Posts by hawkaw

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Four lawsuits filed in California claim Jehovah's Witnesses officials have been covering up alleged sex abuse of children by congregation leaders, adding to a series of similar suits nationwide.

The law firms involved in the suits filed last week in three northern California counties are holding public meetings this week in search of more victims and witnesses.

``It is a widespread problem and nothing's been done about it to protect these children, to protect future children,'' said Bill Brelsford, one of the Sacramento attorneys who filed four lawsuits Thursday in California.

``Once they (church leaders) know about it, they don't do anything to stop it,'' Brelsford said.

Church general counsel Philip Brumley said the church's own investigation of previous lawsuits found church elders did nothing wrong as they tried to protect victims, comply with sexual abuse reporting laws and adhere to biblical admonitions against accepting accusations by a single witness.

``We abhor child abuse,'' Brumley said. ``The assertion or allegation of a cover up, or a nonchalance about child abuse, is just so far from the truth.''

Brumley said 10 lawsuits were filed before the California suits. William H. Bowen, who was excommunicated from the church after he set up a critical Web site and hot line for abuse victims, estimated 15 to 17 suits are pending, not counting the California cases.

Bowen said he has posted more than 1,000 abuse stories on his Web site, and fielded more than 6,000 complaints since 2001. Some of the allegations date to the 1970s.

The church puts its membership at 6 million worldwide, including 1 million in the United States.

``I have literally the last couple months been bombarded with this stuff. These are not liars, they're abuse survivors,'' Bowen said. ``It never stops. New victims are coming in on a weekly basis.''

Last year, church members or elders in Tennessee and Kentucky were banned from the church after they went public with allegations the denomination has protected pedophiles.

One member, Barbara Anderson of Tullahoma, Tenn., worked as a researcher at Watchtower Bible and Tract Society headquarters in the early 1990s, when she said a church official asked her to look into the handling of sexual abuse cases. She said she found hundreds of allegations kept secret in church files.

Lawsuits have been filed in Nevada, Minnesota, Texas, New Hampshire. Suits filed last year by members in Maryland, Oregon and Washington also claim church elders told them they would not be believed if they reported the molestation without corroboration by witnesses.

Brumley explained the requirement stems from biblical references that no single witness should rise up against any man. But he denied the church discourages victims or their parents from going to police.

Where molestation allegations are corroborated, the abuser is banned from the church and is never again allowed to hold a position of authority if the excommunication is rescinded, Brumley said.

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On the Net:

Jehovah's Witnesses: http://www.watchtower.org

Silentlambs Web site: http://www.silentlambs.org

16

Bill is coming to the San Francisco Bay Area!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by sunshineToo in

.

i just got this email.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

silentlambs in .

hawkaw

I have never heard the tapes sf.

Well if she was manipulated she would have been manipulated not only by Bill but also Barb, I would think, as she was more friends with Barb I thought. Last I heard she gave that statement by her own freewill and everyone there was kind of surprised she did it and she seemed quite happy to have said it.

I believe some on the db expressed concern that the story should have been released in a better forum such as with lawyers and infront of a true press conference.

Well, I will talk to Bill. But does it bring down all the lawsuits and press? No way.

Take care

hawk

56

Lawsuits allege cover-up of sexual abuse by Jehovah's Witnesses-CNN.com

by ashitaka in

jw
friends

don't know if anyone has covered this article yet.

sorry if this is a repost.

ashlawsuits allege cover-up of sexual abuse by jehovah's witnesses.

hawkaw

It''s about time we got another run on the AP.

This otta leave another mark!

hawk

16

Bill is coming to the San Francisco Bay Area!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by sunshineToo in

.

i just got this email.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

silentlambs in .

hawkaw

So sf

Are you saying that Pat was lying or something?

hawk

13

Four lawsuits filed in California over JW sexual abuse cover-up

by Gerard in

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0729jehovahswitnesses29-on.html lawsuits allege cover-up of sexual abuse up by jehovah's witnesses

associated press.

jul.

hawkaw

Oh !!! Baby this should leave a mark.

