Posts by silentlambs

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

silentlambs

I think I will just let the work of silentlambs stand for what it is and encourage "thinking" ones to do what their hearts moves them to do.

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

Joel,
Thanks for your clarity in seeing my answers were clear. Believe it or not I have no smart remarks or insults to point in your direction, though I have made mistakes I try to only take a stand where I feel the silentlambs organizaton and what we are working for is under attack.

In my opinion, by their posts Path and Marvin reveal their agendas have little to do with protecting children, thus I feel my efforts have been worth while. Of course, that is my opinion, but it is an opinion that will continue until these men prove otherwise. It is my hope someday they will see the need to use some of this energy they use to foment subtle arguement to misrepresent and confuse the truth and instead work with a meaningful effort that will protect children. I will look forward to that day if and when it occurs.

Marvin,
"Simple questions, simple answers, yet somehow I feel it is not enough to satisfy those who are not really looking for answers."

Brother, you just got busted...

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

silentlambs

I decided for the benefit of all concerned to answer in a clear and concise manner the questions Marvin posed. Now I encourage all to notice how he responds to short direct answers to this questions and see if this really is a search for truth and understanding.

Question 1:
If presented with a situation where a minor comes to you and says they had been abused but persisted that they would not talk about their experience to anyone who would automatically report the matter to authorities, would you offer them help on the condition of leaving the prerogative of reporting to them or would you turn them away?

Neither, I would help the child see the importance of reporting the CRIME and I would help them report the crime in harmony with Federal Law. That is what mature adults do when they wish to help children.

Question 2:
If the person were an adult victimized in childhood with the same request, what would you do?

I would help the adult see the importance of reporting the CRIME and would help them report the crime in harmony with Federal Law. If they then made the personal decision to not sign complaint papers then I would have done all that I can do other than warn anyone who I may know personally who has contact with the molester.
This is what caring people in positions of responsibility do when they wish to protect children.

Question 3:
Assuming the WTS one day invokes a policy that elders should always encourage victims of abuse to report the crime to authorities, then,

If a child approaches an elder and says, “I want to talk about being molested, but I am unwilling to do it if law enforcement must be notified of who did it to me,” would you have the elder turn the child away or provide them with whatever help they could otherwise give?

Neither, the elder would help the child see the importance of reporting the CRIME and would help them report the crime in harmony with Federal Law. This is how an elder would protect the congregation from danger.

In answering this question keep in mind that the child approaches the elder, not the other way around. If the elder turns down offering whatever help they could have because of mandatory reporting and the child never approaches anyone else for help, who has been protected?

No one, as the elder would help the child see the importance of reporting the CRIME and would help them report the crime in harmony with Federal Law. Individuals who are adult and in positions of responsibility have to do what is in the interests of all concerned as any person who is in a profession would advise.

Who, then, would have an opportunity to encourage and strengthen the child to a point where they would turn in their abuser?

The elder or whoever hears any HINT of child molestation would help the child see the importance of reporting the CRIME and would help them to report the crime in harmony with Federal Law.

Simple questions, simple answers, yet somehow I feel it is not enough to satisfy those who are not really looking for answers.

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

silentlambs

I would like to make a comment regarding the mandatory reporting of child abuse. The 1996 Federal Goverment regulation involves the reporting of actions that happen to minor children. If anyone would take the time to read the information you will find that to be true. In KY where I reside a suspicion of a minor being abused is required to be reported, yet if the one abused is an adult the requirement to file charges falls with the adult to file the charges and sign the papers for prosecution. You can file all the reports you want but if the adult victim is not willing to sign the complaint then no charges would be filed. While the State of KY has no statue of limitations the adult victim is required to file the charges according to my experience. While other States may differ as to how this works, this is an example of one State.

In my personal experience, one local adult victim was threatened by her local body of elders as well as her family when all she had to do was sign the complaint. As a result to this day she remains a silentlamb. When I personally was presented with physical evidence that a minor child was being molested and called WT Legal for direction,I was told to "leave it in Jehovah's hands." As you can guess I did not follow theocratic direction.

