36 ICSA TODAY
Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits fraud.
He got no jail time, no probation, and no fines, except a $25
assessment and he must attend a class on the proper use of
food stamp benefits. …Barlow is the last defendant to strike
a plea bargain or have charges dismissed—with the notable
exception of FLDS leader Lyle Jeffs, who remains a fugitive. His
brother, imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, was an
unindicted co-conspirator, who is serving life in a Texas prison
for child sex assault but remains in charge of the FLDS Church.”
(fox13now.com, 3/24/17)
Jehovah’s Witnesses “demonstrated a serious failure” to
protect children, royal commission reports
“The Jehovah’s Witness[es] Church in Australia failed to
protect children in its care from sexual predators, a report has
found. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to
Child Sexual Abuse delivered its report into the organisation on
Monday. It stated that: ‘Children are not adequately protected
from the risk of child sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witness
organisation and [the commission] does not believe the
organisation responds adequately to allegations of child sexual
abuse.’… In its report on the inquiry, the royal commission
found that the organisation’s general practice of ‘not reporting
serious instances of child sexual abuse to police or authorities,
demonstrated a serious failure on its part to provide for the
safety and protection of children.’ The royal commission
determined that the church’s response to allegations of child
sexual abuse were [sic] outdated, including a rule that there
must be two witnesses to an incident, which ‘showed a serious
lack of understanding of the nature of child sexual abuse.’…
‘Survivors are offered little or no choice in how their complaint
is addressed, sanctions are weak with little regard to the risk of
the perpetrator re-offending.’ The head of the Jehovah’s Witness
community’s service desk, Rodney Spinks, said the church
is taking the royal commission’s work seriously. ‘We want to
benefit from the process everybody does,’ he said.” (The Sydney
Morning Herald, 11/28/16)
Jehovah’s Witnesses charity drops attempts to block abuse
inquiry
“The UK’s main Jehovah’s Witnesses charity has dropped
efforts to block an investigation into how it handled allegations
of sexual abuse, including of children, after a legal fight lasting
more than two years. The Charity Commission launched an
inquiry into safeguarding at the religion’s main UK charity in
May 2014 after receiving allegations that survivors of rape
and sexual abuse, including people abused as children, were
forced to face their attackers in ‘judicial committees.’ … The
commission announced last week that, more than two and a
half years after the investigation was launched, the WTBTS
[Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society] had shared some of the
documents it had been seeking and the commission had since
cancelled the production order. The charity had also dropped
the last of its legal cases against the inquiry, the supreme court
having refused to hear that particular case in July. Although
charities do sometimes challenge the commission’s decisions
in court, the extent and length of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
litigation were unprecedented in recent times, a commission
spokesman told the Guardian last year. A spokesman for the
WTBTS said: ‘In light of the progress of the inquiry and the
information obtained by the commission from Watch Tower
and other sources, the commission has agreed to revoke
the production order. Watch Tower has therefore agreed to
withdraw its application for judicial review of the production
order, and a consent order has been filed with the high court to
conclude the proceedings.’ … Fay Maxted, the chief executive
of the Survivors Trust, said the WTBTS should apologise to those
affected for the ‘appalling delays’ caused by its litigation. ‘Faith
groups need to really take on board the huge damage and pain
caused to victims and survivors when appeal after appeal is
pursued in an attempt to prevent them from having to share
information,’ she said. ‘It is very difficult in such circumstances
to believe that the best interests of the victim or survivor are in
any way being considered.’ Maxted said she hoped the decision
to share information with the commission signalled a change
in their approach to the needs of victims and survivors.” (The
Guardian, 01/23/17)
Jehovah’s Witnesses sexual-abuse cover-up lawsuit settled
“PHILADELPHIA—A settlement agreement has been reached,
but neither the victim nor the church she said failed to report
her sexual abuse to the authorities can talk about it. On the fifth
day of trial Monday in Philadelphia County Court, Stephanie
Fessler, of Lancaster, settled the suit she filed against the
Jehovah’s Witness Church in Spring Grove.” A “confidential
settlement agreement … bars all parties from talking about the
case or disclosing the amount of the settlement. …According
to a lawsuit, Fessler’s family reported her abuse to the church
elders, and had the church elders contacted the authorities as
they were legally obligated to do, she would have been spared
more sexual assaults from the same woman.’ Her attorney,
Jeffrey Fritz, said, ‘Her main motivation is exposing that the
policies of the Watchtower [sic], and the Jehovah’s Witnesses
are not following mandatory reporting laws in Pennsylvania
… That’s what led to this happening to her, and continuing to
happen to other victims within the religion, as well.’” (PennLive,
2/13/17)
Jehovah’s Witnesses’ educational and professional deficit
“Jehovah’s Witnesses’ low levels of education compared to
other religions has [sic] affected members’ job prospects and
led to a high rate of underemployment, according to a report
on National Public Radio (February 19). The report cites Pew
Research figures showing that only 9 percent of Jehovah’s
Witnesses get an undergraduate degree, well below the
national average of 30.4 percent and the lowest of any faith
group.” (Religion Watch, Vol. 32, No. 5, 3/17)
MormonLeaks reposts LDS Church apostasy presentation,
rebuffs faith’s copyright violation claim
“The MormonLeaks website on Tuesday reposted an LDS
Church PowerPoint presentation dealing with the roots
34
Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits fraud.
