Former Jehovah's Witness elder committed to stand trial accused of Sunshine Coast rapes, sexual abuse

by yalbmert99 18 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  TonusOH

  Thanks, Earnest. That makes this much messier for the organization.
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  Simon

  "The appointment of elders is guided by the holy spirit"

  Yeah, right ...

  It's just an old-boys club, and some of them are perverts.
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  Vidiot

  An old-pervs club.

  😏
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  Scully

  Let me guess.... he was still an Elder™, In Good Standing™ at the time these incidents occur. No surprise there.

  The other thing... he was let back in after being Removed™ as an Elder™... without ever having to apologize to his victims, and his victims were required to testify before the Judicial Committee™ with him right there in front of them.

  F*cking B@stards.
• 

  Earnest

  Scully : Let me guess.... he was still an Elder™, In Good Standing™ at the time these incidents occur. No surprise there.

  No, Scully. According to a Jehovah's Witness spokesman he "was not in an appointed position throughout the time of the alleged events”. (Courier Mail, September 5, 2022)

  So it follows that he was removed as an elder before 2008, when the incidents started. That doesn't entirely tie in with the police allegation that he "used his position of religious standing within the Jehovah’s Witness community to target young men in their late teens to early 20s between 2008 and 2018" but it could be true.

  It is unlikely that the victims were required to testify before the Judicial Committee as they had all left the congregation and were alleged to be homosexuals.
  
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  Diogenesister

  Maybe not in an appointed position "of power" at the time the incidents that have enough evidence to be taken to court took place, but you can bet your bottom dollar they started when he was an elder. Probably deleted him when complaints started piling up....

  How sickening they get called homosexual rather than seen as victims. As Blues said it's all so sickeningly familiar.
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  TonusOH

  Calling them gay sounds very much like they were telling them that they must have enjoyed it, or even initiated it. It is the sort of thing used to shame rape victims. This is exactly the kind of thing that has to be brought to light in these cases.
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  Scully

  Earnest:

  No, Scully. According to a Jehovah's Witness spokesman he "was not in an appointed position throughout the time of the alleged events”. (Courier Mail, September 5, 2022)
  So it follows that he was removed as an elder before 2008, when the incidents started. That doesn't entirely tie in with the police allegation that he "used his position of religious standing within the Jehovah’s Witness community to target young men in their late teens to early 20s between 2008 and 2018" but it could be true.

  Thanks for the clarification, Earnest. I just don't believe the "spin". Sexual predators can take a long time grooming their victims and the victims' families. These guys weasel their way into "friendships" with them, becoming a trusted member of families. They don't just wake up one day and decide to molest and rape minors. They start out with youngsters and get the families to trust them to be alone with the kids. They do fun stuff together, playing games at the family's home, being part of the Book Study™, accompanying the family on outings, paying for stuff, having dinners together, etc. All of that could have been happening long before the sexual assaults occurred.

  I know this because there was one in my Congregation™, assigned to the Book Study™ group in my family's home, and I was his target (after his step-daughter and daughters). My dad, a Ministerial Servant™, was not privy to this information, only that he had been Disfellowshipped™ and Reinstated™ TWICE before. The Elders™ in-the-know decided that their own daughters deserved protection and distance from the predator, and I did not.
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  NotFormer

  Diogenesister: "Maybe not in an appointed position "of power" at the time the incidents that have enough evidence to be taken to court took place, but you can bet your bottom dollar they started when he was an elder. Probably deleted him when complaints started piling up...."

  Wouldn't the two witnesses rule be at play, even where an elder is involved? Could they delete him without the testimony of two witnesses. Or does more than one complaint equate to more than one witness?