WT wants to throw out lawsuit in Vermont

by Sugar Shane 5 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  Sugar Shane

  Kinda surprised this hasn't popped up on here yet. Article is just a couple days old. It's in the small, but pretty state of Vermont.

  WTs actions are not the least bit surprising. What's so obvious is not that they "abhor child abuse." Words are cheap. Judging by their actions, the actually "abhor getting caught protecting pedophiles." F#ck!n£ criminal bastards. Worse than the mafia trying to dodge the feds back in the '70s.

  Anyway, the author was kind enough to provide his contact info at the end of the article.

  http://www.reformer.com/latestnews/ci_30235457/bellows-falls-jehovahs-witnesses-ask-court-toss-lawsuit
  
• 

  cofty

  I think this was raised by somebody yesterday. It is difficult to see how liability can be proven in this case. It will be interesting to see the court's decision.
• 

  Anders Andersen

  What is interesting is this quote from Watchtower though:

  And to claim that the congregation was required to "monitor" interactions in private homes between individuals who are not engaged in any religious activity "is beyond the legal or feasible scope of any possible undertaking. Because the specific 'service' for which (Lewis) claims protection in this case is beyond the scope of any 'monitoring' service the (congregation) could possibly or legally provide, (Lewis') claim fails as a matter of law."

  If only elders gave this response whenever someone came to them complaining he saw some brother engaged in sin.

  'I saw porn in brother Xs browsing history'

  'Unmarried X and Y spent the night in a hotel together'

  'I saw sr X smoking'

  'While at work in the hospital, I noticed in the records X had a blood transfusion'

  Sorry folks, it's beyond the legal and feasible scope of our congregation to monitor private activities...
• 

  darkspilver

  This was discussed a few days ago:
  

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6466677172600832/watchtower-requests-sexual-abuse-suit-dismissed

  of interest in the report is:

  The allegations were also reported to the Vermont Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services Social Services Division in 1997, and True submitted to a polygraph test administered by a detective from the Vermont State Police, which True passed. As a result, no charges were filed.

  There are other threads here regarding this:

  September 2014

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/285073/vermont-sisters-sue-jehovahs-witnesses-child-sex-abuse

  March 2015

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/199000001/judge-partially-grants-partially-denies-jehovahs-witnesses-motion-dismiss
• 

  Xanthippe

  If only elders gave this response whenever someone came to them complaining he saw some brother engaged in sin.
  'I saw porn in brother Xs browsing history'
  'Unmarried X and Y spent the night in a hotel together'
  'I saw sr X smoking'
  'While at work in the hospital, I noticed in the records X had a blood transfusion'
  Sorry folks, it's beyond the legal and feasible scope of our congregation to monitor private activities...

  
  

  This is so true Barbara. The WTS secret police, the elders, hound people's private lives constantly but when child abuse occurs they are suddenly unable to do anything because it involves the congregation member's 'private activities'.
• 

  darkspilver

  Seems to be a 'burden of proof' issue?
  

  It appears criminal proceedings where dropped, so they are trying their own civil proceedings instead.
  

  I understand that for criminal cases you need to show something is “beyond a reasonable doubt,” while in civil cases you only need to show that something is more likely to be true than untrue.
  
  
  

  http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20141001/NEWS03/710019905

  [The girls mother, Marina] Mauvoleon-Folsom said the alleged sexual abuse was reported by a therapist to the state in September 1996. The girls were interviewed, she said, and the case involved what is now the Department for Children and Families and investigators from the Vermont State Police in Rockingham.
  
  The allegations were substantiated by the state at one time, but the decision was reversed shortly after, according to Mauvoleon-Folsom.
  
  Zalkin said such cases often do not end up involving criminal charges.
  
  “These cases are very difficult with young children, when young children are making the allegations,” he said. “Corroboration is always the challenge. It’s not uncommon for law enforcement to not pursue these cases vigorously. They’re just tough cases for them. They have a high standard, a high burden of proof. It’s very different than the civil cases.”