just saw this today
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-20/former-jehovahs-witness-elder-to-stand-trial-accused-of-rape/103612422
The guy has been described as a former elder and named as Peter Michelson.
Former Jehovah's Witness elder committed to stand trial accused of Sunshine Coast rapes, sexual abuse
ABC Sunshine Coast / By
Kirra GrimesPosted 10h ago10 hours ago
Peter Mitchelson today faced a committal hearing at Maroochydore Magistrates Court.(ABC Sunshine Coast: Owen Jacques)Link copied
- In short: Peter
Mitchelson has been accused of using his position in the church
community to coerce young men into non-consensual sexual acts on the
Sunshine Coast and in Brisbane.
- The charges relate to five adult male complainants known to Mr Mitchelson through the Jehovah's Witness faith.
- What's next? The 62-year-old has been remanded in custody to return to court in September.
A
former Jehovah's Witness elder has been committed to stand trial for
raping and sexually abusing young men on the Sunshine Coast over a
10-year period.
Police arrested
62-year-old Mooloolaba man Peter Mitchelson in August 2022 and charged
him with more than 50 sexual offences, including 21 counts of rape that
allegedly occurred at various locations on the Sunshine Coast and in
Brisbane from 2008 to 2018.
The charges relate to five adult male complainants known to Mr Mitchelson through the Jehovah's Witness faith.
A
committal hearing at Maroochydore today heard Mr Mitchelson allegedly
used his seniority as a former congregation elder to coerce the younger
men to perform sexual acts for his gratification.
Police said the acts were non-consensual and made the alleged victims feel "used, controlled, and lied to".
Mr
Mitchelson was committed to stand trial in the District Court on 53
charges, while charges of incest and torture were dismissed due to a
lack of evidence.
'Positive affirmations' allegedly escalated
The
court heard the majority of alleged offending started with Mr
Mitchelson advising alleged victims on how to use '"positive
affirmations" to improve their confidence.
Police
said initial meetings with Mr Mitchelson involved alleged victims
standing in front of a mirror repeating the phrase: "I'm strong. I'm
powerful. I'm confident".
They said this progressed to alleged victims repeating the phrase while naked and masturbating in front of Mr Mitchelson.
One
man was allegedly told by Mr Mitchelson he would be "cleansed" of human
papillomavirus (HPV) if he allowed Mr Mitchelson to penetrate him.
One man allegedly had non-consensual intercourse with Mr Mitchelson on a number of occasions while being filmed.
Mr
Mitchelson's defence barrister Saul Holt KC argued videos tendered to
the court show acts that were consensual and "enjoyed" by those
participating.
Police describe 'insular' culture
Police
prosecutor Sergeant Rebecca Lambert told the court the "insular"
culture of the Jehovah's Witness community played a significant role in
the alleged offending, and videos appearing to show consensual acts
could not be viewed without this context.
Sergeant
Lambert said men who had grown up in the faith had been taught to live
in "constant fear of being disfellowshipped", which would forbid them
from contacting any family or friends remaining in the church.
"It
is a very insular environment, where the slightest discretion is
treated by the church, not within the family unit," she said.
"Disfellowshipped
from the church not only means losing religion, but it also means
losing family and having no contacts or the people that knew [the
alleged victims] and supported [them]."
The
court heard Mr Mitchelson himself had been disfellowshipped since being
charged, and no longer had contact with his daughters who had moved out
of the family home along with their mother, who remained married to the
accused.
Mr Mitchelson to face further charges
Magistrate Chris
Callaghan committed Mr Mitchelson to stand trial separately on a
further five charges for alleged offences committed early last year,
including attempting to pervert the course of justice by interfering
with witnesses.
Mr Mitchelson
was on Supreme Court bail for the initial rape and sexual abuse charges
at the time of these alleged offences, and was taken back into custody
in September.
Magistrate
Callaghan refused an application for bail on the newer charges, today
finding Mr Holt had not established that his client did not present an
unacceptable risk of interfering with witnesses — even with strict bail
conditions.
Mr Mitchelson was
remanded in custody to return to court on a charge of possessing a
schedule four medicine — the erectile dysfunction drug Sildenafil — in
September.
In handing down the decision, Magistrate Callaghan commented that Mr Mitchelson was "a very manipulative person".
District Court trial dates will be determined by the Department of Public Prosecutions.
Posted 10h ago
jtg