Hundreds and hundreds if not thousands and thousands of documented cases of child molestation remain in congregation judicial files in this country. One objective mentioned over one year ago was to turn all these records over to authorities for investigation much like the Catholic Church has done recently in several instances. Allow child molesters to be investigated and if proven, prosecuted, this action would protect thousands of children.

Children within the organization are taught to be insubjection to everyone, yet they should be empowered as well as all Jehovah's Witnesses to report the crime of child molestation with the full support of the congregation and the BOE. Children should be given proper counseling as long as needed with the full support of the congregation and the BOE. Children should be treated like heros and praised for standing up and reporting the criminal act that happened to them with the full support of the congregation and the BOE. Adults who come forward with with similiar alegations should be treated in the same manner. As the silentlambs website clearly shows this seldom happens when victims of molestation come forward to the elders about their rape. Therein lay the crux of the issue when stating problems with WT Policy and how mandatory reporting is ignored.

There is no defense, no line of reasoning, no justification, for allowing victims to suffer in silence while not reporting the criminal who will hurt more children. So to sum it up, two things need to take place within the organization regarding reporting:

1. All congregations should be impowered by a letter that instructs them to call the police first when a molestation issue arises in order to be in compliance with the "superior authorities"

2. All judicial records involving any crime not reported to police should be turned over for proper investigation and or prosecution.

Until this happens Jehovah's Witnesses defy their own theology and reproach Jehovah and their organization by their failure to comply with the legal requirements of the "superior authorities." More importantly the atrocities continue to the innocent who are victimized by WT POlicy.

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

silentlambs

I have made Marvin and Path a standing offer yet it appears they only want information one way, I wonder why? IF this really was a search for clarity how hard would it be to pick up the telephone? Could their be an underlying motive in this mock sincerity? It compels me to repost the following:

It appears twiddledee and twiddledum are back with further misinformation and twisting of what my positions are. If you little men are sooooo concerned for getting to the bottom of this matter I suggest you contact me privately and it should take about five minutes.
I have never taken the positions you describe above regarding any similarity from what I do and how wt deals with abuse. You both have never given an inch on your reasoning, never apologized for your false assumptions, never tried to find middle ground, consistently tried to say wt policy is not all that bad, never offered an iota of help to silentlambs, you argue to infinity a position that has no point or application to the real problem, you waste my time.

If you are so mentally challenged that you are not able to read the sl website and my previous posts to understand what we stand for and what is required of WT Policy, call me, I will be glad to take time out of my schedule to try and help you get beyond the problem you both seem to have with reasoning on this issue. Otherwise you will be ignored publicly and I will simply repost this comment to your shallow attempts to bring discord to a meaningful effort to protect children.

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

silentlambs

It appears twiddledee and twiddledum are back with further misinformation and twisting of what my positions are. If you little men are sooooo concerned for getting to the bottom of this matter I suggest you contact me privately and it should take about five minutes.

I have never taken the positions you describe above regarding any similarity from what I do and how wt deals with abuse. You both have never given an inch on your reasoning, never apologized for your false assumptions, never tried to find middle ground, consistently tried to say wt policy is not all that bad, never offered an iota of help to silentlambs, you argue to infinity a position that has no point or application to the real problem, you waste my time.

If you are so mentally challenged that you are not able to read the sl website and my previous posts to understand what we stand for and what is required of WT Policy, call me, I will be glad to take time out of my schedule to try and help you get beyond the problem you both seem to have with reasoning on this issue. Otherwise you will be ignored publicly and I will simply repost this comment to your shallow attempts to bring discord to a meaningful effort to protect children.

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

silentlambs

Marvin and Path by their words continue to defend Wt Policy. Once again they are double teaming this thread to try and change the subject to a personal attack on silentlambs. Small men with small agendas who care more for their personal viewpoints than what is in the interests of children. Your united stubborn opinion ultimately protects child molesters.

Now for the answer to the question you could care less about knowing the answer to;

Any victim who is a child that has been molested that comes to my attention will immediately be reported to the police. Any adult who reports a molestation when they were a child will be strongly encouraged to turn the pedophile over to the authorities and given whatever support they need which may include counseling to get them to do so asap. I have talked to hundreds of victims of abuse, devoted hundreds of hours of my time, and thousands of dollars from my pocket to assist victims to report child molesters as well as require the change of WT Policy. Sadly your positions are to "face no sanction" or requirement of reporting if they do not wish to do so. The child molesters need more men with opinions like yours, you service them well.

