 | It’s a practice that is centuries old: confessing one’s sins to a trusted clergy member. But could the protection these confessions receive through clergy-penitent privilege be aiding admitted child sex offenders? “We have a responsibility to try to prevent aggressors from harming people ... |
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Article: What Is The Clergy-Penitent Privilege And How Can It Protect Sex Offenders?
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.oxygen.com/the-witnesses/crime-news/how-clergy-penitent-privilege-may-protect-sex-offenders.
how clergy-penitent privilege may protect sex offenders | crime news.
it’s a practice that is centuries old: confessing one’s sins to a trusted clergy member.
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THE IRISH TIMES: Judge orders blood can be administered to Jehovah’s Witness girl
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/judge-orders-blood-can-be-administered-to-jehovah-s-witness-girl-1.4157892.
a teenage girl who urgently requires surgery can, if necessary, be administered blood or blood products against the wishes of herself and her parents, all members of the jehovah’s witness faith, the president of the high court has ordered.. mr justice peter kelly said he was satisfied, notwithstanding the views of the girl and her parents, the orders are necessary for preserving the girl’s life and not to permit them would be “hazardous”.. the orders take immediate effect, he directed.. david leahy bl, for the hse, sought the orders in an ex parte application, one side only represented, on friday afternoon.. a solicitor for the hse told the court he had informed the girl and her parents of the court application and the parents had indicated they were not attending court to oppose it.. the solicitor said the parents were not objecting to surgery but, should a situation arise where the medical team wanted to administer blood or blood products, they could not agree to that and wanted the team to explore all other alternatives.. they had also said they wanted the best for their daughter and would not stand in the way of a court order.. mr justice kelly said court applications for leave to administer blood or blood products against the wishes of members of the jehovah’s witness faith, while not a regular occurrence, are not unusual.. he referred to a number of decisions permitting that to be done in “exceptional” circumstances.. on the medical evidence, including that antibiotic therapy had not reduced the infection and the serous risk of sepsis if surgery is not carried out, he was satisfied she needed the surgery.. read more: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/judge-orders-blood-can-be-administered-to-jehovah-s-witness-girl-1.4157892.
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https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/judge-orders-blood-can-be-administered-to-jehovah-s-witness-girl-1.4157892
A teenage girl who urgently requires surgery can, if necessary, be administered blood or blood products against the wishes of herself and her parents, all members of the Jehovah’s Witness faith, the president of the High Court has ordered.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly said he was satisfied, notwithstanding the views of the girl and her parents, the orders are necessary for preserving the girl’s life and not to permit them would be “hazardous”.
The orders take immediate effect, he directed.
David Leahy BL, for the HSE, sought the orders in an ex parte application, one side only represented, on Friday afternoon.
A solicitor for the HSE told the court he had informed the girl and her parents of the court application and the parents had indicated they were not attending court to oppose it.
The solicitor said the parents were not objecting to surgery but, should a situation arise where the medical team wanted to administer blood or blood products, they could not agree to that and wanted the team to explore all other alternatives.
They had also said they wanted the best for their daughter and would not stand in the way of a court order.
Mr Justice Kelly said court applications for leave to administer blood or blood products against the wishes of members of the Jehovah’s Witness faith, while not a regular occurrence, are not unusual.
He referred to a number of decisions permitting that to be done in “exceptional” circumstances.
On the medical evidence, including that antibiotic therapy had not reduced the infection and the serous risk of sepsis if surgery is not carried out, he was satisfied she needed the surgery.
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Article: Jehovah's Witnesses leaders ordered to pay rape victim £62,000 damages
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/jehovahs-witnesses-leaders-ordered-pay-17661919.
jehovah's witnesses leaders ordered to pay rape victim £62,000 damages.
the woman was raped by a fellow jehovah's witness after going door-to-door evangelising near cardiff, glamorgan, 30 years ago, mr justice chamberlain heard.
