Victoria, Australia: Steven Unthank's Press Release: JW's Hierarchy Formally Charged Today With Child Abuse

by AndersonsInfo 243 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  sizemik

  Sorry . . . but this has to be said . . .

  I can't believe how many here in effect say . . . "I am a expert . . . these are my credentials . . . now look at how dumb I can be"

  The judicial system in Australia is not the same as the country you may live in. and is different from the USA, the UK, Canada, and any other "Western" country you care to name. Sure, it's derived from the English system as most commonwealth systems are . . . but there are many differences now. One important one is the Australian State arrangement. How this effects legislation and it's enforcement is unique to Australia and even differs from State to State in some instances.

  The judicial system and legislation under which this case is being considered and processed can easily be accessed right here on the internet. Look it up FFS! 90% of what you need to know has already been revealed through this and previous threads, complete with links, thanks to Barb and others . . . look them up FFS!

  Concerned JW . . . you should be concerned. But most of what you are spouting has absolutley nothing to do with this case. It's not about whether JW's do this or that . . . it's about criminal and willful non-compliance with a legal requirement. period.
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  The Quiet One

  I really hope this is true, but can I point something out? "Many members of the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and their families, are now demanding the immediate resignation or removal of the entire Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the entire Board of Directors of the Watch Tower Society as well as the forming of church-based Judicial Committees in relation to these serious child abuse charges."- Think about it. How would he know that MANY witnesses wanted the GB to resign unless they've come out and said it publicly or at least online? And why would so many jw's risk landing themselves in serious trouble based on unverified info on an 'apostate' blog? Just saying..
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  sizemik

  Steve Unthank has his own website, phone number and email address . . . he's also a current JW . . . easily contactable by anyone who wishes JW or otherwise. If you want him to substantiate the claims made in his press release . . . only he can do that. I would hope any who support him currently have the good sense to inform themselves, rather than relying on unverified internet information. Landing themselves in trouble with the powers that be in the WTB&TS may be only a secondary consideration . . . if a consideration at all.
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  Mad Sweeney

  Thank you Barbara.

  And thank you Sizemik. You said what I've wanted to say for the last couple pages of this thread.
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  AndersonsInfo

  Please try to remember this everybody -- There is no fee for a background check for religions in Victoria!

  I agree with Mad Sweeney... Thank you "sizemik" for your input. We should have confidence in your statements in that you live in Australia.

  Anybody who has questions, call Steven Unthank. If you have problems with what Steven Unthank is doing, call him. For those in New Zealand with questions, maybe it's cheaper to call Australia than it is to call from the US so please call Steven. He put his phone number on his website so that must mean that he welcomes phone calls. Also, Steven's phone number has been posted somewhere on this thread.

  Barbara
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  Broken Promises

  Sizemik actually lives in New Zealand, not Australia, but hey, we won't let 4000k of open ocean to get in the way.
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  Gayle

  Remember the abuse case a few years ago? when the WTS did a settlement for a class action group of victims of sexual abuse, a gag order for them, had to be millions of $$ though?

  The WTS wasn't going to let that sort of thing go to court. They weren't going to risk publicity and the risk of mega $$$

  Now on this case,,the GB even have their personal names at risk and possible jail time threat ??? They are whimpie-whinnies and they are not going to risk this. Publicity will go global if this gets into court. How would they ever defend that this is their religious opinion or have any scriptural basis no matter how they could twist their own scriptures? Many 'rank & file' would be embarrassed about this if they learned of this.

  The WTS Headquarters will just blame their local Victoria, Australian brothers for this and make them pay for possible penalties at this point (or maybe the GB would give them a loan with interest for it since they are so loving with rank & file donations). Maybe they'll will have to remove a few elders to blame to detract away from the GB for this, as is their style/policy.

  I hope that eventually this background check law in Victoria, Australia would then go global and sets the precedent for all JW elders, ministerial servants, and possible others globally. I suspect some of those background checks (for any number of reasons) will knock out some of these from their positions.
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  AndersonsInfo

  Whoops, thanks Broken Promises for the correction. Well, anyway, Sizemik sure knows more about Australian law than I do. But I'm learning!

  Barb
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  Gayle

  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/former-witness-taking-on-watch-tower/story-fn7x8me2-1226036589078

  article written by Graeme Hammond on news there,,maybe you could verify with Mr Hammond at that newspaper? I did just send an email to the newspaper, no response yet.

  *******************************************************

  got this response, email, from writer yesterday:

  Hi Gayle,

  Our reader helpline has passed on your query about the story on Jehovah’s Witnesses.

  There have in fact been a couple of small follow-up stories since then on the issue and Steven advises me he is now proceeding with private criminal prosecutions. The charges were filed on Monday and an initial hearing date has been set for September 13.

  Steven Unthank has a website, http://www.*******.net/, that contains some helpful links.

  I’ll continue to follow developments. You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/********* if you wish; any updates will appear there. I hope everything’s fine in Phoenix; I have a brother in Flagstaff who loves the place.

  All the best,

  Graeme

  Graeme Hammond | Journalist, Your Street editor(for email, website and twitter noted above, I guess you'll have to PM me for those if you want)
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  jamiebowers

  Please try to remember this everybody -- There is no fee for a background check for religions in Victoria!

  My mistake then.