Watchtower Society Sued For Covering Up For Molestor Derek Packowski

by qua 50 Replies latest jw friends

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  james_woods

  I wasn't publicy disputing a "moderators decision". I was disputing Mr. Wood's decision to posting on a thread that he knew he didn't want to read on the first place. It was newsworthy, timely, and posted in the appropiate forum. However, Mr. Woods' sensibilities were disturbed so I guess a mod was alerted. Ofcourse I don't know that for sure, so there would be no knowledge of any such mod decision for me to criticize.

  I had nothing to do with getting your thread killed.

  I simply posted that I thought it was in bad taste and could offend newcomers.

  Apparantly, some moderator agreed - I did not even know it had been removed until Mad Sweeney said so.

  Why you are piling all this onto THIS THREAD - where a brand new post 1 of 1 new member is asking about a legitimate issue is way beyond me.
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  Found Sheep

  7 years ago someone must know the outcome??? I hope the best for all the victims!!
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  Chemical Emotions

  I want to know the outcome as well!
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  Band on the Run

  Huge chunks of this forum could make a civil procedure study group! It seems we rarely discuss the merits of the case. All we do is discuss why such an entity was name and whether a court has jurisdiction. Corporate law and tort law are also strong components. So a significant amount of first year law is covered. Some even overlaps to second or third year law courses. It is a bit humorous. Go to law school to understand JW land.

  The Roman Catholic Church has paid astronamical settlements. People accept that the church is responsible for the conduct of priests and the church played a huge role in cover-ups. I don't know why the Witness lawyers thought they would have an easy walk free card. Good people can look the other way at corruption, power, doctrinal disputes but when children are involved, the standard is very different.

  Imagine the impact on Roman Catholicism. It could be the same way for the Witnesses. The timeline of these cases is important to me. Zero tolerance exists today. Sexual impulses are much better understood. Rehab does not work. Children do not spring back. These WT cases are fairly recent. I wish we had media access that Catholics do. There are factors in Roman Catholic society that make pedophilia more common than in mainstream Protestant religions. Celibacy for priests, deferential treatment from congregants, access to children, and an old boys' network. The JWs also have most of these factors. The arrogance of not giving notice to parents triggers me deeply. I understand about corroboration. There may be no hard proof. With notice, parents can protect their children and understand there is no proof. More Witnesses should leap beyond the brothers and go directly to the police. It seems as though Jehovah decided to give the police jurisdiction b/c the Society is not protecting children. Suffer the little children to come to me.
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  AndersonsInfo

  This case was filed Nov. 21, 2003 against Watch Tower of Pennsylvania, Watchtower of NY, Christian Congregation of JWs, Sunset Cong. of JWs, and Derek Packowski. It was dismissed with prejudice on May 7, 2004 against all Defendants except Derek Packowski.

  Dismissed with prejudice means that it was dismissed permanently. (A case dismissed with prejudice is over and done with, once and for all, and can't be brought back to court.) The victims were Tim C., Robert C., Andrew C., and Trevor L.

  On Dec. 31, 2003, another case was filed against the same Defendants. The Plaintiff was Mike C. This case was also dismissed with prejudice on May 7, 2004 against all Defendants except Packowski.

  On Oct. 19, 2004, there was paper work filed to consolidate the two above cases against Defendant, Derek Packowski. The trial date for the case entitled Mike C. was scheduled to start on Dec. 7, 2004. And the trial date for the case entitled Trevor L., et al., was scheduled to commence on Feb. 23, 2005. On April 1, 2005, this combined case against Derek Packowski was dismissed with prejudice.

  The court record in these cases was not available to reveal why the Plaintiffs' attorney agreed to have the entire action of all parties and all causes of action dismissed with prejudice. However, this could mean that there's a sealed court document not available to the public that might give a clue. From my past experience with these lawsuits filed in 2003, around 20 of them, I'm of the opinion that it is not unlikely that Defendants Watch Tower, et al., and later Defendant, Packowski, secretly settled out-of-court with all of the Plaintiffs because that's the way Watch Tower handles these child sexual abuse lawsuits. Go to http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/docs/jw-secrets.html#free to see the court documents from seven other lawsuits filed in California in 2003 against the major WT Inc. entities that were settled out-of-court with the Plaintiffs in early 2007.

  Barbara
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  Band on the Run

  It appears that courts are unwilling to say that a pedophile is an employee or agent of the WTBTS. I would be interested in seeing how the Roman Catholic Church treats priests. I have no idea where funds to a priest are found. Priests are prob. also covered by insurance sponsored through the Church. It is very frustrating. There is no doubt that the WTBTS is controlling.
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  smiddy

  The fact that the WTB&TS settles out of court with a gag stipulation says it all for me

  They are as guilty as sin, Bastards one and all

  smiddy
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  Band on the Run

  Most out of court settlements contain a gag rule. I wonder if the settlements happen b/c lawyers with a passion for making a point against the WTBTS are not involved. I wonder if the lawyers only see the $ signs. This happened in class action law suits when the lawyer is committed to the class but the named plaintiffs decide to settle. There are real legal hurdles to proving that the WTBTS is liable for the actions of a nonemployee. The elders seem to exist in a quasi legal zone. In fact, if I were not born-in, I would say they should not be liable. An insider knows how crushing and overreaching Bethel is.

  Australia is different b/c there is a law. It makes me wonder why we don't have such laws in every country. I wonder why they stretch the one time Bible reference. They are going out of their way to protect the accused. I don't see what they gain. The publicity alone must be brutal. I realize these cases involve unusual Jehovah's Witnesses. If I were abused, there would be outrage against the offender but never a lawsuit. Individuals are bad; the borg is perfect. Most victims must never see a lawyer or press very hard for justice. It takes a large sense of entitlement to take your church to court.

  Why persist in their two witness rule? The text on its face does not back their interpretation. New light would be easy. They are wasting good will and financial resources backing their rule. As much as I have disdain for them, they never seemed like child abusers en masse. I can only assume that their culture isolates them from normal human feeling. It no longer seems to work for them but they labor on. I don't understand them at all.
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  james_woods

  Just posted again here to bring back to the top and have a look if Pulp Superstar had been back.

  Hope he saw Barbara's history of the cases.
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  Sevan

  I know all about this case. I personally know some of the victims, who are not listed in the suit. This man molested/raped dozens of children from 1984 - 1998. Mostly likely many more since then as he was never criminally prosecuted and is still an active Jehovah's Witness.

  Because the statute of limitations had passed due to cover-up by the elders and Watchtower, no criminal charges were possible, only civil charges. The case was settled out of court.

  I ask any victims of this man to please message me. He is still at large and active in the congregation.

  At this moment, I am carefully investigating and trying to decide the best course of action to protect other children from harm.