40 ICSA TODAY 38
disorders, drug addiction and even epilepsy. His ideas rode the
counterculture wave of the late 1960s and were embraced by
celebrities from John Lennon to James Earl Jones. The 1980s rock
group Tears for Fears said it—and the songs it recorded—were
inspired by Janov. Over the decades, though, many of the bedrock
principles of Janov’s teaching were dismissed as unsound. ...In a
1975 book, Janov called his therapy ‘the only hope if mankind is to
survive’ and suggested that what he called primal consciousness
‘certainly means an end to war.’ As with many other emotional-
release therapies of its time, primal therapy now is widely rejected
by mental health professionals as unscientific and ineffectual….”
(Los Angeles Times/Associated Press, October 4, 2017)
Jehovah’s Witnesses organization banned in Russia as
extremist
“The Administrative Centre of Jehovah’s Witnesses has been
added to the list of organizations banned as extremist, the
Russian Justice Ministry announced on its website on Thursday.
In spring, the Supreme Court of Russia ordered liquidation of
the Jehovah’s Witnesses managing organization and all its 395
local branches. The ruling has become effective. …The Justice
Ministry’s representatives said in court that the Administrative
Centre’s activities endanger observance of rights and legal interests
of people as well as peacekeeping and security protection. …
Jehovah’s Witnesses is an international religious organization based
in Brooklyn, New York. Since 2004 several branches and chapters of
the organization were banned and shut down in various regions of
Russia.” (Rapsi News, 08/17/2017)
Judge orders Jehovah’s Witness to release molestation files
“The mission of Jehovah’s Witnesses is to spread belief in the
Bible in hopes of rescuing folks before the world ends. Jehovah’s
Witnesses’ attorneys seem to have another mission: do anything
to keep internal documents revealing the names of alleged child
molesters, and the congregations they attended, from seeing the
light of day. The second directive is unfolding in two San Diego
courtrooms. Attorneys for José Lopez and Osbaldo Padron—both
alleged victims of molestation by an elder from the Linda Vista [CA]
congregation named Gonzalo Campos—say Jehovah’s Witnesses’
governing body, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of
New York, refuses to turn over documents. This is despite the fact
that two San Diego County Superior Court judges have imposed
millions of dollars in sanctions for similar conduct. …The struggle
for documents is not isolated to San Diego courtrooms but is
playing out in several countries. Watchtower’s policies of requiring
more than one eyewitness to the abuse before launching an
investigation of forcing the abused, often young children, to
confront their abuser and of prohibiting members from contacting
law enforcement with complaints of sexual abuse have created
what one former member and outspoken critic of the Watchtower
Tract Society, William Bowen, calls a ‘pedophile’s paradise.’
Last year, a Royal Commission in Australia found that Jehovah’s
Witnesses had hidden more than a thousand reports of child
abuse from that country’s law enforcement. In the United States,
during the past five years, the Watchtower has paid out numerous
settlements to people who claimed they’d suffered child abuse
at the hands of church elders. To date, seven San Diego residents
have sued the Watchtower Tract Society regarding sexual abuse
of minors. … But according to accusations against him, Campos
and his mother were staying at a member family’s home in 1982.
Campos shared a bedroom with a young boy. In the middle of
the night, the boy felt somebody pulling down his pajama pants
and felt wetness on his buttocks. He opened his eyes and Campos
was kneeling next to his bed. The boy punched Campos and then
grabbed a baseball bat. The boy’s mother kicked Campos and
his mother out of her house. Days later she lodged a complaint
with church elders Justino Diaz and Carlos Ramirez at the Linda
Vista congregation. The elders did not punish Campos. Instead he
remained a publisher and was allowed to teach Bible classes to
children. It was not the last time Campos is alleged to have sexually
assaulted a child and received protection from church elders. Eight
now claim that Campos molested them. The alleged molestations
happened between 1982 and 1999. Elders have been accused of
refusing to report the molestation to law enforcement….” (San
Diego Reader, 08/30/17)
Jehovah’s Witnesses face legal/financial penalties in court case
“A state appeals court has upheld $2 million in legal sanctions
against the Jehovah’s Witnesses after the religious organization
refused to produce internal files and documents in a lawsuit that
alleges sexual misconduct by a former elder in the organization.