Yet here I sit tonight after talking to six victims today for five hours on the telephone wasting my mental effort offering answers to two pompous nobodies who by their comments show they would rather defend a position of WT Policy rather than get off their cowardly backsides and work for victims of molestation.

"Let the reader use discernment"

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

silentlambs

Dear Path please reread,

I have watched the intentional effort by Pathofthorns to defend WT Policy and create misinformation regarding the silentlambs effort. As you continue to attack with lies and misinformation a meaningful effort to protect children I have to wonder do you have any conscience at all? Are you being paid by wt for your lies? Why do you continue to attack a position that simply does not exist? Why do you create boundaries for silentlambs and question them when you know as well as I that we do not stand or take that position?
In your last post you wrote the following:

“I would agree that the authorities should be contacted if any child IS being abused or in a dangerous home environment.”

This is a contradiction from what you have stated in the past, you have always held the position wt policy was the right course in letting it be a personal decision. WT makes no distinction between current and past molestation it is always optional to report the crime to authorities. Now you want to have it both ways-busted.

You wrote:

“But I think we need to keep in mind that most of these people who have been molested or abused had this occur several years in the past when they were children.”

This also is a misleading statement, a large portion of molestations are reported when children tell their parents in real time, not when they became adults. “Most” is a dead wrong statement and implies that the majority of reported molestations involve adults. If that were true then why do we have child services in every county in this country? It is mainly children who report molestation, NOT adults.

You wrote:

“At some point these individuals attempt to come to terms with what happened. They may confide in someone and begin to talk about what happened to them. What the Silentlambs group appears to be suggesting is that if an elder were to hear this information he should immediately report the matter to the authorities whether the victim wishes this to be done or not.”

This is an outright lie and this thought has never been part of the solution to wt policy. Silentlambs requests on any report of molestation that the victim be encouraged to go to the police first BEFORE reporting to the BOE. This avoids the elder investigation clouding a real police investigation. If this step was enacted there would be no need for WT Legal or elders to even have to worry about reporting, the family would now be empowered to take appropriate action. Now that power is taken away from them.

You wrote,

“From what Bill posted earlier on this thread, it would seem that in actual practice he takes exactly the same position as the WT in leaving it up to the victim to decide whether to go to the authorities. Unless Bill Bowen reports all crimes that come to his attention I would be mistaken.”
---------------------
quote:

I have talked to many victims who have never reported their abuse, I simply encourage them to talk about it to counslers, close friends, or report the matter on the sl website. The more they learn they can speak out the more likely they are to report the crime.
---------------------

Once again lies and misinformation, elders are authorized to conduct extensive investigations into child molestation allegations to determine wrongdoing. This should not be done before a police investigation as elders are totally untrained when it comes to knowing how to conduct an investigation of child molestation allegations. WT does not encourage the elders to tell a family to go to the police unless they live in a clergy mandatory reporting state, of which there are few. In cases outside of this scenario JW’s are clearly DISCOURAGED from reporting the crime. They cannot tell anyone in the congregation with the risk of being charged with slander, if they report to the police they are viewed as not “waiting on Jehovah” and going outside the organization for help. To infer or imply that I take the “same position as WT” on reporting is a flat out insult to everything silentlambs stands for. WT policy is and continues to be proven wrong, for anyone to represent it otherwise means they are either extremely stupid or have an agenda in WT interests.

In the hundreds of cases that have been brought to my attention each person is always encouraged to report the matter to the police, each person is always encouraged to get needed counseling and therapy. We are willing to help provide any material or assistance to prosecute child molesters. I am not charged by home office to conduct a judicial investigation and examine every detail of what happened. Elders do not do what I suggest to victims, they cover for WT Legal. To suggest any comparison is also an insult to the silentlambs organization as it is not true.

You wrote:

“The fact that many states don't have mandatory reporting laws is proof that the matter is not black or white.”

Lies, Lies, Lies, ALL STATES HAVE MANDATORY REPORTING OF CHILD MOLESTATION IT IS A CRIME. IT IS BLACK AND WHITE.

