church leaders refused to co-operate with a police investigation into a sex attack by one of their congregation on a teenage girl.. jehovahs witness paul atkin has now been jailed for five years after he admitted sexual activity with a 15-year-old.. a court heard the south shields based branch of the church carried out their own investigation after the allegation came to light and atkin was booted out.. but when police came knocking, church officials refused to help what was then a rape allegation, on the grounds of confidentiality.. prosecutor deborah smith told newcastle crown court: it would appear there was some form of investigation by the church.. we know the defendant was disfellowshipped as a consequence of that investigation but there has been no disclosure of any minutes of meetings with the defendant and the elders have refused to provide statements to the police, despite the fact the defendant is no longer a member of their congregation, on the grounds of confidentiality.. atkin, of east moffat street, south shields, was initially accused of rape but the charge was dropped when he admitted sexual activity with a child.. the court heard his victim was 15-and-a-half when he had sex with her.. miss smith said: she did not wish to have sexual intercourse with him.. the crown accept, having discussed matters with her, the defendant may reasonably have believed that she did.. she did not fight back or shout out at the time of the incident.. the court heard the woman is still on anti-depressants and says her self confidence has been shattered by the ordeal.. in a statement read to the court, the victim, who is now an adult, said: this has had a major effect on me and i cannot trust men.. i bottled everything up and as a teenager i turned to drink and drugs.. i hope he gets sent to prison and gets what he deserves.. judge simon hickey jailed atkin for five years and said he must sign the sex offenders register for life and abide by the terms of a sexual offences prevention order for five years.. the judge told him: this has had a huge effect upon this young lady.. gavin doig, defending, said atkin has a good, supportive family and partner and said his family describe him as a hard working man with a job who will face devastating consequences if sent to jail.. he added that it was atkin himself who had brought the matter to the attention of police.. mr doig told the court: this defendant made a very bad mistake a number of years ago.
he has not made any further mistakes.. he is extremely sorry he committed this offence knowing, as he did, the complainant was under age.. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/south-shields-jehovahs-witness-jailed-8567927.
They completely fail the most innocent when they stand on the side of the abuser. They may claim the don't take sides but the moment they fail to cooperate with the authorities they clearly take a side.
Just imagine what it feels like for the victims when elders their Shepard who they most likely have known most their lives refuse to help them?
of course we all know that many ex-jw's are doing this online constantly and that's a good thing.
whether by you tubes, websites, blogs, etc.
the worldwide community of ex-jw's has been and will continue to be proactive in putting out real information to counteract and offset the lies and fantasy propaganda put out by the wt society.
Love your idea of having printouts of the recent child molestation cases on hand. Maybe have a folder in the car or in a drawer by the front door.
I truly think it's easy to dismiss "apostates" when they come at you yelling and screaming scriptures at you. But if you appeal to them with concern for their children/grandchildren and show them with news reports/court documents you just might get to them.
I know in my case what happened to my family really disturbed many and I've heard some have left because of it. Child molestation is something most humans find unforgivable, I really think more and more JW's are finding out about what's happening within their religion, I'm hoping their conscience will kick in with a little help from all all of us.
whatever the outcome of the appeal, i fear that most of us are going to be very disappointed.. a) obviously if the org wins.. b) if the org loses, they will put their plan 'b' into action - damage limitation - which will iinvolve confidentiality agreements being signed by pending/future victims, thereby settling the majority of cases out of court, and winning in several ways;.
there are probably other benefits, but these are the principal ones, and for these reasons i reckon the floodgates will never be allowed to be opened!!!
they've seen how other establishments have responded to their pedophile cases, and have picked up some good tips on how to minimise the effects.
whatever the outcome of the appeal, i fear that most of us are going to be very disappointed.. a) obviously if the org wins.. b) if the org loses, they will put their plan 'b' into action - damage limitation - which will iinvolve confidentiality agreements being signed by pending/future victims, thereby settling the majority of cases out of court, and winning in several ways;.
there are probably other benefits, but these are the principal ones, and for these reasons i reckon the floodgates will never be allowed to be opened!!!
they've seen how other establishments have responded to their pedophile cases, and have picked up some good tips on how to minimise the effects.
The Conti case has already done what we all have hoped for. It exposed the JW's for what they are. It also gave many who were on the fence about talking to lawyers about their abuse the little push to do it.
The only disappointment I will feel if the WT wins this appeal is that Candace didn't get what she deserves, other then that I can only thank her for her strength.
