Flipper - I am SO sorry.... we must have posted at the same time and I didn't see your post. My apologies.
Flipper, you asked a great question. I haven't heard, and I don't know for sure, but I would guess that the elders may have been sent a note forewarning them about this. But, if not, they may be getting one soon. Often, when a major news item may cause a stir in local press, the Elders are forewarned so they may give direction to publishers. Not sure this was a big enough of a splash to warrant a branch-wide letter. But, I'm sure they've been given reminders by CO's and such. I would think if anything had been announced at the Service Meeting, we would have heard about it. Does that answer the question? Peace to you too, bro.
Also, Restrangled - as far as training... we had none. No psychological training. No training to determine whether a child nor adult were telling the truth. The only training we got was supposedly how to tell if someone was repentant (keep in mind we weren't trained how to tell if they were lying... lol) and to call the legal department if child abuse allegations were made. That's the extent of the training. Good question. Elders are totally unqualified to handle this kind of thing.