Posts by 4thgen

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A woman and a man who allege they were sexually abused as children by a leader in a suburban Portland Jehovah's Witnesses congregation have filed suit, seeking $10.5 million.

The Oregonian reports (http://is.gd/IB6zNn ) that lawyers for a 39-year-old woman and an unidentified man filed suit Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. They contend Jehovah's Witnesses' leadership has covered up sexual abuse against children by leaders.

An attorney for the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mario Moreno, said he hadn't seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment.

The lawsuit alleges that a man who held the equivalent position of a baptized ordained minister in the North Hillsboro Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses molested the female plaintiff in the mid-80s when she was 11 or 12 years old. The suit claims the man also molested a boy who was at the time 8 to 10 years old. The newspaper reports that the woman says she eventually told her mother, who went to the Hillsboro congregation's elders but was told to tell no one.

Oregon's statute of limitations doesn't allow criminal prosecution because too many years have passed. Lawyers filing the case say they don't know where the man lives now.

___

Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com

2

Not on JW.org: Jehovah's Witnesses under fire from former congregants who say child sex abuse was hushed

by 4thgen in

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/12/jehovahs_witnesses_under_fire.html.

jehovah's witnesses under fire from former congregants who say child sex abuse was hushed.

$10.5 million lawsuit against jehovah's witnesses organizations velicia alston, who says she was molested as a child, wants to change the way jehovah's witnesses' leadership responds to child sexual abuse.

4thgen

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/12/jehovahs_witnesses_under_fire.html

Jehovah's Witnesses under fire from former congregants who say child sex abuse was hushed

$10.5 Million Lawsuit Against Jehovah's Witnesses Organizations Velicia Alston, who says she was molested as a child, wants to change the way Jehovah's Witnesses' leadership responds to child sexual abuse.

Aimee Green | [email protected] By Aimee Green | [email protected]
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on December 01, 2014 at 12:55 PM, updated December 02, 2014 at 9:03 AM

Two people who say that as children they were sexually abused by a leader in a Hillsboro Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation filed a $10.5 million lawsuit Monday – among the first in Oregon to accuse the religious organization of hiding decades of sexual abuse.

Attorneys for Velicia Alston, 39, and an unnamed man said the Jehovah’s Witnesses leadership continues to cover up sexual abuse against children by leaders. They say it is more than a decade behind other organizations, such as the Catholic Church, that have been forced to address their problems through many years of civil litigation.

“There is a crisis of silence in the Jehovah's Witness organization," said Irwin Zalkin, one of several attorneys representing Alston and the man. Zalkin described the religious organization as "more concerned about protecting its reputation than it is about protecting its children."

For example, Zalkin said the seven men who make up the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Governing Body have a policy requiring a confession from the perpetrator or two eyewitnesses to the abuse before leaders will take any action.

“Even if they do disfellowship a perpetrator, they don’t tell the congregation why,” Zalkin said during a news conference Monday in Portland. “No one but the elders can ever know that there is a child predator lurking in that congregation.”

Zalkin said Jehovah’s Witnesses leaders don’t call police. Rather, Zalkin said, they take the position that although Oregon law defines clergy as mandatory reporters of child abuse, they don’t need to report the abuse because it was a privileged religious communication.

“At some point, it becomes too expensive to keep doing this,” Zalkin said. “That’s what civil litigation is about.” An attorney for the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mario Moreno, said he hadn't yet seen a copy of Monday's lawsuit and couldn't offer comment.

Zalkin, an attorney from San Diego, said this is the first case of its kind that he knows of in Oregon. His firm has 14 active cases against the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization in other states that include California, Connecticut and New Mexico. Several others also are pending in the U.S.

Portland attorneys Kristian Roggendorf and Paul Mones also are representing the two plaintiffs who filed Monday’s lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court. The suit alleges that Daniel Castellanos, who held the equivalent position of a baptized ordained minister in the North Hillsboro Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, molested Alston in 1986 or 1987 when she was 11 or 12 years old. The suit claims Castellanos also molested a boy, described only as John Roe in the suit, when the boy was 8 to 10 years old.

Alston said she chose to use her name and speak to reporters Monday because she wants to give victims a voice. She said filing civil litigation in hopes of changing the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ policies did not amount to committing an act against God, even though her attorneys say the Jehovah’s Witnesses might shun her for doing so.

"I know that there are other victims," said Alston, who now lives in San Diego. "I know that you're scared because you're worried about being punished by God. But God would never do something like this. So it's OK to say something. Because if you don't say something it's going to keep happening."