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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/jehovahs-witnesses-leaders-ordered-pay-17661919
Jehovah's Witnesses leaders ordered to pay rape victim £62,000 damages
The woman was raped by a fellow Jehovah's Witness after going door-to-door evangelising near Cardiff, Glamorgan, 30 years ago, Mr Justice Chamberlain heard
ByJames RodgerHead of Trends- 17:56, 30 JAN 2020
Leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses have been told to pay a rape victim more than £60,000 damages by a High Court judge.
The woman was raped by a fellow Jehovah's Witness after going door-to-door evangelising near Cardiff, Glamorgan, 30 years ago, Mr Justice Chamberlain heard.
A "judicial committee" of Jehovah's Witnesses' elders had, in 1991, found the woman's allegations against Mark Sewell "not proven" at an internal inquiry.
But more than 20 years later Sewell was investigated by police.
He was convicted of raping the woman and indecently assaulting two other people after a trial in 2014, and was given a 14-year prison sentence. READ MORE: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/jehovahs-witnesses-leaders-ordered-pay-17661919
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Did you know that Jane Roe of Roe v. Ray was raised a Jehovah's Witness?
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://observer.case.edu/editorial-reproductive-rights-are-human-rights/?fbclid=iwar1gip_xy4dkz-kepsa8qts72a5_upgeabcrduriit7dsi-iysqnmwxtztk.
editorial: reproductive rights are human rights.
lorie shaull.
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Editorial: Reproductive rights are human rights
Lorie Shaull
Jane Roe and her lawyer outside of the Supreme Court.
Editorial Board
January 23, 2020
Norma McCorvey was born to two Jehovah’s Witnesses in a suburb west of Houston in 1947. She quickly learned that she did not subscribe to the same beliefs as her parents and, as a result, ended up in a correctional facility. After repeatedly seeing her mother drunk with other men, McCorvey promised herself she would pursue a different life. However, by age 22 she had been pregnant three times—the first cared for by McCorvey’s mother and the second by the child’s father. McCorvey, unprepared for the first two pregnancies, was in no way prepared to have a third child, but lacked the means for an abortion or any other alternative.
Few people recognize McCorvey’s name, but nearly all Americans are familiar with her pseudonym, Jane Roe, of Roe v. Wade.
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San Antonio: JWs leadership condemn former member accused of child molestation
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/jehovahs-witness-leadership-condemn-former-member-accused-of-child-molestation.
jehovah's witness leadership condemn former member accused of child molestation.
by joe galli.
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AndersonsInfo
https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/jehovahs-witness-leadership-condemn-former-member-accused-of-child-molestation
Jehovah's Witness leadership condemn former member accused of child molestation
AAby Joe Galli
Wednesday, December 4th 2019Joshua Alvarez, 21, is out of jail on $75,000 bond. (Police photo)SAN ANTONIO — We are learning more about a man charged with molesting several children he met through church.
Joshua Alvarez, 21, is out of jail on $75,000 bond. We have learned from church members he was a Jehovah’s Witness and attended services at the Kingdom Hall on Pleasonton Road on the city's South Side.
Alvarez is accused of molesting several children he met through what police would only say is a ‘religious congregation.’
No one at the Kingdom Hall here was willing to talk to me on camera.
According to court papers, two 4-year-old boys told their parents that Alvarez performed sexual acts on them. Alvarez allegedly confessed to the crimes to the victim’s parents.
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Article:‘At last it’s over’: 40 years on justice catches up with N. Ireland Jehovah Witness pervert
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://moosegazette.net/at-last-its-over-40-years-on-justice-catches-up-with-northern-ireland-jehovah-witness-pervert/116464/.
‘at last it’s over’: 40 years on justice catches up with northern ireland jehovah witness pervert.
charles henry -.
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‘At last it’s over’: 40 years on justice catches up with Northern Ireland Jehovah Witness pervert
November 27, 2019A WOMAN abused as a child by a fellow Jehovah’s Witness during Bible study classes has bravely spoken out about her life-wrecking experience.
Laura Waring courageously waived her right to anonymity after her attacker pleaded guilty to a string of child sex charges.
