by Nathan Natas 56 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
Got friends near that area, will try to find out more info.
RB
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RB did you find out anything? What does senior member mean? Does it mean he was old or does it mean what it sounds like that he was high up in the org?
this should be huge news that everyone is talking about??????
Probably an r&f, elder at most. News always exaggerates just like when they describe every JW as a "devout Jehovah's Witness" just because they went to more than two meetings a year.
Mmmm?
He's 61 years old. That may be his only claim to seniority. Let's be patient and wait on the news media and Lae enforcement to reveal what they can when they can.
Sea Breeze : I wonder if he was an elder; anyone know?
In a 7NEWS Brisbane news report, they said that "police allege he's an elder in a Jehovah's Witness community on the Sunshine Coast and that he used that position of power to commit these offences".
News reports say he was arrested in Maloolaba, a suburb of Maroochydore, where there is a congregation. It may be true that where there is smoke there is fire, but there are aspects of this report which incline me to doubt and I await the judgement of the Court with interest.
Looks like it was an elder according to the news.
Apparently, a lot of abuse took place.
An interesting case, and unusual among JWs. Had a chat to my friend, who is gay and a former witness. The case is unusual in that there were 4 young men, apparently from the one congregation, who over a 10 year period were victims of this (alleged) abuser. So the 21 rape charges against the alleged offender appear to be multiple charges of rape against one of more of the 4 young men involved. So not 21 different young men (which was my first impression) but each time he had sex with one of these young men (more especially, if at the time of the offences the young men were under 16) was counted as a charge of rape, etc.
We wondered, did these young men all know each other had an interest in gay sex, or did the offender introduce them to gay sex. Why after 10 years did one (or all) get overcome with guilt and went to the police? Did they confess to someone in the congregation first? Its unusual for more than one other person to be involved in sex cases among the witnesses. The only group sex case, that I can recall, among Australian witnesses was 50+ years ago when about 40 young girls and guys, getting together socially, decided that sex meant penetrative sex, and that other forms of sex (oral sex, petting etc) were not sex. OK, they were soon disabused of that idea.
We noted 1 charge of torture - this could indicate that the charged man, used bondage or S&M with one or more of the 4 victims. S&M (if you have not heard of it) is (quote): "interaction, especially sexual activity, in which one person enjoys inflicting physical or mental suffering on another person, who derives pleasure from experiencing pain. gratification, especially sexual, gained through inflicting and receiving pain; sadism and masochism combined."
For people (both str8 and gay) who want to push the boundaries of sexual experience, often use bondage and S&M to do that
Of course, this person may have committed offences against non-JWs also, and we (my gay ex-JW friend and I) thought the police would be investigating that aspect of the case, and that the police fear that there may be more victims, was a general call to the entire community.
One account I read noted that the man used his 'position' in that congregation to 'rape and assault' the young men. We thought that the word 'grooming' was more likely to be the word that described what he did.
So I'd agree with Sea Breeze that the perpetrator was most likely an Elder, who else could be described as having a 'position' in a congregation.
Got friends near that area, will try to find out more info.
RB
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RB did you find out anything? What does senior member mean? Does it mean he was old or does it mean what it sounds like that he was high up in the org?
this should be huge news that everyone is talking about??????
I wonder how many similar things are going on in congregations around the world right now that may or may not ever get revealed 😢
ABC news reported today that :
The accused man withdrew his application for bail after documents showed he owns up to five properties and holds multiple passports. He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on October 28.
Police allege the sex acts against several men, including ex-bible study students, occurred over years at several properties on the Sunshine Coast and in Brisbane.
Police allege two of the victims tried to report to religious elders and "were chastised, not believed and ostracised" and accused of being homosexual, before they went to police.
It also reports that his wife claims the alleged victims have "an axe to grind" with the Jehovah's Witnesses church.
In an affidavit tendered to the Maroochydore Magistrates Court the woman called the people who had made allegations against her husband "apostates". She clarified the term meant the group were "formerly members of our church who are now against our church".
