This article indicates the org will consider policy changes

by defender of truth 16 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  defender of truth

  I think they were just telling the ARC what they wanted to hear.

  What do you think?

  Couple of interesting quotes:

  "Mr O'Brien, co-ordinator of the church's Australian Branch Committee, told the commission the organisation was "open to change".

  In evidence, he said the committee would consider the greater involvement of women in child sex abuse cases, clearer guidance for elders hearing allegations and better communication with victims and their families about their legal options.

  Mr O'Brien told the commission the church did not have a redress scheme for sex abuse victims but would consider establishing one.

  Vincent Toole, head of the church's Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, told the commission he would seek independent legal advice about the church's obligations to report child sex abuse to the authorities.

  Justice McClellan asked Mr Toole if he understood there was a general obligation for every citizen to report crimes to the authorities.

  "Coming to this commission has been a wake-up call for me, I can assure you," Mr Toole said.

  www.smh.com.au/nsw/royal-commission-jehovahs-witnesses-to-review-approach-to-sex-abuse-allegations-20150805-gis2fh.html
  
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  TheOldHippie

  Got to be good news, hasn't it?
  
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  cognac

  How did they not realize this before the RC brought it to their attention? Really? Are they that dense? They are just now realizing how bad their policies are? Nope, not buying that for one second... IMO, they've always known what their policies would do, and chose to try and protect their own image/reputation.

  I think if change were to happen, it would be because of legal reasons only. Or, because it's hurting their image MORE by not changing their policies.
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  cognac

  
  

  "Coming to this commission has been a wake-up call for me, I can assure you," Mr Toole said.

  
  Oh, please...
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  Witness My Fury

  That quote (the wake up call) was referring to the point of responsibilities under misprision. Toole thought the rules under mandatory reporting got precedence I think.

  The fact that they could be guilty of a crime by not reporting is excellent news to me, but not to Toole.
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  punkofnice

  I hold NOT my breath with the WBT$.

  I get the over-riding feeling that Jehovah Jackson won't show. I saw how his foot soldiers were doing all the y could to protect the GB....it sickened me. The GB would do NOTHING for those men unless there was money involved.

  That's going to be the big decider for the WBT$. MONEY. Nothing else but money..........certainly not the protection of children. When have the GB ever given a monkeys about anything else?
• 

  Mephis

  The perils of running your own internal judicial process which determines 'guilt' for crimes. But I suppose it goes to the heart of how they treat crimes as 'sins', as well as how they have no consideration for the wider community. It also highlights the dangers of their own internal legal advice viewing everything only through the prism of what comes down from the GB.

  There's no change in policy as such for them. It's, as Witness My Fury says, simply they've not had the common sense to report crimes to the police and so have been breaking the law because they 'know', by any reasonable standard, that crimes have been committed and haven't been reporting. Typically they'd try to use confessional privilege to defend themselves from any obligation to report under this law, but they've not been doing that in Oz, and after Stewart's demolition of how it shouldn't be considered 'secret' I wonder whether other common law jurisdictions will take another look at the issue from this angle.
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  _Morpheus

  Well lets look at the statment.....:

  "In evidence, he said the committee would consider the greater involvement of women in child sex abuse cases" - this is clearly total and utter bullsh**t. Women will never be allowed in the judicial process.

  "clearer guidance for elders hearing allegations and better communication with victims and their families about their legal options" - this is doable but what does it really mean? 'Brother before you report a pedo call the branch' is what will amount to.

  that whole statment amounted to a carefully crafted 'say what you want to hear but mean what we want it to' bit of trickery.
  
  
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  SecretSlaveClass

  _Morpheus30 minutes ago

  that whole statment amounted to a carefully crafted 'say what you want to hear but mean what we want it to' bit of trickery.

  
  

  cognac3 hours ago

  
  

  "Coming to this commission has been a wake-up call for me, I can assure you," Mr Toole said.

  
  Oh, please...
• 

  Diogenesister

  COGNAC fully agree with you...Toole MUST have known that a crime as serious as child sexual abuse would fall under misprision ...The real problem is, as justice Maclellen rightly pointed out, is that they see SINS such as lying and adultery so much worse than CRIMES such as child abuse. In fact they positively advocated physical abuse of kids until quite recently, as I'm sure many on this forum can testify too.

  Morpheus Agree with you that in essence their statements where all smoke and mirrors...O'Brien was basically saying that women can be part of the PROCESS of reporting but not in the DECISION making ie the JC. This effectively changes nothing. Presently there is no reason why a woman cannot wright the hallowed letter (that they kept banging on about)and read this to the JC on behalf of the victim. This was what OBrien was visualising when he made that statement Morpheus. So yes, no change there.

  Regarding reporting to the authorities, they will only do so when their hand is forced, remember the PRIME DIRECTIVE in JW world is 'do not bring reproach on Jehoovers name'.

  OBrien was willing to take the fall for the GB, why I have no idea as I believe he knows ttatt to some extent anyway, you could see it in the way he reacted. I suppose as a career JW he has too much to loose. As for Toole, he looked like a rabbit cornered by a pack of hounds by the end of it, the physical change in him was quite startling. I suppose when you have left your clients wide open to criminal charges (due to a lack of knowledge any cab driver could tell you) it comes as a bit of a shock.