You wrote:

“Why leaving it to the victim to go to the authorities is wise in the majority of these cases where the abuse happened in the past is because it is the victim's testimony that will be required to build a case. It is the victim who may indeed be 'victimized' again in the courtroom through harsh cross-examinations.”

Your comments are made simply scare victims from coming forward. The police determine how strong a victim is to testify. The courts are very sensitive to not allowing a victim to be revictimized before a jury. Also in the outside event the judge allows a defense lawyer to be abusive it causes the jury to rule for the victim and works to the accused disadvantage, again to imply otherwise smacks of misinformation.

You wrote,

“A victim may have made much progress in moving on from what happened and this fragile recovery could be set back as they are forced to relive the events that happened for the court in the often slim hopes of a conviction. Sure, a victim may have done their civic duty, but at what price?”

What a wicked assumption! Coming forward is a healing event, facing down and reporting the molester is a positive outcome that makes a person stronger. When they speak out they find they do and will have support. They for the first time often feel they are able to move on from the molestation affects on their lives. The “price” is to their advantage and healing yet you would encourage them to not take this important step, shame on you.

You wrote:
quote:
when you do not report a child molester and he or she molests another child you now share in the crime.

“How does a statement like this make the majority of victims feel who have not reported the crime committed against them? Are the victims criminals now?”

That statement helps victims to see the real issue at stake and the importance of protecting children who will be future victims. Your statement encourages them to keep the matter hidden, that is wrong and it protects the pedophile.

You wrote:

“I would venture to say it is families that are more often than not covering over abuse while it is occuring and indefinitely after it has occurred. I think it is unacceptable for any parent to cover over for abuse on the part of a mate or another relative or anyone. Why have we been overlooking the parent's responsibility in all of this?”

Your implication is once again false. "Families" do not cover up abuse when they are Jehovah’s Witnesses, WT forces them to cover the abuse by the exercise of WT Policy. To try and blame it on the parents now is much like when the Society blamed us for 1975. That dog won’t hunt. If parents were empowered by WT policy to report the crime of child molestation then silentlambs efforts could be better placed in simply supporting victims of molestation. Wt refuses to make any adjustment but to hold to present Policy. The fault is with the GB who directs the organization, they know children are being hurt yet they refuse to take proper action. When they are exposed Jw’s and the whole world will see them for what they have proven themselves to be. “By their fruits you will recognize these men.”

Your fruits put you in much the same category. You create positions that do not exist, accuse silentlambs of things they have never said, provide twisted arguments that defend the current WT Policy on child molestation. Then you cut and run saying you hate WT. Your fruits prove otherwise.

You wrote:

“Because we hate the WT. Run WT, Run”

Yet another lie, I nor anyone else who works with silentlambs hates WT or Jehovah’s Witnesses. We hate the fact they protect child molesters and hope policy will change to protect all JW children. “Run WT run” is what WT Legal will do when brothers and sisters as well as everyone else are educated to how WT Policy is hurting children, they will require the proper policy to take effect. When needed changes come JW’s have the freedom to practice their religion as any other recognized religion in the USA. As stated earlier silentlambs remains neutral with regard to doctrinal issues, we simply stick to helping victims of child molestation.

The long posts that you make to the innuendo and twists of logic have a strange similarity to “friend” who stopped posting several months ago. I encourage anyone to review the exchange between “friend” and “focus” that went for several hundred pages. The reasoning and logic of “friend” closely follows your current posting and challenges to silentlambs. I wonder if there is not a link? You have never contacted silentlambs privately but only challenge publicly, you never respond to clarifying explanations, instead, continue to attack positions you create that simply do not exist. I refuse to waste further time and effort to argue with your insipid logic, but I think the time taken to answer your recent post will help most readers to form their own conclusions as to what your “real” agenda is.

In the future when you try to restart misdirection posts on silentlambs issues I will simply repost this thread.

silentlambs

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

silentlambs

up

129

MANDATORY Reporting of Child Abuse

by silentlambs in

it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.

the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.

failure to report can result in civil liability.

silentlambs

The solution would be for a letter to be sent to all congregations that states parents are to be required to report to the "superior authorites" first before going before a judicial investigation for child molestation.