AndersonsInfo
JoinedPosts by AndersonsInfo
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On Oct. 16, 2018, a documentary was shown on TV in Puerto Rico about JWs - Entirely in Spanish - Nestor Kuilan interviewed
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faqazbzzd4m&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=iwar2dwvczrpkcuzx7tqmllebx5r08vfdn-1ejds-980hgwoppqqmnft9mowy.
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NBC News article: Jehovah's Witnesses 'use the Bible to victim-shame,' sex abuse survivor says
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jehovah-s-witnesses-use-bible-victim-shame-sex-abuse-survivor-n916326jehovah's witnesses 'use the bible to victim-shame,' sex abuse survivor says.
on the heels of a $35 million jury award to a woman who alleged the congregation mishandled her childhood abuse, other survivors say there's a pattern of cover-ups.
by elizabeth chuck / oct.07.2018 .
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AndersonsInfo
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jehovah-s-witnesses-use-bible-victim-shame-sex-abuse-survivor-n916326Jehovah's Witnesses 'use the Bible to victim-shame,' sex abuse survivor says
On the heels of a $35 million jury award to a woman who alleged the congregation mishandled her childhood abuse, other survivors say there's a pattern of cover-ups.
by Elizabeth Chuck / Oct.07.2018She was 14, and at first, the attention felt innocent —
READ MORE:
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More Info on the Montana Sex Abuse Decision
by berrygerry incourtesy of a redditor:.
https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/montana-jehovah-s-witness-sex-abuse-case-underscores-church-s/article_fddc41e5-536b-5843-af30-200cc14892d8.html.
montana jehovah's witness sex abuse case underscores church's worldwide reckoning.
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AndersonsInfo
If you click on the words in blue in the actual Missoulian article (see the paragraph below), you'll see a copy of the Complaint that you can read which I filed with the Attorney General's office in both NY and in PA a few months ago. In that 113-page Complaint there is important information which should move you to call or write the AG's offices in these two states supporting the investigation I requested.
Thank you.
Barbara Anderson
"Anderson used these figures to compile a 113-page report, which in May she submitted to the Attorney General's offices in New York and Pennsylvania, hoping a similar probe would take place in the United States into the list of 775 pedophiles known to church officials. As of last week, she had yet to hear back from the New York and Pennsylvania officials on her submission."
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More Info on the Montana Sex Abuse Decision
by berrygerry incourtesy of a redditor:.
https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/montana-jehovah-s-witness-sex-abuse-case-underscores-church-s/article_fddc41e5-536b-5843-af30-200cc14892d8.html.
montana jehovah's witness sex abuse case underscores church's worldwide reckoning.
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AndersonsInfo
Just in case you didn't go to the actual Missoulian article to read it and thought that the text copied above to this thread was complete because after the last sentence it didn't say READ MORE, there was more. In fact, lots more, so I've posted below the rest of the article. But first of all, I'd like to point out that there are two mistakes that the reporter made. Found in the second paragraph below of the text that was not posted to this thread has the corrections:
[The article continues:]
She said a letter from her editor in 1997 was the final straw. The correspondence praised the church's legal department for protecting the church against anymore "megabuck lawsuits." The children, she recalled, seemed to be secondary.
That same year, Watchtower issued instructions to congregations around the world to report known
or suspectedpredators to the headquarters. Over the next four years, according to Anderson's continued research, Watchtower received 775 names of pedophiles in congregations throughout theworldUnited States.In 2015, a comprehensive investigation into the church by the Australian Royal Commission found the Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia had received allegations against more than 1,000 members, relating to at least 1,800 victims, since 1950 and did not report a single allegation to law enforcement. Of the 1,006 accused, 579 had confessed to the crimes, according to the report, and of those known child abusers, 28 had been appointed to be elders or ministerial servants.
Anderson used these figures to compile a 113-page report, which in May she submitted to the Attorney General's offices in New York and Pennsylvania, hoping a similar probe would take place in the United States. The information she's used in the report has been taken from cases around the country, where she exchanges information with attorneys to help their cases, as well.
The actual scope of the abuse accusations and the resulting action — or lack thereof — has so far remained out of the public eye. Two cases in San Diego presented the opportunity for the release of all of Watchtower's internal documents relating to known sex abuse allegations. Judges continued to fine Watchtower as much as $4,000 a day for not turning the internal documents over in the case's discovery. The church paid millions in those fines until the plaintiffs eventually settled the case outside court.
