Posts by silentlambs

24

Run WT Run

by silentlambs in

mormon church settles lawsuit.

september 5, 2001. sex abuse lawsuit is settled by mormons for $3 million.

by gustav niebuhr.

silentlambs

A comment from Mr. Anderson below,

Mormon church to pay $3M to sex abuse victim

By C.G. Wallace

Sept. 5, 2001 | SALT LAKE CITY (AP) --

The Mormon church has agreed to pay $3 million to an Oregon man who claims the church did too little to protect him from sexual abuse by a pedophile.

Despite the settlement announced Tuesday, church attorney Von Keetch said the denomination's officials are not accepting any blame for the abuse. He said the payment was simply cheaper than pursuing the case in court.

Jeremiah Scott, 22, sued The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after a fellow church member was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing him in Portland, Ore., when he was 11.

The suit claimed Gregory Lee Foster, then a bishop of the church, knew Franklin Richard Curtis had a history of sexually abusing children dating back to the 1970s, but did not warn Scott's mother before she allowed Curtis to move into their home. The case was scheduled to go to trial this fall.

"As long as they continue to deny responsibility they will not change their ways and as long as they do not change their ways they will continue to pay settlements," said Scott's attorney, Jeff Anderson. "This is a church that has given safe harbor to pedophiles and continues to protect child abusers."

Curtis, who was 87 at the time of the abuse, was arrested and convicted of first-degree sex abuse and given probation in 1994. He died in 1995.

Curtis had been excommunicated from another ward in Oregon for sex abuse. Court records show he was re-baptized in 1984.

Keetch said the bishop had no knowledge of the sexual abuse. He also said he was disheartened by a ruling in the case that Curtis was a member of the church's clergy because he held the title of "high priest" -- which Keetch said is conferred on most Mormon men in their 40s and carries no leadership responsibility.

Associated Press

15

BRITISH APOSTASY!

by silentlambs in

jw
friends

after reviewing the british boe letters posted here, a painful truth seems to be evident.

the british brothers are apostate.

i tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but i can no longer cover for them anymore.

silentlambs

After reviewing the British BOE letters posted here, a painful truth seems to be evident. The British brothers are apostate. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I can no longer cover for them anymore. The BOE letters from Britain clearly show as far back as 1992 the brothers there chose to encourage the witnesses in England to go to the police first on child molestation issues.

While this is a much better and proper choice, it is in direct conflict with USA WT policy which has yet to offer that directive. It appears the British brothers were not willing to "wait on Jehovah" while thousands of children were molested as here in the USA. They run ahead of God's arrangement and did not wait on the Governing Body to develop "new light" for the children.

While it is true children in England were protected better, it becomes a non-issue when considering apostate thinking. We can be thankful the 6-1-01 BOE letter sent from WT legal in the USA has finally put things right in Britain. If you read that letter you will note not one mention of "Ceaser" and the troubling aspect of actually turning pedophiles over to the police. I am sure the Governing Body can only hope the brothers in England will turn around stop running ahead of Jehovah's arrangement much like the example of Korah.

This way Pedophiles in England will have equal access to Witness children as they do here in the USA with the uniform application of WT policy. English brothers, we do appreciate your efforts to do what was morally and ethically right, but "waiting on Jehovah" requires you to forgo what is morally and ethically right, instead obey the biding of the "Faithful and Discreet Slave." Doing so will no doubt bring you a princely position in the new order, where there will be no pesky authorities to bother the Governing Body's pet pedophiles.

We hope it is not to late for you to renounce your morality and do what your Brooklyn conscience dictates. Your apostasy has now been recognized and you can be sure the Governing Body has taken note. How soon will it be before a boat load of "Given Ones" have to come to England to disfellowship the trouble makers and take over leadership positions to make sure the child molesters in England get the same privileges as here in the USA.

While the future may bring harsh punishment when the GB takes action, I am compelled to say you tried to do the right thing and it is good to know that there are men of conscience who saw the matter and took proper action to protect children.

