International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 8, 2017 31
year-to-life sentence. Previously the girl’s
mother had received a misdemeanor child-abuse
conviction, a charge that was brought against her
in January 2008.
100F
101 Rarely do these cases
present opportunities for out-of-court
settlements because defendants are adamant
about their innocence and prosecutors have
ample evidence of defendants’ undisputed
abuses. The only option for prosecutors is to
have courts determine the accused’s guilt
through trials but in doing so, both the nature
and the extent of the crimes, and the unjustified
excuses that defendants attempted to use,
become public knowledge.
The “Bad Apple” and the Role of
Settlement
Generally, resolving a lawsuit prior to trial is
ideal. In the civil context, doing this saves a
client expense, time, and the emotional stress of
a protracted legal process. In the criminal
context, it saves court resources and minimizes
risk. In the specific case of child sexual abuse,
settlements and pleas prevent the victim or
victims from further victimization on the witness
stand. The court process demands that victims
retell the painful events repeatedly. In the
courtroom, they must expose these personal
details to complete strangers (the police, their
lawyers, the accused’s lawyers, the judge,
possibly jurors, the media), and to family and
friends whom they may never have told. In
addition, they must retell these personal details
in the presence of the accused.
101F
102
Settlements and plea bargains ensure that the
victims receive some form of justice, whereas
trial risks a complete acquittal. Settlements
provide certainty. For example, when 535
plaintiffs (who had been children in the Hare
Krishna/ISKCON movement) sued the
International Society of Krishna Consciousness
101 Laura Snider, “Niwot Urine-Drinker Joseph Cardillo Sentenced
to 10 Years to Life in Prison,” 2010 (November 23), Boulder Daily
Camera. Available from
http://www.dailycamera.com/rss/ci_16693560
102 For an early description of courts allowing children to testify
through videotape and closed circuit television, see Charles B.
Schudson, 1987 (March), “Making Courts Safe for Children,”
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 120–122.
over the child abuse that they had suffered, the
out-of-court settlement obtained $9 million as a
partial payment for them. The plaintiff’s
attorney, Windle Turley, surmised,
The confirmation of this settlement by the
Bankruptcy Court, combined with the explicit
apology, issued ...to the victims, where [the]
Krishna [organization] acknowledged
wrongdoing, helps provide validation to these
innocent young people. Many of them were
terribly abused, sexually, physically, and
emotionally, for years in various Krishna
Boarding Schools.
While the money received by these victims will
be of help in securing needed therapy, and for
many, vocational training, more important is the
self-validation of their own worth brought about
by these payments and the unequivocal
acknowledgement and apology by this religious
organization.
102F
103
This settlement, therefore, brought
compensation to the victims and an
organizational apology, which provided
plaintiffs with a degree of closure even if
individual perpetrators escaped public scrutiny.
We argue, however, that despite all the reasons
to keep these cases out of courtroom, plaintiffs’
lawyers and crown (or other governmental)
prosecutors have a responsibility to consider the
potential that the perpetrator is not the only
guilty party.
Consequently, without a trial to expose the
underlying participation of others and the cult
organization as an entity, the victims and the
public do not receive comprehensive justice. To
some degree, settlements and plea bargains
allow alternative religions to separate
themselves from allegations and continue
103 Windle Turley, 2016 (June 22), quoted in “Hare Krishna,”
LawyersandSettlements.com Available from
https://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/settlements/03629/hare_k
rishna.html?utm_expid=3607522-
13.Y4u1ixZNSt6o8v_5N8VGVA.0&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F
%2Fint.search.myway.com%2Fsearch%2FGGmain.jhtml%3Fsearc
hfor%3DHare%2BKrishna%252C%2BWindle%2BTurley%2522
%26n%3D782aa8aa%26p2%3D%255EC4P%255Exdm106%255E
TTAB02%255Eca%26ptb%3DF3AD3A49-91ED-473D-A9DF-
8532886CB091%26qs%3D%26si%3Dflightupdates-
2%26ss%3Dsub%26st%3Dtab%26trs%3Dwtt%26tpr%3Dgsb
year-to-life sentence. Previously the girl’s
mother had received a misdemeanor child-abuse
conviction, a charge that was brought against her
in January 2008.