I always share with my daughter (who was molested at 9) what Candace has done to help others and what a brave young woman she is to stand up to a powerful organization.
I think it's important to remember the good that has come out of this case and to keep up a positive attitude....it's not over yet.
Candace might be reading these comments. Let's give her some good vibes and well wishes :)
im not an attorney and i could not record the hearing, so please forgive me if i make mistakes in relating what i remember of the oral argument hearing for jane doe (i.e., candace conti) versus the watchtower bible & tract society on january 14, 2015 and the length of this post.. i arrived at the civic center/union plaza in san francisco, ca about 7:30. the area is very nice with a few homeless people sleeping in the park across from the courthouse.
it took me about 10 minutes to find the clerks office for the court on the first floor, which opened at 8:00.. once the clerks office opened, the two clerks who i talked with were very polite and helpful.
the arguments for jane doe (i.e., candace conti) versus the watchtower bible & tract society were scheduled 5th out of (i think) 8. while i was in the office a cameraman and another person for nbc arrived asking about the hearing for candace contis case.. the courtroom for the 1st appellate court is on the 4th floor and takes up most of that floor.
I know you can find the oral arguments on the internet for the Supreme Court but I'm guessing they don't have them for the lower courts?
Looks like you can find another break down on what went on from another attendee on JWsurvey.
im not an attorney and i could not record the hearing, so please forgive me if i make mistakes in relating what i remember of the oral argument hearing for jane doe (i.e., candace conti) versus the watchtower bible & tract society on january 14, 2015 and the length of this post.. i arrived at the civic center/union plaza in san francisco, ca about 7:30. the area is very nice with a few homeless people sleeping in the park across from the courthouse.
it took me about 10 minutes to find the clerks office for the court on the first floor, which opened at 8:00.. once the clerks office opened, the two clerks who i talked with were very polite and helpful.
the arguments for jane doe (i.e., candace conti) versus the watchtower bible & tract society were scheduled 5th out of (i think) 8. while i was in the office a cameraman and another person for nbc arrived asking about the hearing for candace contis case.. the courtroom for the 1st appellate court is on the 4th floor and takes up most of that floor.
Thank you for sharing.
I guess now it's time to wait... My thoughts are with Candace Conti right now.
with hopefully a good deal of interest here in the conti appeal tomorrow (or later today, depending on where you are), i thought that on my ride home from work tonight i'd preview what to expect and what i think the key issues are for any who are interested.
i have had a busy few weeks and haven't had time to read everything, but i had some time to look at the appeal briefs during my work commute the past couple days.
it'll be interesting to see what develops out of the network news coverage of this case.
In my opinion, the moment the WT/elders take on the responsibility of "watching" these known pedophiles they become responsible for every child in that congregation!
Now, if they went to each parent and warned them against this pedophile and the parents ignored that warning and allowed their child to be around such pedophile...then, you can blame the parent.
How can we protect our children if we don't know who to protect them from??
Yes, we all know to teach our children about good touch, bad touch. We all know to check out the sex offender lists in our neighborhoods. But we Don't know what brother elder knows about what brother pedophile tells him in the back room.
with hopefully a good deal of interest here in the conti appeal tomorrow (or later today, depending on where you are), i thought that on my ride home from work tonight i'd preview what to expect and what i think the key issues are for any who are interested.
i have had a busy few weeks and haven't had time to read everything, but i had some time to look at the appeal briefs during my work commute the past couple days.
it'll be interesting to see what develops out of the network news coverage of this case.
The only way children will be protected against a pedophile is if all parents are notified about it. Parents have a vested interest in protecting their children, elders don't.
Elders are not trained on how manipulative these creeps can be and they certainly can't watch them 24/7. These creeps count on that, why do you think they are so comfortable in the KH?
today is my first post on jwd, i was one of jehovahs witness for almost 50 years of my life, i was born into the religion.
i was baptized at a young age and once i got married i was a very spiritual woman as they would call me.
my husband and i served as full time pioneers, we traveled abroad and went to international conventions, did some special pioneer service in other states in the us.
Welcome!!
I had to chuckle a bit when you shared your experience at the book store. Only, because I did the same exact thing.
The fear we have/ had is very real, it takes time to let that go.
interesting article in time magazine, from a former witness.. time magazine.
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Great article! I read it to my daughter and husband and we couldn't help but laugh at when she was trying so hard not to sing along with the Christmas song.
If we only knew then, what we know now.... We truly could have saved our kids from some very tough times.
