VOLUME 8 |ISSUE 1 |2017 3735
shunned, and they can’t contact those who remain part of the
community.” (News.com.au, 08/06/16)
Utah Jehovah’s Witnesses church forced woman to listen to
audio of her rape, lawsuit says
“A woman is suing a Jehovah’s Witnesses church in Weber
County after, she says, one of its instructors repeatedly raped
her when she was a minor and the organization’s leadership
forced her to listen to an audio recording of one of the assaults.
The woman filed the lawsuit Wednesday in 2nd District Court,
accusing the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses church in
Roy—as well as naming the alleged perpetrator, several church
leaders and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (the
religion’s headquarters located in New York)—of knowingly
allowing the ‘unfit’ instructor to rise to a position of authority
without warning members of his ‘dangerous propensities’ and
past sexual transgressions. … A leader from the congregation
apparently warned the girl’s parents in November 2006 that
the instructor—who previously attended church sessions in
Ogden and Oregon—was a ‘bad kid’ who had ‘engaged in
inappropriate sexual behavior with a female member of the
Clearfield congregation.’ The plaintiff says that warning wasn’t
enough. ...She’s asking for a jury trial, as well as damages to
exceed $300,000 to cover medical care, lawyer fees and general
damages. The girl was a member of various Jehovah’s Witnesses
congregations until shortly after the assaults. Her case was
dismissed in November 2015 for failure to serve the defendants
in a timely manner. She was able to refile because the dismissal
was not based on the lawsuit’s merits.” (The Salt Lake Tribune,
10/14/16)
Ultra-orthodox Lev Tahor raided in Guatemala over
suspected child abuse
“According to local media reports, the raid lasted several
hours at the homes where a 200-odd strong community live.
Authorities in Guatemala raided the homes of a group of
ultra-Orthodox Jews in Guatemala City on Wednesday amid
accusations of child abuse. The same Lev Tahor community
have been forced to abandon Israel, the United States, and
Canada, where the Lev Tahor group’s strict religious ways had
clashed with authorities in those countries… An unidentified
member of the Lev Tahor community dismissed the allegations
and said the Lev Tahor were being persecuted for their religious
beliefs. He also said they rejected the state of Israel because
it views the Jews as a people in exile. ‘It’s a disgrace that
authorities here in Guatemala let the government of Israel in
(he means that the government of Israel is persecuting them)
just like the Poles who sold their people to the Germans, such
as the Hungarians and all those countries who sold their people
to people who want to persecute others,’ said the bearded man,
who like other men in the Lev Tahor, which means ‘Pure Heart’
in Hebrew, has his head shaved and wears sidelocks beneath a
black hat. Eschewing technological trappings such as television
and computers, daily life among the Lev Tahor, whose women
wear body cloaks similar to a burqa, is steeped in religion.”
(Jerusalem Post Israel News, Reuters, 09/15/16)
Lev Tahor raid in Guatemala yields no new evidence
“For Uriel Goldman, it’s deja vu all over again. Just as had been
the case in Canada, Lev Tahor, the ultra-observant Orthodox
sect has been the subject of intense scrutiny in Guatemala
by police and child care workers. And just as had been the
case in Canada, investigation of the community has failed
to turn up any evidence of child abuse or of any sort of law-
breaking. Goldman, a spokesperson for the group, said ...that
Guatemalan police raided two adjacent apartment buildings
on the outskirts of Guatemala City, where the 350-member
community resided… Goldman, a native of Israel, suggested
the ‘very secular’ Israeli sister of one Lev Tahor member is
behind many of the allegations… The Guatemala raid was
the latest result of allegations stemming from Israel, Goldman
suggested.” (Canadian Jewish News, 10/05/16)
Pedophile cult leader released from jail wants tracking
device removed, even as daughter fears he will reoffend
with underage followers
“William Kamm, known as ‘Little Pebble,’ was released from
prison last year after serving nine years for raping two 15-year-
old girls while he led a sect. Now the 66-year-old has appealed
for a court order to stop monitoring his movements after he
was placed under supervision over fears he could reoffend.
