Another Sex Abuse Case...

luna

Fifth man alleges sexual abuse at Placer congregation By Ryan McCarthy
Journal Staff Writer

stillajwexelder

and another nail in the coffin for the WTBTS

Pork Chop

ex I keep hearing that but the Wt attorney is quite right, so far they have done rather well in these lawsuits.

avishai

ex I keep hearing that but the Wt attorney is quite right, so far they have done rather well in these lawsuits.

Where's the evidence of that Pork Chop? As far as I know, almost all of the recent slew of cases are STILL IN LITIGATION!!!! How have they done well? These bastards continue to break the law on mandatory reporting. Of course, I expect someone who's still a dub, like yourself to believe unsubstantiated claims, that's why the society is putting that spin on it, for peole like you. Witnesses as a whole are inherently gullible, that's the only way they'd believe most or all of the thousands of personal stories here and on silentlambs are "apostate lies". Wait 'til these cases are over, then open your mouth.

Room 215

``Plaintiffs not doing well?!!" Hellooo Mario.... Not doing well? I can well imagine how anyone subjected to the trauma of abuse from people he/she trusted, then bullied into keeping it quiet by people he/she relied on for spiritual guidance, might have a bit of a problem ``doing well," no?

orangefatcat

I am of the consences that all x jehovah's witnesses or present Jehovah's witness, gather en masse and attack the Organization for their negligence in not reporting to the authorities.

I think this is about the only way the media can also help people in the general public see how wide spread this problem is in the ranks of JW. I mean how is that the Roman Catholics are being held responsible for their actions and yet the JWs are getting away with this..

Something is wrong at some level it has got to be made known that their is a clear and present danger if you become involved with JW.

Love Orangefatcat

Valis

Churches are not expected to monitor how believers behave with one another, the attorney said.

WTF? If they only knew.. So it was a kid sexually abusing another kid? Someone should have a look at the defendants parents, relatives, etc...bound to be another pedophile in there somewhere. kids may engage in sexual exploration, but sexual behavior that leads to abuse is learned or taught IMO.

Sincerely,

District Overbeer

RunningMan

Churches are not expected to monitor how believers behave with one another

Now this is rich.

What utter gall. How can they possibly utter such a hypocrital sentence. I can remember sitting through a special needs talk at the service meeting a few years ago, that went into explicit details of how kids are supposed to rat each other out if they think sins are being committed.

avishai

Here are some other remarks RE: my bro's case by JW spin doctors on this thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/46670/1.ashx

Brumley, the Watchtower Society lawyer, said that the elders aren't to blame for acts committed by another person. He says McKenzie wasn't even an official congregation member, though he may have attended some meetings.
"To our knowledge, he was never a baptized Witness," Brumley said.

Here is the other article, the first one RE: this case

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/38146/1.ashx

DevonMcBride

ex I keep hearing that but the Wt attorney is quite right, so far they have done rather well in these lawsuits.

The WT DIDN'T do well in this case:

http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000043.html

Why did Jehovah's Witnesses pay the largest cash settlement in its history?

The largest settlement ever paid in the history of Jehovah's Witnesses occurred this past October, but no news outlet has yet reported it.

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which is the umbrella organization over 6 million Witnesses worldwide, paid the estate of Frances Coughlin $1.55 million dollars rather than let a jury decide the wrongful death lawsuit.

Frances Coughlin's surviving family sued Jehovah's Witnesses, also known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, in State of Connecticut Superior Court at Milford (CV-00-0072183 S).

The principle defendant was a "Bethelite," or full-time ministry worker, who drove recklessly in bad weather and killed Ms. Coughlin, a mother and grandmother, on October 8, 1998.

That Bethelite Jordon Johnson was traveling between "Bethel," which has housing for its full-time workers in Patison, New Jersey and Brooklyn, New York, to a Witness Kingdom Hall he was assigned to in Derby, Connecticut.

Johnson was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter, but only served 30 days in jail and was sentenced to two years probation. Subsequently, he and Jehovah's Witnesses faced a civil suit filed by Ms. Coughlin's surviving family for damages.

Why was the Witness organization willing to pay more than $1.5 million dollars?

Apparently because a much larger issue of "agency" was at stake.

Agency is the word used to express a relationship between a principal party and its agent, through which the principal party projects its power and/or advances some purpose. And a principal party may be held liable for the actions of its agent.

Jehovah's Witnesses contended that Jordan Johnson acted on his own and was not their agent at the time he caused the fatal car wreck.

But plaintiff's counsel, Joel Faxon of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, claimed on his client's behalf that Jordan Johnson was serving as a Bethelite and agent of the organization at the time and advancing their purpose, therefore Jehovah's Witnesses was responsible for his actions.

Internal documents were obtained through the discovery process and testimony was given through depositions, which clarified and substantiated Faxon's view.

I was retained as an expert witness and consultant for this case by the plaintiff's counsel.

My role was to assist in the discovery process, provide research and generally help to form a basis for an understanding of how Jehovah's Witnesses employ, use and control Bethelites and others within their organization. Ultimately, I would have also testified as an expert in court.

That testimony would have included explaining in clear terms how the organizational dynamics, indoctrination and objectives of Jehovah's Witnesses impact individual members and more specifically full-time workers such as Bethelite Jordan Johnson.

But on the first day of trial Jehovah's Witnesses decided they didn't want a jury to decide this case and instead $1.55 million was paid to the plaintiff.

The organization that claims it is waiting for the ever-eminent "end of the world" decided to settle in a pragmatic move to protect its long-term interests and more than $1 billion dollars of accumulated assets.

Again, why would the Witnesses do this if they actually believed they had no meaningful liability?

Certainly the cost to complete the case in court would be far less than $1.55 million dollars. Why not let the jury decide?

But the seemingly shrewd Witnesses realized that there was just too much at stake and didn't want to risk a "guilty" verdict.

Currently the organization known as Jehovah's Witnesses faces a growing number of lawsuits filed by former members who feel the organization has hurt them.

The personal injuries were allegedly caused by elders and others acting in accordance with the organization's policies and doctrines, which include such matters as blood transfusions and sexual abuse.

Seemingly to protect its assets the Watchtower Society of Jehovah's Witnesses and its many Kingdom Hall congregations have in recent years created a myriad of corporate entities to apparently contain liability.

That is, each corporation is seemingly only responsible for its own specific actions and not the action of others. Again, this appears to be a rather pragmatic legal approach to protect the assets amassed by Jehovah's Witnesses over more than a century.

But what if Jehovah's Witnesses are nevertheless responsible or liable for the actions of its agents, which would include elders and others throughout its vast network of districts and Kingdom Halls?

Well, now you can see why the check was likely cut for $1.55 million in the Coughlin case.

Jehovah's Witnesses were apparently concerned about what legal precedent a jury might set that could ultimately affect other claims pending or potentially possible in the future against the organization.

Many people seem to think that Jehovah's Witnesses or the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is focused on the end of the world and a coming kingdom. At least that's the impression many have when its members come knocking at the door.

But through the Coughlin case a different view of the organization emerges, which looks more like a business protecting its worldly assets and focused on the bottom line.

Another Sex Abuse Case...

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