29 VOLUME 7 |ISSUE 3 |2016
Germany before the final court ruling was imposed two years
later. But now prosecutors in western Germany’s Krefeld have
demanded that Hopp serve out his five-year jail term in his
country of origin, a spokesman said. ...Former residents of
the commune are bringing a lawsuit against the Chilean state
for allowing the camp to operate for years, during which they
say numerous victims were abused and enslaved. The history
of the commune inspired last year’s film Colonia starring Emma
Watson. (The Local, 06/08/16)
Evidence contradicts Exclusive Brethren denial that group
is antigay
“The Exclusive Brethren (EB) church has denied that it is
‘resolutely anti-gay,’ even though it mistreats its gay members,
and has launched numerous political campaigns against the
rights of LGBTI people starting over a decade ago. Fairfax
Media has reported that the cashed-up separatist religious
sect, which donates secretly to the Liberal Party, has ‘virulently
anti-gay’ attitudes.” Fairfax Media obtained a number of internal
documents, including a note in which EB leader Bruce Hales
“tells a young girl she should not live with her father because
he is homosexual.” ...The EB’s PR representative Benjamin
Haslem said, “The Church has never campaigned against LGBTI
individuals or communities.” (The Age, 06/19/16)
Exclusive Brethren school gets record funding
“An exclusive private school run by an ‘extremist cult’ that
warns children to stay away from the outside world and bans
its graduates from physically attending university receives
more in government funding per student than up to a third
of the state’s public schools. Data obtained by Fairfax Media
from the MySchool website reveals that a school [Meadowbank
Education Trust (MET)] run by a Protestant religious sect, the
Exclusive Brethren, receives $800 more in public funding per
student than Homebush West, which has been forced to ban
children from running in its playground due to overcrowding
...Private schools that receive a similar level of public funding,
such as Emmaus Catholic College in Kemps Creek, have one-
twentieth the level of private donations. The combination of a
high level of donations and public funding has meant that the
Brethren school has been able to guarantee funding of up to
$22,000, per student per year, more than many private schools
secure through student fees, according to MySchool data.”
(Sydney Morning Herald, 7/5/16)
$13.5M award vacated in Jehovah’s Witnesses abuse case
In 2012, Jose Lopez filed a lawsuit at the San Diego Superior
Court claiming he was molested at the age of 7 by a leader in
a Jehovah’s Witnesses Church. Church elders recommended
that Lopez and his mother attend the services because Gonzalo
Campos, the church leader, would be a good mentor for Lopez.
The church elders recommended Campos even though they
knew that he had molested a boy as early as 1982. Lopez said
Campos spent months grooming him and then assaulted him
one day at Campos’ La Jolla home. The boy told his mother,
who reported it immediately to the church leadership. The
elders told her they’d handle the situation and discouraged
her from calling law enforcement, the lawsuit says. Once the
trial began, Campos later confessed to abusing at least eight
children between 1982 and 1995. He fled to Mexico around
2010 after San Diego police were notified and is believed to still
be there, said Lopez’s lawyer, Irwin Zalkin. “Lopez’s lawyers put
on a six-day trial in front of the judge, without Watchtower’s
lawyers there to offer a defense. In the end, Judge Lewis
handed down a default judgment of $10.5 million in punitive
damages and $3 million in compensatory damages against
Watchtower.” In April 2016, however, an appeals court threw
out the $13.5 million judgment against the governing body
of the Jehovah’s Witnesses church. However, the “ruling by the
state Fourth District Court of Appeal hits the reset button on
the case, potentially leading to another trial but with one major
caveat—that documents concerning past sexual abuse cases
in the church should be turned over.” (San Diego Union-Tribune,
04/14/16)
Russian Supreme Court refuses to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses
branch
“Russia’s Supreme Court on Friday declined to ban the
Jehovah’s Witnesses of Tyumen as [an] extremist organization,
RAPSI reports from the courtroom. The Tyumen Regional Court
ordered the liquidation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses branch in
2015. The court granted a motion filed by prosecutors and
declared the group extremist. The Supreme Court thus reversed
the lower court’s ruling. ...Jehovah’s Witnesses have had many
legal problems in Russia. ...In January 2014, a court in Kurgan
ruled to ban the organization’s booklets as extremist. The books
talk about how to have a happy life, what you can hope for,
how to develop good relations with God and what you should
know about God and its meaning. In late December 2013,
the leader of the sect’s group in Tobolsk, Siberia was charged
with extremism and the prevention of a blood transfusion
that nearly led to the death of a female member of the group.
In 2004, a court in Moscow dissolved and banned a Jehovah’s
Witnesses group on charges of recruiting children, encouraging
believers to break from their families, inciting suicide and
preventing believers from accepting medical assistance.″
(RAPSI, 04/15/16)
Jehovah’s Witnesses face £1M legal bill after young girl was
sexually abused by one of its members
“The Jehovah’s Witnesses face a million-pound legal bill
after a young girl was sexually abused by one of its members.