However, his daughter Brigidine told A Current Affair she
believes her father could ‘start another cult’ if the legal system
overturns his supervision order… Kamm was placed under
supervision over concerns he could rejoin with members of his
sect—and his order prevented him from returning to the South
Coast town.” (Daily Mail Australia, 08/16/16)
China jails members of banned Mentuhui/Disciples sect
amid religion crackdown
“China has jailed members of what the government calls a cult
for causing deaths, organizing the group and illegally collecting
money, state media said on Tuesday, part of a crackdown on
what Beijing views as dangerous religious movements… The
official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday said Yao Xiangzhi,
a member of Mentuhui, or “Disciples Sect” in the central
province of Hubei, caused the death of another cult member
by denying him freedom, food and drink for a week while
people prayed for his recovery from schizophrenia. Yao was also
found guilty of organizing a cult and was jailed for three years.
Mentuhui, which was classified as a cult by the government
in the 1990s, was also accused of illegally collecting 40 million
yuan ($6 million) between 2011 and 2014 through donations
and businesses, Xinhua reported… It was not immediately
possible to reach representatives of the religious group or
lawyers for those found guilty for comment.” (Thomson Reuters
Foundation, Reuters, 09/27/16)
Onionhead ruled a religion in Syosset discrimination case
“A Brooklyn federal judge has ruled that a Syosset health
care business will have to face a discrimination trial for
allegedly forcing workers to pray, chant and participate in
spiritual interpersonal workshops known as ‘Onionhead’
and ‘Harnessing Happiness.’ U.S. District Judge Kiyo A.
Matsumoto said the program—represented by a logo with
an anthropomorphic onion—amounted to a religion, and
United Health Programs of America had to face charges
from 10 workers that they were fired for failing to go along.
...One New Jersey woman, Matsumoto said, was told that
‘a message from the universe or God’ required her to move
shunned, and they can’t contact those who remain part of the
community.” (News.com.au, 08/06/16)
Utah Jehovah’s Witnesses church forced woman to listen to
audio of her rape, lawsuit says
“A woman is suing a Jehovah’s Witnesses church in Weber
County after, she says, one of its instructors repeatedly raped
her when she was a minor and the organization’s leadership
forced her to listen to an audio recording of one of the assaults.
The woman filed the lawsuit Wednesday in 2nd District Court,
accusing the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses church in
Roy—as well as naming the alleged perpetrator, several church
leaders and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (the
religion’s headquarters located in New York)—of knowingly
allowing the ‘unfit’ instructor to rise to a position of authority
without warning members of his ‘dangerous propensities’ and
past sexual transgressions. … A leader from the congregation
apparently warned the girl’s parents in November 2006 that
the instructor—who previously attended church sessions in
Ogden and Oregon—was a ‘bad kid’ who had ‘engaged in
inappropriate sexual behavior with a female member of the
Clearfield congregation.’ The plaintiff says that warning wasn’t
enough. ...She’s asking for a jury trial, as well as damages to
exceed $300,000 to cover medical care, lawyer fees and general
damages. The girl was a member of various Jehovah’s Witnesses
congregations until shortly after the assaults. Her case was
dismissed in November 2015 for failure to serve the defendants
in a timely manner. She was able to refile because the dismissal
was not based on the lawsuit’s merits.” (The Salt Lake Tribune,
10/14/16)
Ultra-orthodox Lev Tahor raided in Guatemala over
suspected child abuse
“According to local media reports, the raid lasted several
hours at the homes where a 200-odd strong community live.
