32 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 8, 2017
practices that may condone, contribute to, or
cause abuse. Journalistic accounts often attempt
to establish links between the perpetrators and
their groups, but these links have more
consequences when a court identifies and
reveals them.
The purpose of settlement is generally aligned
with the goals of tort damages. “The basic
principle is restitutio in integrum, which means
that the amount must be such as to put victims in
the same financial position as they would have
been if the accident had not occurred.”
103F
104
Damage has been done, and legal decisions with
financial consequences should put people in
monetary positions as if they had not been
violated.
Child sexual abuse, however, is not easily
aligned with the ideals of civil litigation. It is
impossible to repair the damage and calculate its
financial harm. Likely the only easily calculable
damage involves counselling expenses, but
lawyers may be able to convince juries to
include pain and suffering within damage
awards. The justice that victims seek is more
akin to punishment and deterrence, which one
finds through criminal-law remedies. If awards
are large enough, then they may dismantle
organizations. Such a large award is rare,
however, since groups would be unwilling to
settle for amounts that would be so crippling.
The targeted groups likely would take such
destructive decisions to trial in the hope of
maintaining the groups’ continued existence.
Whether there is a trial or not, the media
provides the public with information about the
case. In high-profile cases, the media engages
the initial allegations against the defendants and
follows the stories to the cases’ conclusions and
beyond. In general, however, stories are more
likely to appear if reporters and editors deem
them to be newsworthy—determined in part by
their appeal to general readers’ interest and their
help in selling papers. Cult stories, especially
those involving child sexual abuse, reinforce
readers’ feelings of normalcy about their own
104 Jean-Louis Baudouin and Allen M. Linden, 2010, Tort Law in
Canada, p. 93. Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands: Kluwer Law
International.
lives but outrage about the lives of the alleged
abusers. Reporters, therefore, must resist the
temptation to sensationalize.
Media sensationalism may be an inevitable
consequence of how reporters gather and assess
information. Media outlets vary over what their
institutions consider to be printable (or suitable
for broadcast), what levels of repetition is
necessary for verifying facts, and even whether
sources can remain anonymous. Consequently,
readers (or viewers) may not have enough
methodological information about the reporters’
data collection to make a full assessment about
its adequacy.
The legal arena provides opportunities for
officials to better inform the public about cult-
related child-abuse issues, since its rules of
evidence and citations are more rigorous than
what reporters necessarily use. In instances of
judgments by judges or juries, the media can
report on the range of facts that the decision
makers used to draw their conclusions, which
remain authoritative unless overturned by a
higher court. Written decisions provide in-depth
analyses of allegations. More importantly,
judgments by judges or juries offer opportunities
for the public to understand the involvement of
alternative religions or cults, since inevitably
cults’ roles become part of the reasons for
judgments. Alternative religions discussed in
these decisions are under great pressure to alter
their practices if they hope to remain free from
continued legal interference.
104F
105
In contrast to written court decisions, private
settlements do not provide the media with
enough information for their stories to pressure
cults to reform themselves regarding the
protection of children. Often the only
information the media is able to provide is that
the parties involved reached an agreement,
which includes nondisclosure clauses and
financial payments without acknowledging
wrongdoing. Consequently, groups may
approach the media with attempts to discount or
spin the initial allegations.
105 W 42 In the High Court of Justice, Family Division. 1995.
practices that may condone, contribute to, or
cause abuse. Journalistic accounts often attempt
to establish links between the perpetrators and
their groups, but these links have more
consequences when a court identifies and
reveals them.
The purpose of settlement is generally aligned
with the goals of tort damages. “The basic
principle is restitutio in integrum, which means
that the amount must be such as to put victims in
the same financial position as they would have
been if the accident had not occurred.”
103F
104
Damage has been done, and legal decisions with
financial consequences should put people in
monetary positions as if they had not been
violated.
Child sexual abuse, however, is not easily
aligned with the ideals of civil litigation. It is
impossible to repair the damage and calculate its
financial harm. Likely the only easily calculable
damage involves counselling expenses, but
lawyers may be able to convince juries to
include pain and suffering within damage
awards. The justice that victims seek is more
akin to punishment and deterrence, which one
finds through criminal-law remedies. If awards
are large enough, then they may dismantle
organizations. Such a large award is rare,
however, since groups would be unwilling to
settle for amounts that would be so crippling.
The targeted groups likely would take such
destructive decisions to trial in the hope of
maintaining the groups’ continued existence.
Whether there is a trial or not, the media
provides the public with information about the
case. In high-profile cases, the media engages
the initial allegations against the defendants and
follows the stories to the cases’ conclusions and
beyond. In general, however, stories are more
likely to appear if reporters and editors deem
them to be newsworthy—determined in part by
their appeal to general readers’ interest and their
help in selling papers. Cult stories, especially
those involving child sexual abuse, reinforce
readers’ feelings of normalcy about their own
104 Jean-Louis Baudouin and Allen M. Linden, 2010, Tort Law in
Canada, p. 93. Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands: Kluwer Law
International.
lives but outrage about the lives of the alleged
abusers. Reporters, therefore, must resist the
temptation to sensationalize.
Media sensationalism may be an inevitable
consequence of how reporters gather and assess
information. Media outlets vary over what their
institutions consider to be printable (or suitable
for broadcast), what levels of repetition is
necessary for verifying facts, and even whether
sources can remain anonymous. Consequently,
readers (or viewers) may not have enough
methodological information about the reporters’
data collection to make a full assessment about
its adequacy.
The legal arena provides opportunities for
officials to better inform the public about cult-
related child-abuse issues, since its rules of
evidence and citations are more rigorous than
what reporters necessarily use. In instances of
judgments by judges or juries, the media can
report on the range of facts that the decision
makers used to draw their conclusions, which
remain authoritative unless overturned by a
higher court. Written decisions provide in-depth
analyses of allegations. More importantly,
judgments by judges or juries offer opportunities
for the public to understand the involvement of
alternative religions or cults, since inevitably
cults’ roles become part of the reasons for
judgments. Alternative religions discussed in
these decisions are under great pressure to alter
their practices if they hope to remain free from
continued legal interference.
104F
105
In contrast to written court decisions, private
settlements do not provide the media with
enough information for their stories to pressure
cults to reform themselves regarding the
protection of children. Often the only
information the media is able to provide is that
the parties involved reached an agreement,
which includes nondisclosure clauses and
financial payments without acknowledging
wrongdoing. Consequently, groups may
approach the media with attempts to discount or
spin the initial allegations.
105 W 42 In the High Court of Justice, Family Division. 1995.
