- Public Information Department US Branch Office must be pulling their hair out by now.
- OPINION
Decision by Jehovah’s Witnesses church in Springfield failed the community (Editorial)
- Published: Sep. 25, 2023, 8:46 a.m.
'Jay Aaron Smith arrived in the Springfield area after spending time in prison following a rape conviction in Georgia. His crime required him to register in Massachusetts as a Level 3 sex offender.
And yet somehow, Smith, a known sex offender, secured the title of “ministerial servant” within a Springfield location of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Smith is again in prison, starting a 15-year sentence after being convicted recently on several counts of indecent assault and battery on a child. Smith, who is 62, was found to have abused a 13-year-old at his home in 2020 and 2021.
The First Amendment gives members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization the right to believe what they want. That discretion stops when it comes to their moral duty to protect children and other vulnerable people from abuse.
Jay Aaron Smith was convicted of child sexual assault.
This is an organization that distrusts secular authority and has fought efforts to provide common sense protections against sexual abuse of children, as seen in multiple national cases. This year, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office brought charges against several members of the church. A grand jury there continues to probe what’s described as “widespread” child sexual abuse. A report is expected to provide the fullest account to date of documented sexual abuse by members of this faith in that state.
In the Springfield case, a national spokesman said the church was “deeply saddened” by Smith’s assaults. “No child should ever be subjected to abuse,” he said. Then, the spokesman took pains to point out that Smith’s crimes did not occur during any sanctioned activities by members of the congregation.
That doesn’t absolve the organization of responsibility. In fact, it fits a pattern of secrecy and coverup documented in other court cases, including a civil suit brought by a woman molested by a man within a Jehovah’s Witnesses chapter in North Fremont, California. Depositions in the case revealed that the abuser had a prior history of assault known to the church.
As documented by the Center for Investigative Reporting, the church’s defense in the California case included the claim that the First Amendment allowed it to fashion its own approach to handling instances of sexual abuse.
Internal church correspondence unearthed in that trial showed church officials calling for reports of sexual abuse by officials to be kept from members of its congregations.
That institutional secrecy is abhorrent and dangerous. Children pay the price.
The plaintiff in the California case, who prevailed, said she sued after learning the man who molested her later assaulted a 6-year-old girl. Her attacker had remained in good standing with the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization she attended and, a deposition revealed, had been lauded as being good with children in a letter of reference mailed to another California Kingdom Hall.
Officially, the national church claims to report instances of sexual abuse to civil authorities. In the Springfield assaults by Smith, the organization said it notified the state Department of Children and Families; that is the step required by mandated reporters in Massachusetts, which include members of the clergy.
That’s what they say. Actions count more. The church made the decision to grant Smith, the Level 3 sex offender, an appointed church post, conferring on him institutional respect he did not deserve.
In doing so, it failed a child, the child’s family and the wider community.
When asked by The Republican about the case, the spokesman for the church’s national office claimed that the Hampden District Attorney’s Office was wrong to identify Smith as an “elder.” He said the church was “currently working with the District Attorney’s office to correct this ….”
While it may have tried to adjust the narrative, the DA’s office refused, its own spokesman said. “Based upon evidence collected through the course of the investigation, we are comfortable with our assertion of his place of prominence within the hall,” he told The Republican.
It took further questioning of the church by the newspaper’s investigations editor, Greta Jochem, to draw out the fact that Smith did in fact hold the lesser title of “ministerial servant,” a role described as being an assistant to an elder.
Jochem’s reporting work included this written exchange with the church’s spokesman:
Jochem: “What are your policies for responding to allegations like this?”
Church: “Whenever an allegation of abuse comes to the attention of elders, they first seek to comply with any reporting laws, thereafter, they follow the Bible’s direction to comfort victims of sin and they evaluate whether the person accused of the sin may remain in the congregation or must be disfellowshipped (removed).”
A court in Georgia found Smith guilty of rape. When he got to Massachusetts, years later, church policy appears to have allowed elders to make their own call about his fitness.
If they didn’t know Smith was a sex offender, they should have.
If they accepted him in spite of that status, they shouldn’t have.'
was a new boy
JoinedPosts by was a new boy
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One day Jehovah's Witnesses will Educate themselves on Child sex abuse, just don't know when.
by was a new boy inpublic information department us branch office must be pulling their hair out by now.. .
opinion.
decision by jehovah’s witnesses church in springfield failed the community (editorial).
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was a new boy
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Is Tony Morris a Nonce / Pedophile
by MebyonKernow inthis has just been posted on youtube regarding tony morris and the reason why he was removed as a gb member and 'relocated'.is tony morris a pedophile / nonce?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ahj9vxygkelet me know your thoughts down below.celtic.
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was a new boy
PA. Brodheadsville Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses was the Kingdom Hall where William and Joan Cetnar of Kunkletown went.A lot of Watchtower history in that area.QUESTIONS FOR JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES -
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Is Tony Morris a Nonce / Pedophile
by MebyonKernow inthis has just been posted on youtube regarding tony morris and the reason why he was removed as a gb member and 'relocated'.is tony morris a pedophile / nonce?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ahj9vxygkelet me know your thoughts down below.celtic.