The church is fighting the jury's Thompson Falls verdict, as well, which required $4 million paid to Nunez in compensatory damages, along with $1 million in punitive damages against the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses and $30 million against Watchtower. Montana law caps punitive damages at 3 percent of the defendant's net worth or $10 million, whatever is less.
Molloy believes the actual damages that will be owed to Nunez will be closer to $15 million.
"The jury still sent the message," he said. "The institutions have to change their policies to protect their children."
But a senior official in the New York headquarters named Gary Breaux said in a morning worship video posted online that the church would never abandon the prerequisite for others to witness abuse before a religious judicial committee is formed to handle the matter.
"Christ Jesus establishes that there has to be two witnesses," he said. "The scriptures are very clear.
"We will never change our scriptural position on that subject."
The Thompson Falls trial appeared not to have attracted much attention around town last week. Both the bailiff and clerk who were in the courtroom said about a dozen congregation members were the only real audience.
Molloy said it's unlikely the Watchtower case will have the same sprawling effect locally as, for example, the one that emerged in recent weeks involving a Miles City athletic trainer accused of sexually abusing dozens of boys in the public school from the early 1970s to 1998. The difference, Molloy said, is that the congregation members don't traditionally venture into friendships outside of the church.
"I think it will reverberate through a small town like Thompson Falls," he said. "But Jehovah's Witnesses don't associate with people outside the faith."
Still, it's a small town. Michael Doty, a Thompson Falls resident who left the Jehovah's Witness congregation over "differences in opinion," said most everyone still knows everyone.
"The people, for the most part, are very good people," he said. "They're human."
Doty said he knew the victims and their families. Word of abuse came as a surprise, he said. But when told by the Missoulian of the jury's final verdict in Nunez's favor on Thursday, he was not shocked — by the verdict or dollar amount.
"It was about time the tide would turn on them," Doty said.
[END]
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Montana jury awards two women $35M in sex abuse lawsuit against Jehovah's Witnesses
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://missoulian.com/news/local/montana-jury-awards-two-women-m-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit/article_1bcabb7c-7381-574b-a2ba-e011cc0250a6.html.
montana jury awards two women $35m in sex abuse lawsuit against jehovah's witnesses .
a jury in northwestern montana awarded two women $35 million wednesday in their lawsuit against the local jehovah’s witnesses congregation and its worldwide headquarters.. .
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AndersonsInfo
FYI, here are some more media links reporting on the Montana Trial for Sept. 28th and 29th. (Some articles contain more information than the earlier ones):
Sept. 28, 2018
Sept. 29, 2018
Sept. 29, 2018
The following media list contains links to articles dating from Sept. 19th until 28th. The list was taken from JWBulletin.com, https://jwbulletin.com/north-america/usa/court-case-against-the-thompson-falls-congregation-montana-and-watchtower-bible-and-tract-society/
Nunez & McGowan -v- Thompson Falls congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, and Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (CCJW)
NBC – 28th September 2018
NBC News – 27th September 2018
Great Falls Tribune – 27th September 2018
Washington Times – 27th September 2018
The Spokesman – 27th September 2018
Daily News Record – 27th September 2018
Yahoo – 27th September 2018
MRT – 27th September 2018
US News – 27th September 2018
Detroit News – 27th September 2018
National Post (Canada) – 27th September 2018
San Francisco Chronicle – 27th September 2018
Houston Cronicle – 27th September 2018
Ottawa Citizen (Canada) – 27th September 2018
NZ Herald (New Zealand) – 27th September 2018
Daily Mail (UK) – 27th September 2018
Fox News – 27th September 2018
KSBY – 27th September 2018
Washington Post – 27th September 2018
The Missoulian – 27th September 2018
The Sanders County Ledger – 27th September 2018
NBC – 24th September 2018
KWWL – 20th September 2018
Washington Post – 19th September 2018
ABC News – 19th September 2018
New York Times – 19th September 2018
KRMG – 19th September 2018
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Montana jury awards two women $35M in sex abuse lawsuit against Jehovah's Witnesses
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://missoulian.com/news/local/montana-jury-awards-two-women-m-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit/article_1bcabb7c-7381-574b-a2ba-e011cc0250a6.html.
montana jury awards two women $35m in sex abuse lawsuit against jehovah's witnesses .
a jury in northwestern montana awarded two women $35 million wednesday in their lawsuit against the local jehovah’s witnesses congregation and its worldwide headquarters.. .
