Ipswitch UK JW Elder denies sex charges

Nathan Natas

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/news/NewsStory.asp?Brand=ESTOnline&Category=News&ItemId=IPED09+Oct+2002+07%3A02%3A05%3A787

Man denies sex assault on girls

October 9, 2002 08:15

A SENIOR member of the Jehovah's Witness congregation in Ipswich indecently assaulted two schoolgirls, a court heard.

John Pickrell, 48, of Cedarcroft Road, Ipswich, has denied four offences of indecent assault on one of the girls and three offences in relation to the other.

Ipswich Crown Court was told yesterday one of the girls was aged between eight and 13 and the second was aged between 11 and 13 at the time of the alleged offences, some of which were said to have happened more than 20 years ago.

John Butcher, prosecuting, said Pickrell had been an elder in the Jehovah's Witness congregations at either the Kingdom Hall in Cavendish Street, Ipswich, or at Westbourne in Ipswich at the time.

He claimed Pickrell had kissed the first girl on the lips and put his tongue in her mouth and had indecently assaulted her on other occasions.

The victim had kept the alleged incident to herself until she told her husband about them in December last year.

Mr Butcher claimed Pickrell had also kissed the other girl, licked her hair and kissed her feet and toes.

Pickrell denied acting indecently towards the girls or indecently assaulting either of them. He admitted kissing one of them on the lips and tickling her bottom while giving her a piggyback, but said that had been an innocent display of affection.

The trial continues.

Englishman

Nathan,

Thanks for putting this up, I will look through the UK papers for more info today.

Englishman.

johnathanseagull

Excellent post................I've just written to the paper, highlighting that this is not an isolated incident and pointing the way to Silentlambs

Feel free to mail also.......... [email protected]

J Gull

sf

Natas, ( I ) want to apologize for calling you a 'pompous jerk'. It was totally retaliatory to you calling me one. I am sorry I went down to that level.

sKally

Nassau

What is going on inside the congregations? Are these people getting dementia?

Edited by - Nassau on 11 October 2002 7:54:53

Earnest

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/news/NewsStory.asp?Brand=ESTOnline&Category=News&ItemId=IPED11+Oct+2002+07%3A11%3A50%3A220

Witness defends alleged attacker

October 11, 2002 16:11

KIND, caring and honest.

These were the words a 19-year-old woman used about alleged sex attacker John Pickrell.

Holly Limmer, told Ipswich Crown Court she had known senior Jehovah's Witness Pickrell all her life and had sometimes stayed at his Cedarcroft Road home in Ipswich.

She said: "I have never felt uncomfortable around him. He is a kind, caring and honest man. He would greet me with hugs and kisses but he has never acted inappropriately towards me."

Holly's father Jim and mother Karen, all Jehovah Witnesses, gave evidence defending Pickrell's character.

The court heard that Mr & Mrs Limmer had known Pickrell for more than 20 years and their two daughters aged 19 an 12 had known him since birth.

Mr Limmer said Pickrell was a 'good friend' who was 'generous and warm'.

Mrs Limmer said the two families had shared holidays and "I have absolutely no concerns about my daughters and John Pickrell."

Pickrell, 48, has denied four offences of indecently assaulting a woman about 20 years ago, and three further offences in respect of another alleged victim.

One of the women accused Pickrell of sexually assaulting her when she was 10-years-old. She said: "It was a few kisses and putting my toes into his mouth."

She claimed he had indecently touched her genital area while giving her a piggyback during a visit to the seaside and touched her indecently in a wooded area behind the library in Sherrington Road, Ipswich.

Pickrell admitted kissing one of the alleged victims on the lips, and tickling her bottom while giving her a piggyback but said it had been an innocent display of affection.

The trial continues.

blondie

This is the way a typical molester thinks.

Pickrell admitted kissing one of the alleged victims on the lips, and tickling her bottom while giving her a piggyback but said it had been an innocent display of affection.

Why is this acceptable if the person is a child but not if the person is an adult?

Let me ask you husbands and boyfriends out there, if this man had done these things to your wife or girlfriend, would you have considered it "an innocent display of affection"?

To you elders and ex-elders, if this man had done this to an adult sister (not his wife), would you have felt it cause to investigate and talk to him?

Earnest

Has the very real abuse of children (which, imo, should be prosecuted to the extent the law allows) reduced us to fear kissing a child lest 20 years later it is interpreted as abuse. The other alleged victim in this case is reported (http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/news/NewsStory.asp?Brand=ESTOnline&Category=News&ItemId=IPED10+Oct+2002+08%3A39%3A05%3A853) as accusing John Pickrell of kissing her feet:

The second girl told the court that when she was about 12 she had a conversation with Pickrell about feet and had told him he wouldn't like her feet because she had big toes.

He had allegedly replied: "I'm sure I would. Let's have a look."

He had then allegedly removed her shoe and had covered her foot in "lots of little kisses".

I cannot view that as child abuse however widely I stretch my imagination. However, I sense there must be more to this for the prosecution to have gone ahead and will report the outcome of this case whatever it may be.

Earnest

mouthy

Dear ,Dear Ernest. I expect you to come to the Witnesses defence( You still being there) I would have done the same.( When I was there no matter what) but after being in court for over a week with a woman suing the W.Tower here for abuse. I heard & saw with my own eyes Elders In GOOD standing putting there hands on the bible & lying....

My heart goes out to you. But you didnt believe ME,when I told you about Rita & Alan Mars....

He was a respected elder, ..( I left my husband who beat me & ran to England my birth place -stayed with my spirituel daughter, Rita... she lived next door to Alan Mars...)

He came in to Rita's house & counselled me 'YOU MUST GO BACK TO YOUR HUSBAND" .

I did as he said ( after all this was from an elder- one of Jahs "picked") Imagine a few years later he ran away with Rita- leaving his wife & 3 kids. She left her hubby ( she had already left 6 kids with her first hubby to marry the 2nd hubby ( Alan is her third hubby)

I know you spoke to him about me-He said I was a trouble maker.. Could you ask him How I am making trouble telling the truth????

Ernest PLEASE examine your religion. You sound like you want to be fair.....

Grace Gough

Earnest

Dear mouthy,

You are wrong to think that I didn't believe what you told me of your "spiritual daughter" and her husband. I believed you when you told me and I believe you now. However, I doubt that your "spiritual daughter" will appeciate having her skeletons aired on a public forum but that is your concern.

As for defending the Witnesses...I defend those I think are unfairly attacked. I made it quite clear in my post that those who are guilty of child abuse should be prosecuted...and I have had cause to back my words with action. But my statement about kissing children was said out of personal experience, not in defence of anyone. When I married, my step-daughter was nine. She is now 20. I have always been inhibited in showing her affection because I have been conscious how it could be twisted. And I am sure many other step-parents (and even parents) have felt similarly robbed of what is natural because some have perverted it. Whether or not that is true of John Pickrell remains for the court to decide.

Kind regards,

Earnest

Ipswitch UK JW Elder denies sex charges

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