Audio link to talk I gave in 2001-"BROOKLYN GIRL." In it I discuss my conversation with Don Adams, Pres. of WTB&TS of PA, about a child

by AndersonsInfo 5 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  AndersonsInfo

  http://watchtowerdocuments.org/brooklyn-girl/

  “Brooklyn Girl”

  

  In May of 2001, I attended a small conference in Soap Lake, Washington, where some thirty former Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) were gathered. The conference was sponsored by the late Richard Rawe. Richard was part of a group of former JWs who met once a year since the early 1980s to discuss Bible doctrines and other subjects related to their former religion.

  In March of 2001, I had been interviewed for a TV documentary to be shown on NBC’s Dateline program which would reveal a cover-up by JWs leaders of child sexual abuse carried out by Witness molesters.

  I first learned about this problem in 1992 when I was a staff member of the Writing Department working inside the Watchtower’s world headquarters in Brooklyn, NY.

  The Dateline TV documentary was thought to air a few months after the interview but it was not broadcast until over a year later on May 28, 2002. Because of not knowing when the documentary would be shown, those in attendance at the conference agreed to keep my name confidential until I came out publicly with my accusations on Dateline.

  While at the Soap Lake conference, I spoke to the audience a number of times. One of my talks was about the “Brooklyn Girl” which was recorded on audio tape (11:00 minutes). You can now listen to it on the audio link provided on my website, http://watchtowerdocuments.org/brooklyn-girl/

  During the introduction you will hear me discuss Rabbi Baruch Lanner who was a Jewish educator and an official of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY). NCSY was a youth group run by the Orthodox Union, the central communal organization of Orthodox Judaism.

  Rabbi Lanner had physically, sexually and emotionally abused kids in the group for over three decades. Throughout his tenure at NCSY, the organization had received numerous complaints about the rabbi but did little to investigate the accusations. Nor did they do anything to control Lanner’s behavior – let alone take action to bar him from working with children.

  “But why didn’t they?” you ask. Because the goal was recruitment of non-orthodox young Jews to bring them to Jewish orthodoxy and Lanner was immensely successful in his mission.

  This is exactly what the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society was guilty of doing. Over six decades or more, Watchtower leaders around the world had received thousands and thousands of reports and complaints of abuse of children; yet, little or nothing was done to put kids’ interests first. READ MORE:

  http://watchtowerdocuments.org/brooklyn-girl/
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  Mephis

  Just additional external support to that suggestion from Britain very recently. "A perfect storm" for abuse as Stewart said at ARC.

  From the (British) National Crime Agency's October 2013 report into abuse within organisations (CEOP Thematic Assessment The Foundations of Abuse: A thematic assessment of the risk of child sexual abuse by adults in institutions), the key findings:

  1. Children in institutional settings are not only at risk from adults who are inclined to abuse them sexually; but also from adults who either fail to notice abuse or, if they do, fail to report it.

  2. Where institutions put their own interests ahead of those of the children who engage with them, abusive behaviours are likely to become normalised, potentially leading to sexual abuse.

  3. The culture within an institution has a strong influence on the degree to which abuse might occur within it. Poor leadership, closed structures, ineffective policies and procedures together with the discouragement of reporting, facilitates a malign climate which colludes with those inclined to sexually abuse children.

  4. Where institutions are held in high regard and respected by the communities they serve, positional grooming can be perpetuated, whereby offenders conduct social or environmental grooming and mask their actions by virtue of their formal positions within an organisation.

  5. Potential risks from those with a sexual interest in children who pursue work in institutions can be mitigated by vigilant and effective leadership and management.

  6. Intense loyalty and conformity of workers to the mission, norms and values of an institution can inhibit them from reporting concerns.

  7. The historic nature of many cases currently exercising media attention, together with developments in safeguarding, might give a false perception that this type of offending can no longer occur. Offenders continue to exploit systemic vulnerabilities where they exist
  

  http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/49-ceop-institutions-thematic-assessment/file

  https://www.ceop.police.uk/
  
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  Pistoff

  Barb, I can't believe we are 15 years on, and WT is still dragging it's feet!!

  Thanks for posting this, it was a great listen.

  P
  
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  Vidiot

  @ Pistoff...

  The WTS will never stop dragging their feet.

  To do what needs to be done to truly fix the problem would - for all intents and purposes - require publicly acknowledging the problem existed in the first place (not to mention the size of the problem), which would too deeply undermine their claim of being "God's exclusive Earthly organization".

  And that, more than anything else, simply cannot be permitted.
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  FreeGirl2006

  I remember being counseled at the meeting the week Barbara's Dateline appearance was shown to avoid watching it. My comment was, if these are lies, then watching this should not rock our faith and if what she said was truthful, then it needed to be brought to light and fixed. *Sigh* I was an abuse victim and it still took years to break free even after that revelation. Nothing like blind faith, ignorance and promised panda-petting-shiny future welcoming your dead loved ones back to keep you captive to such crap.
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  AndersonsInfo

  Mephis: Thank you so much for posting the (British) National Crime Agency's October 2013 report into abuse within organisations.

  When I read #'s 2,3 and 6 I felt a chill going down my spine because these paragraphs describe the Watchtower institution perfectly. I'm going to post that important report on my website.

  Hi Pistoff. Thanks for listening to the tape. I don't think I'm the best speaker in the world, but it's the information that counts. I have many more stories showing how absolutely dumb JWs and their chiefs are when it comes to protecting children which I want to share in the future.

  Vidiot: Your comments are right on. For WT to acknowledge the mistakes of the past is not going to happen. Just like all giant corporations do when caught breaking the law, they'd rather acknowledge liability by paying huge court-ordered judgments than admit responsibility.

  Freegirl2006: My husband Joe told the other elders in the congregation basically just what you said, "If we have the "Truth," why should we fear what we will hear on Dateline?" Well, although it took time for you to break free, revelation after revelation proved that I spoke the truth.

  Since 2002, WT has fixed little if anything. They patch policies such as found in their Oct. 1, 2012 BOE letter, which is not helping them, but making the religion look positively sick and twisted. This is causing an exodus of ethical and moral people who don't want to be JWs any longer, no matter even if they still believe in the fairytale future that they were once taught. But there are thousands of former JWs like you who know better.