Article: Jehovah's Witness child sex abuse survivor urges examination of NZ church

by AndersonsInfo 15 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  AndersonsInfo

  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/108217408/jehovahs-witness-child-sex-abuse-survivor-urges-examination-of-nz-church

  Tom Hunt18:56, Nov 11 2018

  It started with movies and bowls, but soon Luke Hollis was a young boy performing sexual acts on a Jehovah's Witness man four-times his age.

  To hear Hollis, now 28 and living in Wellington, talk of the ordeal that tormented him for years during his childhood in England, it is remarkable how matter-of-fact he is.

  But he is the first to admit he has a vendetta against his former church.

  He wants to see Jehovah's Witnesses held accountable and he wants the church to apologise. But mostly, he wants it to fully shed its "two witness" rule – a policy he argues makes the church a beacon for child sexual predators.

  READ MORE: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/108217408/jehovahs-witness-child-sex-abuse-survivor-urges-examination-of-nz-church
  
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  days of future passed

  Massey University senior lecturer Heather Kavan, who researches religion, said while the Jehovah's Witness church was not necessarily a "hotbed" of sexual abuse, when it did happen it could be worse for victims who were manipulated into fearing the offender as well as God.

  "As well as this, it's more traumatising for a survivor to report abuse to the Jehovah's Witnesses than it is to report it to the police," Kavan said.

  "One survivor who spoke to the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse said that going through three criminal trials was easier than going through Jehovah's Witnesses processes."

  It's a very well written article. Just shows what kind of "love" the JW religion really has.
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  steve2

  No way can local JWs in New Zealand continue calling news on the Australian Royal Commission of Inquiry fake news. There’s now going to be a Royal Commission of Inquiry on the same topic here in New Zealand. In fact, the NZ Commissions terms of reference are likely to be widened to include physical and emotional abuse.
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  joe134cd

  Steve I think there is every reason for NZ JWs to believe it is fake news. The ARC never even got a mention in the papers. The investigation into the ANZ bank got more air time than the JWs ever did. As my father says if it’s not on jw.org then it’s simply not true.

  i believe the enquirery into sexual abuse in nz dosnt include religious groups. If John Wills had to take the stand, or got his face put on prime time tv it would probably send him to an early grave.
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  joe134cd

  My apologies Steve but it has now been extended to religious institutions. I wasn’t up to date with the latest news.
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  cha ching

  Who is John Wills?
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  steve2

  John Wills was the “head” spokesman of Bethel in New Zealand. I believe he retired from that position a few years before the New Zealand Bethel closed and NZ Witnesses were subsequently under the Australian Bethel.

  BTW, joe, a royal commission can compel citizens to appear before it even if they might refuse. It has statutory legal powers just like a court of law. That’s the reason Geoffrey Jackson could not get out of appearing when he was visiting His dying father in Australia in 2015 - Jackson is of course an Australian citizen so he would have faced severe legal sanctions if he had refused.
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  joe134cd

  That even more reason for John not to take the stand. I didn’t realise he stepped down from the position before it closed. I saw a photo of him just after the bethel closed and to be honest he looked like a broken man. I believe the stress of that enquiry would kill him. He must be like in his late 80s by now
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  smiddy3

  Firstly , I`m glad to hear that NZ is conducting such an inquiry by a Royal Commission into Child Abuse Sexual and Otherwise.

  Secondly i find it hard to comprehend how JW`s fail to believe ,accept that Jehovah`s Witnesses Organization went through the same process as other religious organizations in the C.A.R.C

  It`s on Government video of G.Jackson . Vincent Toole , various Elders giving testimony . ? And overall not doing a very good job of it either.

  What`s that statement ? "Their are none so blind as those who refuse to see".
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  steve2

  Joe, yes, I remember John (and his wife,Lorraine) when they were a fine looking couple in their 30s - I would’ve been in my early teens when I first met them via a family member. It was known among JWs that Lorraine had wanted children but had committed to puttingbthe kingdom first because the end was so very near. I often wonder what they make of life when they realise they’re now well into their 80s and the promised nearness of the end has not occurred. BTW, Lorraine’s own mother and John’s older brother were dusfellowshipped decades ago for apostasy. - they did not know each other.