On Tuesday, Charles Frederick Loyal, known as Eric, admitted 18 accounts of abuse against Laura, dating back to 1975 when he was in his 30s.
“It will never be closure but I can draw a line and though I thought I could never get over it, I can move forward now,” she told Sunday Life.
Laura (51) explained the abuse by Loyal started when she was eight years old and continued for three years on an almost weekly basis.
Loyal, now aged 76, is due to be sentenced next month but refused to say anything about the case when approached by our reporter.
“The abuse happened in my own home, my parents hosted a Bible study meeting every Tuesday night,” recalled the Newtownabbey woman.
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NBC NEWS: Man who raped Jehovah's Witness girls sentenced to 5 years in prison
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-who-raped-jehovah-s-witness-girls-sentenced-5-years-n1082136.
man who raped jehovah's witness girls sentenced to 5 years in prison .
"it’s finally over.
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Man who raped Jehovah's Witness girls sentenced to 5 years in prison
"It’s finally over. This chapter is finally closed," Moriah Hughes, who was 14 when then-25-year-old Elihu Rodriguez sexually abused her, said.
Moriah Hughes left the Jehovah's Witnesses faith after elders in the church turned away when she approached them with accusations of rape against another fellow congregation member when she was 14 and he was 25.Rajah Bose / for NBC NewsNov. 20, 2019, 11:49 AM CSTBy Elizabeth ChuckA man who pleaded guilty to raping two underage girls he met through the Jehovah's Witness congregation they all belonged to has been sentenced to five years in prison — a "relief" to his victims.
Elihu Rodriguez, 32, of Yakima, Washington, was given five years, the maximum sentence prosecutors had asked for, after Rodriguez pleaded guilty to three felony counts of child rape in the third degree in September. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender. Both of his victims attended the sentencing, which took place Friday at the King County Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, Washington.
NBC News does not typically identify survivors of sexual abuse, but one of Rodriguez's victims, Moriah Hughes, chose to share her story last year. She said she had been five days away from turning 15 when Rodriguez, then 25, first raped her in October 2012 at her home in Federal Way, Washington.
Hughes told NBC News after Rodriguez was sentenced that she "felt fantastic" knowing he was going to be behind bars.
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Montana Women's Prison settles discrimination complaint by JW | billingsgazette.com
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/montana-women-s-prison-settles-discrimination-complaint-by-jehovah-s/article_d1c8c9cf-1b33-5b77-99b3-a6be5bcab357.html.
montana women's prison settles discrimination complaint by jehovah's witness.
the state has agreed to pay a portion of an inmate’s attorney fees and have a warden undergo training on religion rights to settle a discrimination claim.. .
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Montana Women's Prison settles discrimination complaint by Jehovah's Witness
The state has agreed to pay a portion of an inmate’s attorney fees and have a warden undergo training on religion rights to settle a discrimination claim.
May Simmons, an inmate at the Montana Women’s Prison, settled with the Department of Corrections in October, and a copy of the agreement was released this week.
Simmons had alleged the prison discriminated against her by failing to grant her full access to worship services as a Jehovah’s Witness.
After reviewing the claim, the Montana Human Rights Bureau found the department likely violated the law by denying Simmons use of the prison chapel while permitting its use for other religions.
Officials with the Department of Corrections admit no violation of the law and signed the agreement in order to “buy their peace and resolve this case without further proceedings,” the settlement states.
The agreement requires the department to pay $4,400 in attorney fees for Simmons’ attorney, Eric Holm, and to pay $1,000 to Simmons. READ MORE:
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Los Angeles Times: California braces for deluge of child-sex-assault lawsuits under new law
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-20/california-child-sex-assault-lawsuits-new-law.
san diego — matt smyth’s secret was revealed in his senior year of high school with a knock on the front door of his family’s fallbrook, calif., home.. two plainclothes sheriff’s detectives were investigating reports that smyth’s former assistant scoutmaster — the one who’d driven kids to boy scout meetings, chaperoned camp-outs and hosted fishing outings on his bucolic property — had molested several boys.. to the shock of his parents, smyth shared that he’d been a victim, too.
but the bombshell stayed close to home for decades.
