Posts by Richard Oliver

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

And maybe you should view it from a more unbiased lense too. It is true for any organization secular or religious. Will complaisance sink in and all the positive steps you made go down the drain. It is not just a Watchtower thing. In Los Angeles county the department of family services had a major problem because their policies were being ignored because those social workers became complaisant and didn't do what they knew was right. It led to a huge number of abused children and even to the death of a number of them.

It will take consistent monitoring and determination by all stake holders but doesn't mean it won't succeed.

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

I agree with you that this does need to be investigated more. Every aspect of this needs to be investigated. Laws and organizations do need to be better. But when they make changes you have to see how those policies are implemented in reality and not just assume it will fail immediately.

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

Also you are correct someone who is convicted of child abuse should be given a long prison sentence. But as pointed out at the ARC the number of those charged that gets a custodial punishment is very low in the whole justice system. So just because someone is charged or convicted doesn't mean they will be going to prison.

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

I am sorry for that if you did not mean that. I was only going off what you said. "I was going to say 'good' but then it hit me what the subject matter is about. And I also remembered the 1006 cases in Australia that went unreported." It made it sound like anything that they are doing now doesn't matter because of the previous allegations.

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

So you are saying if a organization fails in this regard than any efforts to better their policy and to make amends for that and to not repeat those same mistakes, that doesn't matter.Ans if you feel you that way that is certainly your right, but you also have to be honest with that is how you feel.

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

And btw some pretty developed countries have shockingly low age of consent. Germany is 14. Japan and south Korea is 13.

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

Yes Australia is a developed first world country. And if you listen to the full commission hearing you will see that since the last hearing there were a number of cases that were reported to the authorities if they were required to do so or not. Some were reviewed by authorities for further prosecution and some were dismissed because the secular authorities deemed it not a child abuse case. The current evidence list does not contain any specific information on those but it was asked in writing by the commission and was answered in writing as well as answered verbally.

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

LoveUniHateExam:

I have discussed this before. This is a worlwide policy that must fit a worldwide audience. There are some countries that have very lax child abuse policies or extremely low age of consents. So if child abuse occurs in one of those countries, where is Watchtower supposed to report it too? That is why they put in that they have to contact legal, so that legal can make sure that all applicable laws are followed.

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

I cannot speak what happened prior to August 1, 2016 so I won't. According to all indications this is a letter that was sent out to all BOE to be put into their permanent file for policies and letters. It does seem to indicate that it replaces a letter from 2012. Since the guidelines for all service departments make reference to this letter then it would indicate that it is policy for worldwide Jehovah's Witnesses. Unlike the policy for safeguarding children that is a policy exclusively for the country that is listed in the title. There is one for Australia and one for the UK. The policies on safeguarding children in Australia is still being determined how to verify that each witness sees it or gets the information that is contained in it.

And yes there are some states where mandatory reporters laws are little fuzzy at best. But just because there is a policy to report all cases because that profession is a mandatory reporter, doesn't mean that it is not stated in that policy for the reason. Look at the LAUSD policy on child abuse. Note that they explain why there is this policy and that is to comply with the mandatory reporting laws in the state. People on here love to downgrade the legalise or the legal nuances of something but that is how law works. Something can only be reported if it is illegal.

http://achieve.lausd.net/cms/lib08/CA01000043/Centricity/Domain/383/CHILD%20ABUSE%20AND%20NEGLECT%20REPORTING%20BUL-1347-3%20FINAL.pdf

Also note how complex some of these laws are. Lets take a state in Australia

The reporting obligations in the Northern Territory:

A person is a child up until they are 18, but the age of consent in the state is 16. Now if a child is 14 and a medical practitioner can determine can determine, "If assessment of the young person (over 14) clearly identifies that the sexual activity is between developmentally normal peers aged within two years of each other, and is consensual, a report is not required." But just because a teen is 16 or over doesn't mean that all "consensual sex" is legal another part of the code says "An adult who has a special relationship commits an offense if he/she has intercourse or commits and act of gross indecency with a child over 16."

That is why elders are required to get legal advice from a trained lawyer on a case by case basis because the law is complex.

347

ARC - Case Study 54 - All Exhibits have been released

by jwleaks in

all exhibits for case study 54, jehovah's witnesses and watchtower, have been released by the arc.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/exhibits/10908a67-70c5-4103-94cc-dac096fdb585/case-study-54,-march-2017,-sydney.

exhibit list.

joint statement of o'brien and spinks.

Richard Oliver

I would speak as myself and give an explanation and would give what I believe but that is not what those gentlemen were asked to speak as, they were asked to speak as representatives so wording is very important.

But how I believe it to be is that one who disassociates themselves have decided that they no longer want to be associated with Jehovah's Witnesses and no longer be considered one of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is a formal way of leaving a religion that one no longer agrees with either from a human or spiritual stand point. I would bring out that Paul speaks of not even eating with such a man that was once called your brother but that is no longer. That even Jesus removed himself from Judas when he excused Judas from associating with him and the other apostles before his betrayal of the Christ. I would say ultimately it is each person's personal decision if they want to shun someone who is disassociated. I am not associated with a Congregation because of my sexuality but in my decades of a witness i have never known anyone who got DF for communicating with a DA or a DF person, I may be living in a fantasy world but that is my experience. I can only speak of the US but that is a perfectly legal thing.