100F
101 Rarely do these cases
present opportunities for out-of-court
settlements because defendants are adamant
about their innocence and prosecutors have
ample evidence of defendants’ undisputed
abuses. The only option for prosecutors is to
have courts determine the accused’s guilt
through trials but in doing so, both the nature
and the extent of the crimes, and the unjustified
excuses that defendants attempted to use,
become public knowledge.
The “Bad Apple” and the Role of
Settlement
Generally, resolving a lawsuit prior to trial is
ideal. In the civil context, doing this saves a
client expense, time, and the emotional stress of
a protracted legal process. In the criminal
context, it saves court resources and minimizes
risk. In the specific case of child sexual abuse,
settlements and pleas prevent the victim or
victims from further victimization on the witness
stand. The court process demands that victims
retell the painful events repeatedly. In the
courtroom, they must expose these personal
details to complete strangers (the police, their
lawyers, the accused’s lawyers, the judge,
possibly jurors, the media), and to family and
friends whom they may never have told. In
addition, they must retell these personal details
in the presence of the accused.
101F
102
Settlements and plea bargains ensure that the
victims receive some form of justice, whereas
trial risks a complete acquittal. Settlements
provide certainty. For example, when 535
plaintiffs (who had been children in the Hare
Krishna/ISKCON movement) sued the
International Society of Krishna Consciousness
101 Laura Snider, “Niwot Urine-Drinker Joseph Cardillo Sentenced
to 10 Years to Life in Prison,” 2010 (November 23), Boulder Daily
Camera. Available from
http://www.dailycamera.com/rss/ci_16693560
102 For an early description of courts allowing children to testify
through videotape and closed circuit television, see Charles B.
Schudson, 1987 (March), “Making Courts Safe for Children,”
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 120–122.
over the child abuse that they had suffered, the
out-of-court settlement obtained $9 million as a
partial payment for them. The plaintiff’s
attorney, Windle Turley, surmised,
The confirmation of this settlement by the
Bankruptcy Court, combined with the explicit
apology, issued ...to the victims, where [the]
Krishna [organization] acknowledged
wrongdoing, helps provide validation to these
innocent young people. Many of them were
terribly abused, sexually, physically, and
emotionally, for years in various Krishna
Boarding Schools.
While the money received by these victims will
be of help in securing needed therapy, and for
many, vocational training, more important is the
self-validation of their own worth brought about
by these payments and the unequivocal
acknowledgement and apology by this religious
organization.
102F
103
This settlement, therefore, brought
compensation to the victims and an
organizational apology, which provided
plaintiffs with a degree of closure even if
individual perpetrators escaped public scrutiny.
We argue, however, that despite all the reasons
to keep these cases out of courtroom, plaintiffs’
lawyers and crown (or other governmental)
prosecutors have a responsibility to consider the
potential that the perpetrator is not the only
guilty party.
Consequently, without a trial to expose the
underlying participation of others and the cult
organization as an entity, the victims and the
public do not receive comprehensive justice. To
some degree, settlements and plea bargains
allow alternative religions to separate
themselves from allegations and continue
103 Windle Turley, 2016 (June 22), quoted in “Hare Krishna,”
LawyersandSettlements.com Available from
https://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/settlements/03629/hare_k
rishna.html?utm_expid=3607522-
13.Y4u1ixZNSt6o8v_5N8VGVA.0&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F
%2Fint.search.myway.com%2Fsearch%2FGGmain.jhtml%3Fsearc
hfor%3DHare%2BKrishna%252C%2BWindle%2BTurley%2522
%26n%3D782aa8aa%26p2%3D%255EC4P%255Exdm106%255E
TTAB02%255Eca%26ptb%3DF3AD3A49-91ED-473D-A9DF-
8532886CB091%26qs%3D%26si%3Dflightupdates-
2%26ss%3Dsub%26st%3Dtab%26trs%3Dwtt%26tpr%3Dgsb