The suit alleges Alston was kissed and fondled under her clothes multiple times by Castellanos, a piano teacher, while he was supposed to be giving her piano lessons at his house. She eventually told her mother, who went to the Hillsboro congregation’s elders. Alston said the elders told her and her mother to tell no one – including police.

Zalkin said Castellanos was ousted from the congregation for three to five years but eventually let back in.

Castellanos was married and had children at the time of the abuse, Alston said. She and her attorneys don’t know how old he is or where he lives, but they believe it’s outside of Oregon. They said they don’t think he has any criminal history.

Oregon's statute of limitations doesn't allow Castellanos to be criminally prosecuted because too many years have passed. But state law does allow alleged victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits up until age 40 or within five years of when they realize the damaging effect the abuse has had on their lives.

Castellanos couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Several weeks ago, a California judge awarded $13.5 million to a man who said he was molested as a child by a San Diego Jehovah's Witnesses leader.

Jehovah's Witnesses count about 8 million people within more than 113,000 congregations.

-- Aimee Green

19

JW's hit with another lawsuit alleging child sexual abuse

by yalbmert99 in

http://www.christianpost.com/news/jehovahs-witnesses-hit-with-another-lawsuit-alleging-child-sexual-abuse-organization-has-paid-over-13-million-in-damages-130490/.

4thgen

Thanks for sharing.

15

Any Veggie Juicers Here?

by SnarlingRaven in

i have been juicing off and on for a couple of years ever since i saw a the documentary, sick, fat, and nearly dead, and my health has taken a remarkable upswing.

no doubt in my mind that drinking live celled water rich green veggie juice is one of the best things you can do for your health and longevity.

time is sometimes a thing, and don't always have the time and patience to juice the veggies and clean up the juicer parts.

4thgen

Yep. I agree. I feel much better when I juice. The a nutra bullet and it is amazing and worth every penny. The only green powder I found that tastes good is called: Ultimate greens with MSM on Amazon.com. I suggest that wheither you do a green drink with fresh vegs or the green powder, put it in a solid glass that does not show the color. I have gotten many negative comments when I don't.

70

Feeling sad over a wasted life in watchtower

by wannaexit in

jw
friends

it's been 12 years since i first read ray franz's books and the scales came off my eyes.

by that time i was in my forties.. since 2002 i went back to school and have worked with 3 very professional organizations.

but my biological clock is ticking away and while my peers are looking forward to retirement, i am only beginning.

4thgen

we are all kindred spirits..... at least we are OUT!

102

Bill Cosby - too much smoke for no fire?

by Simon in

it seems like the list of people who are accusing him of rape and sexual assault is growing every day.

i'm skeptical of single accusations but the number of people and the similar stories seem overwhelming now.. it's not a conviction but to the court of public opinion ... guilty?.

.

4thgen

And so many of us liked his clean humor. .... just goes to show you don't know what goes on behind closed doors.

34

Over 1,000,000 in attendance and you are worried about tight pants?

by Separation of Powers in

jw
friends

you know, rarely in the history of the org has a group this large congregated to hear from "mother.

" they incessantly speak of the huge group that met at yankee stadium in 1958...the over 250,000 that congregated to be instructed by jehovah.

but over the weekend, there were over 1,000,000 people excited to hear some type of direction, some type of encouragement, something to help them hang on "just a little longer.".

4thgen

They have no spiritual food to give, so they resort to minutia. The most interesting thing that he said was that there was an attack on the organization. Now, that's news! But of course, they wouldn't detail that because it would reveal what has been reallying happening behind the curtain!

38

US Zone visit: disappointing, depressing, discouraging

by sir82 in

jw
friends

i will have plenty of "snark" to post later on, but please indulge me while i get this out of my system..... suppose you are the leaders...yes, the leaders...there are only 7 of you...for the one true religion in all the universe.. jehovah the god of the whole universe speaks to you, you alone, out of 7 billion+ people on teh planet.. you have an opportunity, thanks to the advancements in technology, to speak to 750,000 of your followers "live", and another 750,000 or so within 24 hours.. 1.5 million people!

hanging on your every word!.

this is the first time in history you can simultaneously, or nearly simultaneously, address so many of your adherents.. what message are you going to present for this special occasion?.

4thgen

Sir: Thumbs up. Very well said!

443

Zone Visit: An Announcement That Will "Test Your Faith"

by breakfast of champions in

this is the scuttlebutt in one of the "bethel congregations" by us.. no details as to exactly what this "faith-testing" announcement might be.. anyone else hear any of this pre-zone visit hype?.

.

4thgen

Poopsie: You nailed it. Further along that line, I believe that the domination of women in the org is also due to male

chauvinism and the desire to appear to keep the 'little woman in line'. It IS all show!