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Is Tony Morris a Nonce / Pedophile
by MebyonKernow inthis has just been posted on youtube regarding tony morris and the reason why he was removed as a gb member and 'relocated'.is tony morris a pedophile / nonce?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ahj9vxygkelet me know your thoughts down below.celtic.
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was a new boy
Seems if your an Elder, you're only allowed to keep silent and keep covering for Watchtower.All quiet on the Western front?
Was wasting my time hoping and dreaming Salena was going to show herself cutting up some grass-fed bacon and beef. I fear she's not getting enough protein in her body. At least it was comforting to see she does believe in butter. 33:05
God Bless Salena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65xekwXHw6s
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Is There Concrete Evidence That The Org. Has Covered up Child Abuse?
by Vanderhoven7 ini hear of a plenty of personal testimonies of abuse but it is harder to prove organizational complicity.
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was a new boy
Pre Feb.1974 was not good for victims, even today, lots of room for improvement.
Confidential correspondence should be retained for at least five years.
Didn't most abusers move from their congregation after getting caught?
'Judicial matters: Confidential correspondence dealing with serious judicial matters should be kept in a safe place, accessible only to elders. It should be retained for at least five years from the date a case is handled to its completion, or longer if the elders deem it advisable in certain cases.'
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It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.
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was a new boy
Toblerone5
So let me get this straight, Mark O'Donnell knew about this rumour ,maybe from Barbara Anderson?
Barbara Anderson Uncensored: Eyewitness To Deceit Paperback – May 1, 2018
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Is there evidence about Jaracz?
by Gorbatchov inread some reply's about jaracz being a child abuser.. is there any evidence about it?.
g..
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was a new boy
reddo 5 years ago
"IF there is something to these allegations in regard a minor, obviously the Branch saw to it it didn't make it into the records that were at the Australian Royal Commission."
Or because both the accused and the victim are dead meant that they couldn't use it or refer to it?Those records would also be in NY, Knorr certainly wouldn't have made a decision from a phone call from Lloyd Barry with no paperwork.
Unless as Top Dog, TJ destroyed them when in charge of Service.
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Highlights of DEC. 2023 Watchtower
by was a new boy inis watchtower nervous about including pictures of current governing body members that may have to be deleted one day?.
6 anointed christians cherish that hope.
one of them, brother (false prophet) frederick franz, said from his heart: “our hope is a sure thing, and it will be fulfilled fully to every last one of the 144,000 members of the little flock to a degree beyond what we have even imagined.”.
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was a new boy
Back in the good ole days, the writer was identified.
Another April Fool's Day Joke
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Ernie Fyans, JW elder CSA abuser from "Palmer Leaks" sentenced in Maine today
by EasyPrompt in.
https://x.com/mark_j_odonnell/status/1704588790730256487?s=20.
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was a new boy
19 years ago -
'Man charged with
violating order
NATICK -- Police arrested a Wales man yesterday at 10:30 a.m. at the Jehovah's Witnesses Assembly Hall on Bacon Street.
Ernest Fyans, 65, of Hemlock Lane in Wales, was charged with violating a restraining order, police said.'
https://www.milforddailynews.com/story/news/2004/02/29/police-man-charged-with-license/41175645007/
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Highlights of DEC. 2023 Watchtower
by was a new boy inis watchtower nervous about including pictures of current governing body members that may have to be deleted one day?.
6 anointed christians cherish that hope.
one of them, brother (false prophet) frederick franz, said from his heart: “our hope is a sure thing, and it will be fulfilled fully to every last one of the 144,000 members of the little flock to a degree beyond what we have even imagined.”.
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was a new boy
Is Watchtower nervous about including pictures of current governing body members that may have to be deleted one day?p96 Anointed Christians cherish that hope. One of them, Brother (False Prophet) Frederick Franz, said from his heart: “Our hope is a sure thing, and it will be fulfilled fully to every last one of the 144,000 members of the little flock to a degree beyond what we have even imagined.”After serving God faithfully for decades, in 1991 Brother Franz affirmed: “[We] have not lost our sense of value of that hope. . . . We are appreciating it all the more the longer we have to wait for it. It is something worth waiting for, even if it required a million years. I evaluate our hope more highly than ever before.”p23 par 18'Can he admit his mistakes?' (don't think FWF ever did)p27 par12'He can learn to read another person’s tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language.'(3rd time body language appears in a Watchtower)p29'WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW?19 Young brothers,... develop thinking ability,'(research the religion & keep your mouth shut)Is this the 6 month late, Marking Talk?p 14'Be Guided by God’s View of Alcohol'p 16‘Do I find it hard to go without alcohol for a few days or longer?’ If so, then drinking may have become an ingrained habit or an addiction. It may mean that professional help will be needed to overcome the problem.