Authorities in Guatemala raided the homes of a group of
ultra-Orthodox Jews in Guatemala City on Wednesday amid
accusations of child abuse. The same Lev Tahor community
have been forced to abandon Israel, the United States, and
Canada, where the Lev Tahor group’s strict religious ways had
clashed with authorities in those countries… An unidentified
member of the Lev Tahor community dismissed the allegations
and said the Lev Tahor were being persecuted for their religious
beliefs. He also said they rejected the state of Israel because
it views the Jews as a people in exile. ‘It’s a disgrace that
authorities here in Guatemala let the government of Israel in
(he means that the government of Israel is persecuting them)
just like the Poles who sold their people to the Germans, such
as the Hungarians and all those countries who sold their people
to people who want to persecute others,’ said the bearded man,
who like other men in the Lev Tahor, which means ‘Pure Heart’
in Hebrew, has his head shaved and wears sidelocks beneath a
black hat. Eschewing technological trappings such as television
and computers, daily life among the Lev Tahor, whose women
wear body cloaks similar to a burqa, is steeped in religion.”
(Jerusalem Post Israel News, Reuters, 09/15/16)
Lev Tahor raid in Guatemala yields no new evidence
“For Uriel Goldman, it’s deja vu all over again. Just as had been
the case in Canada, Lev Tahor, the ultra-observant Orthodox
sect has been the subject of intense scrutiny in Guatemala
by police and child care workers. And just as had been the
case in Canada, investigation of the community has failed
to turn up any evidence of child abuse or of any sort of law-
breaking. Goldman, a spokesperson for the group, said ...that
Guatemalan police raided two adjacent apartment buildings
on the outskirts of Guatemala City, where the 350-member
community resided… Goldman, a native of Israel, suggested
the ‘very secular’ Israeli sister of one Lev Tahor member is
behind many of the allegations… The Guatemala raid was
the latest result of allegations stemming from Israel, Goldman
suggested.” (Canadian Jewish News, 10/05/16)
Pedophile cult leader released from jail wants tracking
device removed, even as daughter fears he will reoffend
with underage followers
“William Kamm, known as ‘Little Pebble,’ was released from
prison last year after serving nine years for raping two 15-year-
old girls while he led a sect. Now the 66-year-old has appealed
for a court order to stop monitoring his movements after he
was placed under supervision over fears he could reoffend.
However, his daughter Brigidine told A Current Affair she
believes her father could ‘start another cult’ if the legal system
overturns his supervision order… Kamm was placed under
supervision over concerns he could rejoin with members of his
sect—and his order prevented him from returning to the South
Coast town.” (Daily Mail Australia, 08/16/16)
China jails members of banned Mentuhui/Disciples sect
amid religion crackdown
“China has jailed members of what the government calls a cult
for causing deaths, organizing the group and illegally collecting
money, state media said on Tuesday, part of a crackdown on
what Beijing views as dangerous religious movements… The
official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday said Yao Xiangzhi,
a member of Mentuhui, or “Disciples Sect” in the central
province of Hubei, caused the death of another cult member
by denying him freedom, food and drink for a week while
people prayed for his recovery from schizophrenia. Yao was also
found guilty of organizing a cult and was jailed for three years.
Mentuhui, which was classified as a cult by the government
in the 1990s, was also accused of illegally collecting 40 million
yuan ($6 million) between 2011 and 2014 through donations
and businesses, Xinhua reported… It was not immediately
possible to reach representatives of the religious group or
lawyers for those found guilty for comment.” (Thomson Reuters
Foundation, Reuters, 09/27/16)
Onionhead ruled a religion in Syosset discrimination case
“A Brooklyn federal judge has ruled that a Syosset health
care business will have to face a discrimination trial for
allegedly forcing workers to pray, chant and participate in
spiritual interpersonal workshops known as ‘Onionhead’
and ‘Harnessing Happiness.’ U.S. District Judge Kiyo A.
Matsumoto said the program—represented by a logo with
an anthropomorphic onion—amounted to a religion, and
United Health Programs of America had to face charges
from 10 workers that they were fired for failing to go along.
...One New Jersey woman, Matsumoto said, was told that
‘a message from the universe or God’ required her to move