38

Another loss...we love you Mulan

by Princess in

jw
friends

my mom's cousin sharon passed away at 1:30pm thursday september 6, 2001. she was a lovely person and was always more like a sister than a cousin.

mulan held her hand every step of the way through a battle with breast cancer and she was with her when she died.. mom's birthday is tomorrow.

now she will celebrate sharon's life along with her own every year at this time.. i wish there was some way to ease your pain mom.

silentlambs

So sorry to hear of your loss, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

24

Run WT Run

by silentlambs in

mormon church settles lawsuit.

september 5, 2001. sex abuse lawsuit is settled by mormons for $3 million.

by gustav niebuhr.

silentlambs

To Susan;

Regarding your comments I would like to make the following observations,

You said,
"As for this case, I'm not sure it really relates all that closely to others I have read about on this and similar boards. For one thing, in this case, the abuser had never been charged with abuse, or even molestation of any type, legally. Nobody had brought charges."

Is is precisely the point, within the wt most abusers are never charged or brought to the police. This case opens up the very real possibility of uncharged pedophile being dealt with. This point alone hits WT between the eyes.

You said,
"In the Mormon Church, we are encouraged to use all legal means available if such abuse has occurred. Had they had proof, the parents in 1980s would most certainly have been advised to report the incident themselves to the proper legal authorities, as well as Church authorities."

If this is the case it is a good policy. However it is not WT policy which covers up the crime unless mandated by local laws.

You said,
"If they weren't given such advice, somebody made a serious mistake. On the other hand, it is possible there was no definite assertion other than something vague like "inappropriate touching", which back then didn't raise the red flags it does today."

This again opens up a can of worms for Wt especially for older cases that exist and were never handled properly.

You said,
"Also, the records of him being an abuser wouldn't have followed with him, again since there was no real crime being charged."

Another good point as no record follows accused child molesters in the USA. A difference appears to be with Britian WT policy.

You said,
"Isn't this a very good reason why as parents we NEED to make sure there IS a charge filed?"

Not an option unless you want to go against the "glorious ones" and be destroyed like Korah. If the elders advise differantly as they often do you obey them first.

You said,
"The Bishop who testified in the case states he did not know of prior abuse problems with the individual. If the information was not there back in the 80's, how could the current Bishop, in yet another state, have access to it?"

Similiarly elders often do not know of child molesters who move into their congregation, this case shows they possibly could not be free from liability.

You said,
"And again, the Bishop in question advised the child's family NOT to take the man into their home. The reasons given were not important. They were cautioned. That they ignored the caution and proceeded against counsel should have been at their own risk. Only after the fact they say, gosh, he was worse than we thought, so now we'll sue."

This certainly opens the door for weaker cases and show that being an elder will not be as fun as it once was. What an elder says can cost him in more ways than one.

You said,
"Lastly, it is a sad fact that in today's society, lawsuits are settled daily without regard to guilt, simply because litigation has become so expensive and fighting even a very small lawsuit is usually not worth the expense. It's often cheaper to settle, guilty or not, just to make it go away and end the ongoing legal fees."

I am sure some of the many victims will take the 3-10 million settlements of "World Wide Work" money and be satisfied with the Society's admission of no guilt.

You said,
"Nonetheless, I do hope this case can be used to protect children from those who DO know of abusers in their congregations, whatever the religion involved. The protection of children is the responsibility of us all."

I could not agree more.

24

Run WT Run

by silentlambs in

mormon church settles lawsuit.

september 5, 2001. sex abuse lawsuit is settled by mormons for $3 million.

by gustav niebuhr.

silentlambs

Mormon church settles lawsuit

September 5, 2001
Sex Abuse Lawsuit Is Settled by Mormons for $3 Million
By GUSTAV NIEBUHR

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints disclosed yesterday that it would pay $3 million to settle a suit by an Oregon man molested as a child by a church member. The suit said Mormon officials had known that the molester had been accused of sexual abuse before.
The case is unusual not only because the church disclosed the amount of the settlement, in advance of news conferences by the plaintiffs' lawyers today, but also because it centers on abuse by a man who was not a member of the clergy. That man died in 1995.
In an interview, Von G. Keetch, a Salt Lake City lawyer representing the church, said it strongly believed that the case "lacked merit" and had settled only out of concern that the litigation, already a decade old, could continue for years more, at high cost.

Mr. Keetch said the decision was made after a number of rulings against he church by a county judge presiding over the case in Portland. Among the rulings was that the church could be held liable for the conduct of one member against another, and that the plaintiff could argue that the abuser was a clergyman because he held the rank of high priest, which the church describes as a common lay title.

The suit was filed in December 1998 by a Portland man, Jeremiah Scott,
who eventually sought $1.5 billion in damages from the church. He accused its authorities of withholding knowledge from his family that another member, Franklyn Curtis, had previously been accused of molesting children.