Osbaldo Padron sued the local Playa Pacifica Congregation of
the Jehovah’s Witnesses, also known as the Watchtower Bible
and Tract Society. Padron claimed he was molested on multiple
occasions as a child by Gonzalo Campos, who was also associated
with the Pacifica Congregation. … The organization argued, in part,
that the order, issued by Superior Court Judge Richard Strauss,
violates its First Amendment rights as a religious organization.
Judge Strauss disagreed, and last year imposed monetary
sanctions of $4,000 a day for every day Watchtower failed to search
for and produce the documents. Watchtower appealed Strauss’s
order, and on Nov. 9, a three-member panel of the state Court of
Appeals upheld Strauss’s ruling. … The alleged molester, Gonzalo
Campos, could not be found for comment. Watchtower’s public
information office responded with a brief comment when asked
about the appellate court ruling: ‘We are evaluating our legal
options at this time,’ the organization said. In papers filed in the
Padron lawsuit, Watchtower denies Padron’s allegations of abuse
and argues that even if an elder did molest a child, the parent
organization has no control over that abuse, and is not responsible
for harm done to that child.” (NBC 7 San Diego, 11/10/17)
Cult leader released from jail
Chatsworth [Ontario, Canada] cult leader Fred King is out after one
year of serving his 18-month sentence. “King, who was called the
“Prophet,” pled guilty in 2016 to nine counts of assault, and was
sentenced in Owen Sound Superior Court last September. Along
with the jail sentence, King was given two years probation. ...The
assault charges stemmed from incidents between 1988 and 2008,
when King was leader of the Church of Jesus Christ Restored
on Concession 2 in Chatsworth Township. (Bayshore Broadcasting
News Centre, Chatsworth, September 15, 2017)
disorders, drug addiction and even epilepsy. His ideas rode the
counterculture wave of the late 1960s and were embraced by
celebrities from John Lennon to James Earl Jones. The 1980s rock
group Tears for Fears said it—and the songs it recorded—were
inspired by Janov. Over the decades, though, many of the bedrock
principles of Janov’s teaching were dismissed as unsound. ...In a
1975 book, Janov called his therapy ‘the only hope if mankind is to
survive’ and suggested that what he called primal consciousness
‘certainly means an end to war.’ As with many other emotional-
release therapies of its time, primal therapy now is widely rejected
by mental health professionals as unscientific and ineffectual….”
(Los Angeles Times/Associated Press, October 4, 2017)
Jehovah’s Witnesses organization banned in Russia as
extremist
“The Administrative Centre of Jehovah’s Witnesses has been
added to the list of organizations banned as extremist, the
Russian Justice Ministry announced on its website on Thursday.
In spring, the Supreme Court of Russia ordered liquidation of
the Jehovah’s Witnesses managing organization and all its 395
local branches. The ruling has become effective. …The Justice
Ministry’s representatives said in court that the Administrative
Centre’s activities endanger observance of rights and legal interests
of people as well as peacekeeping and security protection. …
Jehovah’s Witnesses is an international religious organization based
in Brooklyn, New York. Since 2004 several branches and chapters of
the organization were banned and shut down in various regions of
Russia.” (Rapsi News, 08/17/2017)
Judge orders Jehovah’s Witness to release molestation files
“The mission of Jehovah’s Witnesses is to spread belief in the
Bible in hopes of rescuing folks before the world ends. Jehovah’s
Witnesses’ attorneys seem to have another mission: do anything
to keep internal documents revealing the names of alleged child
molesters, and the congregations they attended, from seeing the
light of day. The second directive is unfolding in two San Diego
courtrooms. Attorneys for José Lopez and Osbaldo Padron—both
alleged victims of molestation by an elder from the Linda Vista [CA]
congregation named Gonzalo Campos—say Jehovah’s Witnesses’
governing body, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of
New York, refuses to turn over documents. This is despite the fact
that two San Diego County Superior Court judges have imposed
millions of dollars in sanctions for similar conduct. …The struggle
for documents is not isolated to San Diego courtrooms but is
playing out in several countries. Watchtower’s policies of requiring
more than one eyewitness to the abuse before launching an
investigation of forcing the abused, often young children, to
confront their abuser and of prohibiting members from contacting
law enforcement with complaints of sexual abuse have created
what one former member and outspoken critic of the Watchtower
Tract Society, William Bowen, calls a ‘pedophile’s paradise.’