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AndersonsInfo
I'm so sorry for the second woman who wasn't awarded anything. What a blow to her that must of been. Now we wait for Watchtower's appeal.
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Montana jury awards two women $35M in sex abuse lawsuit against Jehovah's Witnesses
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://missoulian.com/news/local/montana-jury-awards-two-women-m-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit/article_1bcabb7c-7381-574b-a2ba-e011cc0250a6.html.
montana jury awards two women $35m in sex abuse lawsuit against jehovah's witnesses .
a jury in northwestern montana awarded two women $35 million wednesday in their lawsuit against the local jehovah’s witnesses congregation and its worldwide headquarters.. .
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AndersonsInfo
Jury awards $34M to one woman, not two women were awarded $35M. First report was incorrect.
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Montana jury awards two women $35M in sex abuse lawsuit against Jehovah's Witnesses
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://missoulian.com/news/local/montana-jury-awards-two-women-m-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit/article_1bcabb7c-7381-574b-a2ba-e011cc0250a6.html.
montana jury awards two women $35m in sex abuse lawsuit against jehovah's witnesses .
a jury in northwestern montana awarded two women $35 million wednesday in their lawsuit against the local jehovah’s witnesses congregation and its worldwide headquarters.. .
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AndersonsInfo
The first report was incorrect. The jury awarded $34M to one woman, not $35M to two women.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/jury-jehovahs-witnesses-must-pay-34m-to-abuse-survivor/2018/09/27/5dc84a7a-c277-11e8-9451-e878f96be19b_story.html?utm_term=.6475dc5e243b
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/montana/articles/2018-09-27/jury-jehovahs-witnesses-must-pay-34m-to-abuse-survivor -
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Montana jury awards two women $35M in sex abuse lawsuit against Jehovah's Witnesses
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://missoulian.com/news/local/montana-jury-awards-two-women-m-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit/article_1bcabb7c-7381-574b-a2ba-e011cc0250a6.html.
montana jury awards two women $35m in sex abuse lawsuit against jehovah's witnesses .
a jury in northwestern montana awarded two women $35 million wednesday in their lawsuit against the local jehovah’s witnesses congregation and its worldwide headquarters.. .
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AndersonsInfo
More Information:
Montana jury: Jehovah's Witnesses must pay $34M to abuse survivor
AP
HELENA — A Montana jury has ruled that the Jehovah's Witnesses organization must pay $34 million to a woman who says the church covered up her sexual abuse as a child at the hands of a congregation member.
Neil Smith, an attorney representing the 32-year-old woman, says the jury's verdict Wednesday in the lawsuit sends a message to the Jehovah's Witnesses' New York headquarters to stop prioritizing church secrecy over children's safety.
Jehovah's Witness officials did not immediately respond to a call or email for comment.
The monetary award must be reviewed by the trial judge.
The jury dismissed claims by a second woman who alleged abuse by the same man in Thompson Falls in the 1990s.
The jury concluded church elders did not receive notice of the second woman's abuse and therefore did not have a duty to tell authorities.
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Montana jury awards two women $35M in sex abuse lawsuit against Jehovah's Witnesses
by AndersonsInfo inhttps://missoulian.com/news/local/montana-jury-awards-two-women-m-in-sex-abuse-lawsuit/article_1bcabb7c-7381-574b-a2ba-e011cc0250a6.html.
montana jury awards two women $35m in sex abuse lawsuit against jehovah's witnesses .
a jury in northwestern montana awarded two women $35 million wednesday in their lawsuit against the local jehovah’s witnesses congregation and its worldwide headquarters.. .
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AndersonsInfo
Montana jury awards two women $35M in sex abuse lawsuit against Jehovah's Witnesses
A jury in northwestern Montana awarded two women $35 million Wednesday in their lawsuit against the local Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation and its worldwide headquarters.
The decision came down after a three-day trial. The Thompson Falls congregation and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the church’s institutional center in New York and Pennsylvania, will pay $4 million in compensation and $31 million in punitive damages to two women who sued the church in 2016.
The women said Max Reyes, a member of the Thompson Falls congregation, sexually assaulted, molested and raped them over a 13-year period in the 1990s and 2000s, both before he was severed from the congregation and after leadership reinstated him 14 months later.
Watchtower, the church’s worldwide center, is the headquarters for the religious leadership and the church's institutional operations, such as policy making and financing. Each congregation is legally connected to Watchtower as one entity.