rose quite high up. Since he was charged, he has stepped down.''

  The Victorian inquiry into how churches handled complaints of child sex abuse heard from two former Jehovah's Witnesses on Monday, who say they have been ostracised by the church.

  Fairfax Media reported on Monday that the child was one of four who clubbed together their pocket money to raise the $69.70 needed to launch a prosecution against the church over its alleged refusal to get working-with-children checks.

  
  
  Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/former-jehovahs-elder-on-sex-assault-charge-20130218-2enhi.html#ixzz2LI9TonQr

  http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/former-jehovahs-elder-on-sex-assault-charge-20130218-2enhi.html
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  Gopher

  Let justice rule!
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  TheOldHippie

  "At that point she told her mother, who could not act because of a Jehovah's Witness rule that allegations of sexual abuse would only be acted on if two elders witnessed it, she said."

  Slight misrepresentation ........................
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  TheOldHippie

  "At that point she told her mother, who could not act because of a Jehovah's Witness rule that allegations of sexual abuse would only be acted on if two elders witnessed it, she said."

  Slight misrepresentation ........................
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  Gopher

  "At that point she told her mother, who could not act because of a Jehovah's Witness rule that allegations of sexual abuse would only be acted on if two elders witnessed it, she said."
  
  Slight misrepresentation ................

  Yes, it should say that the Jehovah's Witness rule is that "two witnesses must report it", not "two elders".

  Surely the harm caused to thousands and thousands of JW children by their application of a "two-witness rule" far outweighs the harm done to the WTS organization by this mistake/incorrect statement from the victim.
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  cedars

  Here's my article on the development...

  http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/ex-elder-to-appear-in-court-after-admitting-to-pedophilia-on-facebook

  Cedars
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  Splash

  Cedars, it's a shame you don't have a streetview pic of the local k.hall there, that would add some impact.

  Good article as always.

  Splash
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  Tiktaalik

  Does anyone have any more info on Richard Hill?

  Where is he from? How old is he?

  I used to know a jw called Richard Hill. Wonder if it's the same bloke...?
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  Gojira_101

  I hope more of these sickos get caught and get the book thrown at them!!!!! Or when they are in prison they get "their's" from the other inmates!
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  Aussie Oz

  Ans this may well be pertinant...

  km10/72p.8QuestionBoxBox Whatismeantby"someyearsago"onpage170,paragraphtwo,inthe"Organization"book?

  Question

  ?

  This indicates more than a year or two. It may be noted that it did not say "many years ago." So it is not an exact number of years, but more like two or three years. It was not intended to have a brother go back into the distant past to bring up wrongs of which he repented years ago and that have evidently been forgiven by Jehovah and are not being practiced now. In many cases the wrongs occurred prior to the time when the "Watchtower" drew attention to what the Scriptures say on such misconduct.

  If a brother has been serving faithfully for some years and has seen evidence of Jehovah?s blessings upon him, why should he now step down from office? If he has the right viewpoint now on conduct and will give good counsel he should be able to continue to serve. If the local body of elders see that he has the respect of the congregation and has shown the proper qualifications over the last two or three years, he may remain in his position of service.

  Must wrongdoing be brought to public attention after many years? The book (page 168) under "Public Reproof" quotes 1 Timothy 5:20 and mentions reproof of those who confess to committing more than one offense. But it really has to do with recent events. The "Interlinear" refers to those "sinning," something going on at the time. So if repentance occurred some years ago, three years ago or more, and sinning ceased, and he is respected by the congregation, it is not necessary now to publicly reprove one who committed more than one offense "some years ago."

  So he gets to abuse a girl, either repent or say nothing...'Holy spirit' has him become an elder. shit hits fan 32 years later, steps down...If he and the elder body are so damn sure of holy spirit they should keep him on then

  Oz