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Oct. 20, 2019SAN DIEGO —Matt Smyth’s secret was revealed in his senior year of high school with a knock on the front door of his family’s Fallbrook, Calif., home.
Two plainclothes sheriff’s detectives were investigating reports that Smyth’s former assistant scoutmaster — the one who’d driven kids to Boy Scout meetings, chaperoned camp-outs and hosted fishing outings on his bucolic property — had molested several boys.
To the shock of his parents, Smyth shared that he’d been a victim, too. But the bombshell stayed close to home for decades. Smyth never heard from the investigators again, and he moved on — or tried to.
More than 40 years later, Smyth is finally ready for his day in court, and a public reckoning.
The 55-year-old, who still lives in Fallbrook, is among potentially thousands of Californians who are preparing to file sexual abuse lawsuits under a new state law that allows victims more time to report allegations of abuse and to take legal action.
Under existing law, victims of child sex abuse have until age 26 to file a lawsuit, or three years from the time of discovery that psychological injury was caused by sexual abuse suffered as a child.
The new law, which was sponsored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) and takes effect Jan. 1, raises the statute of limitations to 40 years of age, or up to five years after discovery. The law also opens a three-year window that allows victims of any age to sue on previously expired claims.
The new law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week, is expected to result in an avalanche of litigation aimed at indelible institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America, as well as local school districts, foster care agencies, hospitals and youth sports organizations.
“We’re trying to make our clients whole,” said Andrew Van Arsdale, a San Diego-based attorney representing hundreds of former Boy Scouts, including Smyth. “There’s no amount of money you could pay these guys to make them go through what they went through again. This is at least a good faith effort to do everything in our power to heal that wound, close that circle and get them the help they need.”
California joins New York and New Jersey, which passed similar laws this year, and other states such as Maine, Delaware and Utah, which have completely abolished civil statutes of limitations in these kinds of cases.
The cumulative effect is increasing the pressure on national organizations that are potentially facing a sustained onslaught of high-figure payouts, as well as prompting questions about how court systems can manage such a large volume of cases fairly and efficiently.
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Article: Church elder sentenced to 80 years in prison for sex assaults in Cleburne county
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.fox16.com/news/church-elder-sentenced-to-80-years-in-prison-for-sex-assaults-in-cleburne-county/.
church elder sentenced to 80 years in prison for sex assaults in cleburne county.
by: tyler thomason.
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Church elder sentenced to 80 years in prison for sex assaults in Cleburne county
by: Tyler Thomason
Posted: Oct 8, 2019 / 05:47 PM CDT / Updated: Oct 8, 2019 / 05:55 PM CDTCLEBURNE COUNTY, Ark. — A church leader convicted of sexually assaulting children has been sentenced to 80 years in prison.
Roderick Watkins, 57, received the jury’s verdict last week in Cleburne county.
Watkins was an elder in the Jehovah’s Witness church, according to court documents.
Court documents reveal that at least four people came forward over the past year, accusing Watkins of sexually assaulting them while they were children.
The four victims included three boys and one girl.
Cleburne county sheriff, Chris Brown, says six other people came forward as the trial neared, bringing the total number of accusers to 10.
The state prosecuted Watkins on four charges. He received the maximum penalty, 20 years, for each one.
“I think that’s a testament to just how strongly our community feels about things like this,” Brown says.
The crimes happened in various places, including Cleburne county, Batesville and Little Rock, according to victim statements in court documents.
One victim’s mother told detectives she reported the assault to church leaders, and nothing was done at first with the exception of suspension of some of Watkins’ duties, according to court documents.
We reached out to Watkins’ wife and we reached out to his attorney, but both declined to comment.
I think for someone involved in behavior like this, the message should be: when you get caught, not if you get caught, but when you get caught it’s going to be taken seriously,” Brown says.
“Because it’s wrong.”
Copyright 2019 Nexstar Broadcasting