He got no jail time, no probation, and no fines, except a $25
assessment and he must attend a class on the proper use of
food stamp benefits. …Barlow is the last defendant to strike
a plea bargain or have charges dismissed—with the notable
exception of FLDS leader Lyle Jeffs, who remains a fugitive. His
brother, imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, was an
unindicted co-conspirator, who is serving life in a Texas prison
for child sex assault but remains in charge of the FLDS Church.”
(fox13now.com, 3/24/17)
Jehovah’s Witnesses “demonstrated a serious failure” to
protect children, royal commission reports
“The Jehovah’s Witness[es] Church in Australia failed to
protect children in its care from sexual predators, a report has
found. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to
Child Sexual Abuse delivered its report into the organisation on
Monday. It stated that: ‘Children are not adequately protected
from the risk of child sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witness
organisation and [the commission] does not believe the
organisation responds adequately to allegations of child sexual
abuse.’… In its report on the inquiry, the royal commission
found that the organisation’s general practice of ‘not reporting
serious instances of child sexual abuse to police or authorities,
demonstrated a serious failure on its part to provide for the
safety and protection of children.’ The royal commission
determined that the church’s response to allegations of child
sexual abuse were [sic] outdated, including a rule that there
must be two witnesses to an incident, which ‘showed a serious
lack of understanding of the nature of child sexual abuse.’…
‘Survivors are offered little or no choice in how their complaint
is addressed, sanctions are weak with little regard to the risk of
the perpetrator re-offending.’ The head of the Jehovah’s Witness
community’s service desk, Rodney Spinks, said the church
is taking the royal commission’s work seriously. ‘We want to
benefit from the process everybody does,’ he said.” (The Sydney
Morning Herald, 11/28/16)
Jehovah’s Witnesses charity drops attempts to block abuse
inquiry
“The UK’s main Jehovah’s Witnesses charity has dropped
efforts to block an investigation into how it handled allegations
of sexual abuse, including of children, after a legal fight lasting
more than two years. The Charity Commission launched an
inquiry into safeguarding at the religion’s main UK charity in
May 2014 after receiving allegations that survivors of rape
and sexual abuse, including people abused as children, were
forced to face their attackers in ‘judicial committees.’ … The
commission announced last week that, more than two and a
half years after the investigation was launched, the WTBTS
[Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society] had shared some of the
documents it had been seeking and the commission had since
cancelled the production order. The charity had also dropped
the last of its legal cases against the inquiry, the supreme court
having refused to hear that particular case in July. Although
charities do sometimes challenge the commission’s decisions
in court, the extent and length of the Jehovah’s Witnesses
litigation were unprecedented in recent times, a commission
spokesman told the Guardian last year. A spokesman for the
WTBTS said: ‘In light of the progress of the inquiry and the
information obtained by the commission from Watch Tower
and other sources, the commission has agreed to revoke
the production order. Watch Tower has therefore agreed to
withdraw its application for judicial review of the production
order, and a consent order has been filed with the high court to
conclude the proceedings.’ … Fay Maxted, the chief executive
of the Survivors Trust, said the WTBTS should apologise to those
affected for the ‘appalling delays’ caused by its litigation. ‘Faith
groups need to really take on board the huge damage and pain
caused to victims and survivors when appeal after appeal is
pursued in an attempt to prevent them from having to share
information,’ she said. ‘It is very difficult in such circumstances
to believe that the best interests of the victim or survivor are in
any way being considered.’ Maxted said she hoped the decision
to share information with the commission signalled a change
in their approach to the needs of victims and survivors.” (The
Guardian, 01/23/17)
Jehovah’s Witnesses sexual-abuse cover-up lawsuit settled
“PHILADELPHIA—A settlement agreement has been reached,
but neither the victim nor the church she said failed to report
her sexual abuse to the authorities can talk about it. On the fifth
day of trial Monday in Philadelphia County Court, Stephanie
Fessler, of Lancaster, settled the suit she filed against the
Jehovah’s Witness Church in Spring Grove.” A “confidential
settlement agreement … bars all parties from talking about the
case or disclosing the amount of the settlement. …According
to a lawsuit, Fessler’s family reported her abuse to the church
elders, and had the church elders contacted the authorities as
they were legally obligated to do, she would have been spared
more sexual assaults from the same woman.’ Her attorney,
Jeffrey Fritz, said, ‘Her main motivation is exposing that the
policies of the Watchtower [sic], and the Jehovah’s Witnesses
are not following mandatory reporting laws in Pennsylvania
… That’s what led to this happening to her, and continuing to
happen to other victims within the religion, as well.’” (PennLive,
2/13/17)
Jehovah’s Witnesses’ educational and professional deficit
“Jehovah’s Witnesses’ low levels of education compared to
other religions has [sic] affected members’ job prospects and
led to a high rate of underemployment, according to a report
on National Public Radio (February 19). The report cites Pew
Research figures showing that only 9 percent of Jehovah’s
Witnesses get an undergraduate degree, well below the
national average of 30.4 percent and the lowest of any faith
group.” (Religion Watch, Vol. 32, No. 5, 3/17)
MormonLeaks reposts LDS Church apostasy presentation,
rebuffs faith’s copyright violation claim
“The MormonLeaks website on Tuesday reposted an LDS
Church PowerPoint presentation dealing with the roots
34