WooooHoooooooooooooo!!!!!

Well done Kim Norris and Bill Bowen.

hawk

18

The Rise and Fall of JW.com

by teejay in

i've not been here from the beginning -- those halcyon days of yore i've heard about -- when the place resembled an online corner cafe.

i remember a place very much like that, though, so i know how it must have felt.

no, i came soon after along with several others of a rowdy bunch and, after barging in with the rest of the gang, i liked what i saw -- a haven from the biting wind; a place to catch my breath -- and made it my home.. .

hawkaw

I know you have locked the topic Simon but I have unlocked it for just a second to add something to this thread.

Calm down. Just relax. People are expressing their views and well its okay to do that.

Everyone has made their points and your points are taken by everyone too. A decision is reached after the debate and well that's that.

So try calming down. There is no need to freak out big guy and no need to be angry at Teejay either.

It's healthy to have critcism and a lively debate over the topic as long as its done professionally. I haven't observed anything nasty being said in this thread by Teejay. Some critism - oh yeah - but it's healthy.

Take some time away from the board big guy and then come back. I get bitched all the time too even whven I'm trying to help certain JWs. Did I ever tell you the story of ******* and the British reporter, Steve Bates, who now refuses to talk to me anymore - all because I tried to protect ***** from Steve - oh man was that crazy? I will even tell you about the cop xxxx and what happened there. Anytime. It just pushes over the edge if you aren't careful.

All I say is be cool and don't let it get to you to much. Let people air their differences in their own ways - its healthy - especially after they have just come out of a killer cult - like you have.

hawk

18

The Rise and Fall of JW.com

by teejay in

i've not been here from the beginning -- those halcyon days of yore i've heard about -- when the place resembled an online corner cafe.

i remember a place very much like that, though, so i know how it must have felt.

no, i came soon after along with several others of a rowdy bunch and, after barging in with the rest of the gang, i liked what i saw -- a haven from the biting wind; a place to catch my breath -- and made it my home.. .

hawkaw

I have made my points yesterday both in Jim's thread as well as the moderators' thread on this issue.

I again stand by my comments and by waiting's comments and I do think TeeJay does make some valid points.

I don't think TeeJay is saying a single incident, Simon. It seems to me that this single incident is actually an issue that has been building for sometime with him and finally, what happened yesterday triggered the comments from a few, including me.

As I have said before - you guys need your freedom - it is so important. And as I have said before good debates with good counter arguements work much better than a thread lock.

I understand thread locks when people are swearing their heads off or whatever. And of course I will edit stuff if I see private addresses, names etc. being used. I also have edited stuff if I see someone has missed an interesting link that could add to their post - right Scully.

And as I said yesterday I enjoy everyone here and highly respect everyone - whether they know it or not.

But sh!t happens. The moderators try their best and if things screw up, we learn and move on. So we will just have to agree to disagree on this particular issue. The majority of moderators have spoken and the threads have been locked. We voiced our concerns, freely and then decisions are made to unlock or leave be.

So now its time to move on.

I still want to make it clear that I thoroughly enjoy this site compared to others and still only post here when it comes to JW issues. Why? I feel comfortable here and enjoy the debating that occurs. Simon has created an excellent board and its an honour to be here.

hawk (whose centring sometimes leaves him and people on this board bring him back to the centre from the "far sides" of life)

91

To: IW - Stop Dodging the Bullet

by Amazing in

jw
friends

first, simon and other mods, please let this thread run its course for a while.

if it gets too dicey, then i will move or lock it.

my goal is not to have a big flame war, but to expose an issue for what it is.

hawkaw

Hey Jim,

Give it up.

Island Woman has left the db.

She's gonzo as of last night - so don't bother any more.

hawk