His lawyer, David Slader, said Mr. Scott was abused in 1991, the year he turned 11, after his mother invited Mr. Curtis to live with the family.
Mr. Curtis, who was 88 and had been living in a group home, was a member of the same congregation as the Scotts.

Before bringing Mr. Curtis into her home, Mr. Slader said, Mrs. Scott
sought advice from a local Mormon bishop, who advised the family against it because it would be too much work, but who did not inform them of the earlier accusations.

Mr. Slader noted that Mr. Curtis had been previously excommunicated after being accused of molesting children. But when he came to live with the Scotts, his membership had been restored and he held the title of high priest. He had not been criminally charged with abuse at that point, but later pleaded guilty to molesting Mr. Scott, Mr. Slader said. "It's the institution that knew," Mr. Slader said, referring to church authorities.

"A church," he added, "owes a very, very special and high duty to the
children of its parishioners, the children whose souls it has taken
responsibility for."

Mr. Keetch, the lawyer for the church, quoted the bishop who advised the Scotts as saying in a deposition that he had known of no abuse
accusations against Mr. Curtis.

Mr. Keetch said Mr. Curtis had been excommunicated in the 1980's in
Pennsylvania, where he lived before moving back to Oregon. The decision to excommunicate, Mr. Keetch said, followed the notification by another Oregon bishop to church authorities in Pennsylvania that Mr. Curtis had been accused of having "inappropriately touched a child" in an Oregon congregation different from the one where he and the Scotts were later members together.

Mr. Curtis was readmitted to membership "after a fairly lengthy period of repentance," Mr. Keetch said, but never had any supervisory position over Mr. Scott and in fact held no leadership position at all. According to the church, the title of high priest is bestowed on Mormon men in good standing over the age of 40.

Mr. Keetch said he believed there was "no church that does more either to protect children or to provide assistance to children" who have been abused.

64

Bethel Closed Today!

by silentlambs in

i had a victim call me after they had called bethel this morning.

they were informed bethe was offically closed till 1:30 pm for a special meeting with the bethel family.

would anyone care to speculate or verify the purpose of the meeting?

silentlambs

newperson, interesting comments, i have wondered if bethel was really taking this seriously, i hope for their sake they are. then again, could this be misinformation to throw everyone off? while i do not doubt you or your sources, i think it will be interesting to see how much more information is developed.

64

Bethel Closed Today!

by silentlambs in

i had a victim call me after they had called bethel this morning.

they were informed bethe was offically closed till 1:30 pm for a special meeting with the bethel family.

would anyone care to speculate or verify the purpose of the meeting?

silentlambs

I had a victim call me after they had called Bethel this morning. They were informed Bethe was offically closed till 1:30 PM for a special meeting with the Bethel Family. Would anyone care to speculate or verify the purpose of the meeting? This is a very unsual occurence at Bethel as I have never heard of Bethel being closed down for a 4 hour meeting with the Bethel Family. What do you think or know it to be about? I am all ears.

15

Erica's 98 Sentencing Hearing

by silentlambs in

below are listed quotes form the 1998 sentencing hearing for manuel beliz, the man who molested erica.. do you see any similarity between this and the berry sentencing?

why are jehovahs witnesses so keen to have convicted child molesters keep their children?

also unique in this hearing brother beliz asks to speak.

silentlambs

back up

15

Erica's 98 Sentencing Hearing

by silentlambs in

below are listed quotes form the 1998 sentencing hearing for manuel beliz, the man who molested erica.. do you see any similarity between this and the berry sentencing?

why are jehovahs witnesses so keen to have convicted child molesters keep their children?

also unique in this hearing brother beliz asks to speak.

silentlambs

Well it took a couple of days but the 98 sentencting hearing is now up on silentlambs website. It is located beside the Berry sentencing hearing. The first part becomes tedious as they are trying to get the charges straight, but when you get to the testimony of Erica, it is truly riviting. As I mentioned earlier, the JW testimony is beyond description, you just have to read and think about what they are saying, and the final comments by Brother Beliz himself show how remorseful he really is.

I started silentlambs website because the Society said the victims did not exist or were being untruthful. Hard evidence such as the above appears to argue who the untruthful ones are. As we wait for an iota of acknowledgement, remorse, or willingness to not hurt children by bad policy, the public and JW's are being educated by brave persons like Erica who tell of how their lives were devestated by the application WT policy. The longer WT waits, the harder the blows of reality will be when they realize no one will ignore, condone, or approve any religion who hurts children and does nothing about it.

