Spokane Washington Davis Molester Case--Letters to the Newspaper

by blondie 5 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  blondie

  http://silentlambs.com/newsletter/NewsLetterItem.cfm?SendoutID=153

  Newsletter

  Letters to Spokane newspaper

  A few letters to newspaper on JW elder molester

  Roundtable Abuse victims do have supporters In response to the letter, "Abuse punishment is disgusting'' (Oct. 20), I too am disgusted and wanted to clarify that Mr. Davis was disfellowshipped for only six months! The family was told he would be out for two years. But after he was reinstated within six months, the family decided to go to the police in an effort to protect other children. Hooray for them! Many Jehovah Witnesses would be appalled to learn of the numerous threats that are meted out to people and to the media who expose wrongdoing by the Watchtower organization. Apparently, this is the reason for 14 attorneys on staff at the headquarters. I want the victim and her family who came forward regarding the sexual abuse to know there are many supporters here in and around the world backing them. Support and information can be found at www.silentlambs.org. Roundtable Abuse punishment is disgusting Just read the article, "Jehovah Witness elder abuses girl'' (Oct. 16 Region section), and I am disgusted! He gets 90 days plus two years probation, plus is disfellowshipped for only two years? I was disfellowshipped permanently for smoking in 1975! Why did he get off so light when the Catholic Church pays millions for the same thing, and others get up to 10 years? Get real, people. This is an outrage, and a slap to justice. But, I guess that's the way it goes if you're well-liked and well-connected with the congregation and governments. God really did save me from them after all when they disfellowshipped me. Edward Ferency Spokane , WA Roundtable Churches aren't above the law Regarding "Jehovah's Witness elder abused girl'' (Oct. 16). The news in a community that a child has been abused or neglected can spread like a wildfire, and rumors of who was involved can be difficult to determine, and the shame and humiliation to a family can be great. However, as a Catholic from a rural community, the church of that family should work with state Child Protective Services and law enforcement agencies in order to ascertain who the guilty person(s) is. That person should be expeditiously brought to justice based on a comprehensive investigation, with clear evidence made available to a court of law, no matter when it happened. If a church _ whether it be Mormon, Christian Identity, Jehovah Witness or Catholic _ has a host of elders who believe that they are above the law because of their misuse of the separation of church and state doctrine, then I believe they are sadly and tragically mistaken, when you consider the lifelong mental and physical damage to a child who remembers the traumatic circumstances and can understand that the most significant support system in their lives is ignoring their pain and suffering in favor of maintaining that church's reputation. James Gordon Perkins ,
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  Odrade

  Good, it's about time newspapers start printing letters to the ed like this. Bad PR for the WTS is probably one of the stronger weapons we have. After all, they do have an image as "Jehovah's Clean People" to maintain.

  Odrade
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  mizpah

  Thanks once again for an interesting posting, Blondie

  This may be only the beginning of the public outrage over these sexual abuse cases that the courts take so lightly and the Watchtower Society ignores. Neither will be able to continue in this course if the public demands changes. Silent Lambs and Bill Bowen have done us all a great service!
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  simplesally

  Yeah, it really sounds stupid to df someone for smoking when many times the don't bother to df the convicted abuser. I am surprised they said that this man was to be df'd for 2 years....... how does the court keep track of that and why only two years. I thought they didn't put a time frame on staying df'd.
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  Panda

  Blondie, This post gives me some hope that people in the community are paying attention. I think that with the Catholic church that folks recognise the enormity of the molesting but, with the JW's they don't realise the size of the organisation and sometimes skim over the abuse articles. And I don't find anyone talking about the WTS abuse like they do the Catholics. I really thought the Mark Furman interview (which you can hear on http://www.dirtclod.com ) showed how little even people in the news know. I'd like to go around saying "JW's molest kids and may come to your door when you aren't home and your child is home." But I think people just don't get how evil this situation has become.
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  forgetmenot

  The Spokane case is interesting because the deal with the pervert was that he wasn't supposed to come back to the congregation for two years. The elders/whoever cut this time short. And so the victims got upset.

  The public should be outraged! He was still at large in the community...the people/children in danger in this situation weren't only the Jehovah's Witnesses in his area but the WHOLE community.

  With more cases like this, the public will see the real danger and view it as their problem too, not just a religious problem.