by Gerard 45 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
I hope this can help lay the greater foundation for the lawyers that are working on ongoing cases. There is a clear violation of the "agreement" they apparently made with the parents. AND assuming they have such power/responsibility over the flock then IMO they are indeed responsible for the further abuse.
Sincerely,
District Overbeer
This is truly a gross miscarriage of justice.
I hope the child's family will have the courage to go to civil court and at the very least swear out a restraining order against this predator.
Oh, and SaintSatan, in answer to your question:
Why is the wt so easy on pedos, yet so hard on homosexuals? Oh yah, the bible condemns homos, but most of it's main characters were pedos, by todays standards.You are comparing apples to oranges. Why is the WT so hard on smokers, yet seem to be giving free reign to pedophiles in their midst? ....and the Bible doesn't even talk about smoking!
San
You are comparing apples to oranges.
I didn't mean to suggest that pedos and gays are synonymous. I was thinking of how most gays are born that way. I'm not sure if pedos are born pedos, but it seems that, for the most part, they are incurable. It may be that they don't have a choice anymore, as gays don't. That still wouldn't make pedophilia excusable, though.
Why is the WT so hard on smokers, yet seem to be giving free reign to pedophiles in their midst? ....and the Bible doesn't even talk about smoking!
Very good point. Smoking is self damage, though it has short term benefits. Pedophilia damages others. Hope i understood the point you were making.
SS
I posted this in the comments feature of the Spokane newspaper.
This is not the first case of Jehovahs Witnesses covering up the problem with pedophiles getting away with raping children. There are more and more lawsuits every day and one can only hope that at some point the Jehovahs Witnesses will think it more important to protect the children, rather than their reputation as an organization. So to the people of Spokane I would ask you to think cautiously before opening your door to a religious group that has been caught harboring pedophiles. Perhaps some Saturday morning a man like that will come to your door with magazines and god forbid, you asleep the kiddies watching cartoons, one of YOUR children answers the door. A very disturbing scenario, but a very real one nonetheless.
Jehovah's Witness elder abused girl
Edward Davis gets 90 days in jail; family called police when he returned to church months earlier than promised
Nina Culver
Staff writer
A former Spokane Valley church elder has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for molesting a girl in his congregation over a period of eight years.
Edward N. Davis, 40, was an elder at the Jehovah's Witness Opportunity Kingdom Hall when the abuse occurred. The girl's family apparently was close friends with Davis.
Davis was accused of touching the girl underneath her clothing several times and once forcing the girl to perform a sex act on him. The abuse started when the girl was 10 years old, according to court documents.
The documents say Davis began repeatedly calling the girl and leaving notes on her car after she moved out of the family home, when she turned 18. The parents reportedly became aware of the abuse last year.
The documents say the victim's mother confronted Davis over the phone and he admitted the abuse. The family then approached the other elders of the Opportunity Kingdom Hall to ask for guidance. Jehovah's Witness elders are unpaid volunteers who are selected to lead the congregation, making them similar to pastors.
The victim's mother, who asked not to be identified, said the elders agreed to "disfellowship" Davis, throwing him out of the church for two years.
But six months later Davis was back in the church, though not as an elder. That's when the victim and her parents went to police.
The family had no intention of reporting the abuse until the elders violated their agreement, the victim's mother said. "They promised two years. Our thought was that the children would be protected."
When Davis was banned, the congregation was not told why, she said.
"Jehovah's Witnesses aren't supposed to tell anyone," she said. "It's been kept very quiet."
According to court documents, the church elders also refused to help the detective assigned to investigate the case, saying that Davis spoke to them in confidence.
Neither an elder of the church nor Davis' attorney returned calls seeking comment. Davis could not be located for comment.
Davis originally was charged with first-degree sexual misconduct and stalking. He pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor and was sentenced Monday. In addition to the jail time, he will be on probation for two years and is required to register as a sex offender.
Davis is not scheduled to report to jail to serve his sentence for a couple of weeks, deputy prosecutor Patrick Johnson said.
Nina Culver may be contacted at (509) 927-2158 or by e-mail at [email protected]. Sincerely, District Overbeer
Hope i understood the point you were making.
You understood perfectly!
I didn't mean to suggest that pedos and gays are synonymous. I was thinking of how most gays are born that way. I'm not sure if pedos are born pedos, but it seems that, for the most part, they are incurable. It may be that they don't have a choice anymore, as gays don't. That still wouldn't make pedophilia excusable, though.
I knew what you were saying about the lack of relation between homosexuality and pedophilia. This thread is too important to hijack, so did not want to dwell on that aspect of your statement.
The research I've done on pedophilia suggests that it is a mental illness. While many mental illnesses are caused by biochemical imbalances, I do not think that pedophilia is. Otherwise, there would not be so many repeat offenders, and science would have found a way to suppress it by now. IMHO, pedophilia is a subconscious learned behavior. Quite often, pedophiles are victims of abuse themselves. I sincerely hope that one day science will unlock the key to curing this horrible illness, and stop the cycle from continuing on to the next generation. Until that time, our civil and criminal court system should recognize their moral obligation to keep these predators from circulating freely among the rest of society. The term this man was given is a travesty!
90 days isn't much of a sentence for what he did.
What an asshole. I wonder what the people in the hall are doing? Do they welcome this guy back with open arms? How disgusting.
I wonder what the people in the hall are doing? Do they welcome this guy back with open arms?
To answer this quesiton, one must first understand Spokane mentality. It's a very overgrown small town. For decades, the city was run by one or two influential families and remnants of those dynasties still exist. For all its advancement, Spokane is still small.
In the JW community, the back-water attitudes still prevail. Ed Davis came from a "protected" and "well-connected" family. If the Opportunity Congegation takes him back, it will be in most people's best ineterests to at least put on an act of being supportive. More than likely, the victim will be trashed as if she were at fault.
Unfortunately, this is a scene we've seen acted out time and time again. Circle the wagons, blame the victim, shut the hell up.
Un-flippin-believable.
Wasa
Circle the wagons, blame the victim, shut the hell up.
Yep. Of course, a victim does'nt have any rights except those the elders give you. You can be DF'd or reproved for taking a brother to court, good standing or not, this is something I think that has'nt been brought up for awhile.