I suggest the sooner they get their collective hats in their hands, the sooner WT can start to rebuild the soon decimated WT image. Will it happen? Time will tell. AS you may have noticed from the start each part of this issue has come in a series of stronger terms.

1. Last fall I tried to negoiate with Service and Legal for a more
reasonable solution. No Action.

2. Resignation as elder letter sent to Society. No Action.

3. First newspaper article exposing problem. No Action.

4. Succeeding news article featuring victims. No Action.

5. Website silentlambs with victims stories. No Action.

6. Civil Lawsuit attorney contacted, they are notified. No Action.

7. Victims forwarded to Attorney for interviews. No Action.

8. Dateline interviews victims, Society informed. No Action.

9. Datline interviews Barbara Anderson, Society informed. No Action.

10. First civil lawsuit filed on behalf of victims with many to
follow. No Action.

11. Barbara Anderson reveals publicly she has great knowledge and proof of wrongs committed by Society. No Action.

12. British BOE reveal purposeful commitment of Governing Body to protect pedophiles in USA. No Action.

Now I ask you, are these just innocent men who were not aware of a problem and want to protect children? If so WHY NO ACTION???????

The answer reveals the innocence or the wickedness of the Governing Body. Also another point might be mentioned, if the Governing Body thinks this is all we have in the works they do not know me very well do they.....

15

Erica's 98 Sentencing Hearing

by silentlambs in

below are listed quotes form the 1998 sentencing hearing for manuel beliz, the man who molested erica.. do you see any similarity between this and the berry sentencing?

why are jehovahs witnesses so keen to have convicted child molesters keep their children?

also unique in this hearing brother beliz asks to speak.

silentlambs

Below are listed quotes form the 1998 sentencing hearing for Manuel Beliz, the man who molested Erica.
Do you see any similarity between this and the Berry sentencing? Why are Jehovah’s Witnesses so keen to have convicted child molesters keep their children? Also unique in this hearing Brother Beliz asks to speak. Though being disfellowshipped for child molestation he says he is not a sex offender. Four children have come forward with accusations of being molested by Brother Beliz. I encourage you to review this information and form your own opinions, it will be posted beside the Berry sentencing hearing on the home page of silentlambs later tonight.

I might mention the new sentencing hearing will be Sept 24th in Ritzville, I plan to speak there and put it on the record. I invite any who would like to attend to do so. Do you think JW’s will show up again and express their sadness at losing their baby sitter?

Silentlambs

JW #1:
“So I just wanted that to be on the record that I don't want the impression that our congregation in some way was protecting a child molester. We weren't. He was processed in our due time, and the matter was taken care of for our satisfaction. So when he was reinstated then evidently the committee that disciplined was satisfied. And as far as Erica being satisfied I can't say much about that. That's, that's a problem that she herself knows.”

JW#2:
“But if I had children, I know I most likely will, I would completely entrust them with my father. You know, I would completely trust their health, their safety, their lives in my dad’s hands, and I would even go as far as to say that of other children, or children of other parents. I would bet my life that he would take care of them, and he would not be a threat to them or anybody in the world.”

JW#3:
“When I have kids I’m going to trust him with my kids.”

JW#4:
“I've been recently married, and to tell you the truth I haven't got to spend a lot of time with my father-in-law, but in the short amount of time that I've ever had to talk to him I know that he's a wonderful person.”

JW#5:
“He loves his children with his whole heart, his whole soul, everything he has. He loves his wife. And, you know, you only need a few really good people in your life, and I know he's one of the best people I've ever met.”

JW#6:
“And I just trust Manuel, and whenever I have kids I know I could leave them with Manuel.”

JW#7:
“Well, I know I feel like my brother is dead right now because we're going to lose a very loving brother, but I hope that --well, God's with us, and I just hope he gives us, you know, the strength as well as Erica's family, too. It happened, and you know, I just hope everything—-God is forgiving, and I hope that he will forgive my brother. And I know he has because my brother has been reinstated in the congregation.”

Brother Beliz:
“So what I'm asking you, Your Honor, is that you please reconsider these sincere efforts. I also like to say that I'm still willing to do everything to make things right up to this minute. And I also like to say that at no time, Your Honor, I'm not a sex offender or a predator.”