Last year, a Royal Commission in Australia found that Jehovah’s
Witnesses had hidden more than a thousand reports of child
abuse from that country’s law enforcement. In the United States,
during the past five years, the Watchtower has paid out numerous
settlements to people who claimed they’d suffered child abuse
at the hands of church elders. To date, seven San Diego residents
have sued the Watchtower Tract Society regarding sexual abuse
of minors. … But according to accusations against him, Campos
and his mother were staying at a member family’s home in 1982.
Campos shared a bedroom with a young boy. In the middle of
the night, the boy felt somebody pulling down his pajama pants
and felt wetness on his buttocks. He opened his eyes and Campos
was kneeling next to his bed. The boy punched Campos and then
grabbed a baseball bat. The boy’s mother kicked Campos and
his mother out of her house. Days later she lodged a complaint
with church elders Justino Diaz and Carlos Ramirez at the Linda
Vista congregation. The elders did not punish Campos. Instead he
remained a publisher and was allowed to teach Bible classes to
children. It was not the last time Campos is alleged to have sexually
assaulted a child and received protection from church elders. Eight
now claim that Campos molested them. The alleged molestations
happened between 1982 and 1999. Elders have been accused of
refusing to report the molestation to law enforcement….” (San
Diego Reader, 08/30/17)
Jehovah’s Witnesses face legal/financial penalties in court case
“A state appeals court has upheld $2 million in legal sanctions
against the Jehovah’s Witnesses after the religious organization
refused to produce internal files and documents in a lawsuit that
alleges sexual misconduct by a former elder in the organization.
Osbaldo Padron sued the local Playa Pacifica Congregation of
the Jehovah’s Witnesses, also known as the Watchtower Bible
and Tract Society. Padron claimed he was molested on multiple
occasions as a child by Gonzalo Campos, who was also associated
with the Pacifica Congregation. … The organization argued, in part,
that the order, issued by Superior Court Judge Richard Strauss,
violates its First Amendment rights as a religious organization.
Judge Strauss disagreed, and last year imposed monetary
sanctions of $4,000 a day for every day Watchtower failed to search
for and produce the documents. Watchtower appealed Strauss’s
order, and on Nov. 9, a three-member panel of the state Court of
Appeals upheld Strauss’s ruling. … The alleged molester, Gonzalo
Campos, could not be found for comment. Watchtower’s public
information office responded with a brief comment when asked
about the appellate court ruling: ‘We are evaluating our legal
options at this time,’ the organization said. In papers filed in the
Padron lawsuit, Watchtower denies Padron’s allegations of abuse
and argues that even if an elder did molest a child, the parent
organization has no control over that abuse, and is not responsible
for harm done to that child.” (NBC 7 San Diego, 11/10/17)
Cult leader released from jail
Chatsworth [Ontario, Canada] cult leader Fred King is out after one
year of serving his 18-month sentence. “King, who was called the
“Prophet,” pled guilty in 2016 to nine counts of assault, and was
sentenced in Owen Sound Superior Court last September. Along
with the jail sentence, King was given two years probation. ...The
assault charges stemmed from incidents between 1988 and 2008,
when King was leader of the Church of Jesus Christ Restored
on Concession 2 in Chatsworth Township. (Bayshore Broadcasting
News Centre, Chatsworth, September 15, 2017)