The victim, now aged in her 20s, was molested by an elder,
or ‘ministerial servant,’ Peter Stewart, over a five-year period
in Loughborough in the 1980s and ‘90s, London’s High Court
heard. Last year, a judge ordered the organization to pay
£275,000 compensation to the victim for failing to protect her
or to warn other parents about Stewart. The church sought
Germany before the final court ruling was imposed two years
later. But now prosecutors in western Germany’s Krefeld have
demanded that Hopp serve out his five-year jail term in his
country of origin, a spokesman said. ...Former residents of
the commune are bringing a lawsuit against the Chilean state
for allowing the camp to operate for years, during which they
say numerous victims were abused and enslaved. The history
of the commune inspired last year’s film Colonia starring Emma
Watson. (The Local, 06/08/16)
Evidence contradicts Exclusive Brethren denial that group
is antigay
“The Exclusive Brethren (EB) church has denied that it is
‘resolutely anti-gay,’ even though it mistreats its gay members,
and has launched numerous political campaigns against the
rights of LGBTI people starting over a decade ago. Fairfax
Media has reported that the cashed-up separatist religious
sect, which donates secretly to the Liberal Party, has ‘virulently
anti-gay’ attitudes.” Fairfax Media obtained a number of internal
documents, including a note in which EB leader Bruce Hales
“tells a young girl she should not live with her father because
he is homosexual.” ...The EB’s PR representative Benjamin
Haslem said, “The Church has never campaigned against LGBTI
individuals or communities.” (The Age, 06/19/16)
Exclusive Brethren school gets record funding
“An exclusive private school run by an ‘extremist cult’ that
warns children to stay away from the outside world and bans
its graduates from physically attending university receives
more in government funding per student than up to a third
of the state’s public schools. Data obtained by Fairfax Media
from the MySchool website reveals that a school [Meadowbank
Education Trust (MET)] run by a Protestant religious sect, the
Exclusive Brethren, receives $800 more in public funding per
student than Homebush West, which has been forced to ban
children from running in its playground due to overcrowding
...Private schools that receive a similar level of public funding,
such as Emmaus Catholic College in Kemps Creek, have one-
twentieth the level of private donations. The combination of a
high level of donations and public funding has meant that the
Brethren school has been able to guarantee funding of up to
$22,000, per student per year, more than many private schools
secure through student fees, according to MySchool data.”
(Sydney Morning Herald, 7/5/16)
$13.5M award vacated in Jehovah’s Witnesses abuse case
In 2012, Jose Lopez filed a lawsuit at the San Diego Superior
Court claiming he was molested at the age of 7 by a leader in
a Jehovah’s Witnesses Church. Church elders recommended
that Lopez and his mother attend the services because Gonzalo
Campos, the church leader, would be a good mentor for Lopez.
The church elders recommended Campos even though they
knew that he had molested a boy as early as 1982. Lopez said
Campos spent months grooming him and then assaulted him
one day at Campos’ La Jolla home. The boy told his mother,
who reported it immediately to the church leadership. The
elders told her they’d handle the situation and discouraged
her from calling law enforcement, the lawsuit says. Once the
trial began, Campos later confessed to abusing at least eight
children between 1982 and 1995. He fled to Mexico around
2010 after San Diego police were notified and is believed to still
be there, said Lopez’s lawyer, Irwin Zalkin. “Lopez’s lawyers put
on a six-day trial in front of the judge, without Watchtower’s
lawyers there to offer a defense. In the end, Judge Lewis
handed down a default judgment of $10.5 million in punitive
damages and $3 million in compensatory damages against
Watchtower.” In April 2016, however, an appeals court threw
out the $13.5 million judgment against the governing body
of the Jehovah’s Witnesses church. However, the “ruling by the
state Fourth District Court of Appeal hits the reset button on
the case, potentially leading to another trial but with one major
caveat—that documents concerning past sexual abuse cases
in the church should be turned over.” (San Diego Union-Tribune,
04/14/16)
Russian Supreme Court refuses to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses
branch
“Russia’s Supreme Court on Friday declined to ban the
Jehovah’s Witnesses of Tyumen as [an] extremist organization,
RAPSI reports from the courtroom. The Tyumen Regional Court
ordered the liquidation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses branch in
2015. The court granted a motion filed by prosecutors and
declared the group extremist. The Supreme Court thus reversed
the lower court’s ruling. ...Jehovah’s Witnesses have had many
legal problems in Russia. ...In January 2014, a court in Kurgan
ruled to ban the organization’s booklets as extremist. The books
talk about how to have a happy life, what you can hope for,
how to develop good relations with God and what you should
know about God and its meaning. In late December 2013,
the leader of the sect’s group in Tobolsk, Siberia was charged
with extremism and the prevention of a blood transfusion
that nearly led to the death of a female member of the group.
In 2004, a court in Moscow dissolved and banned a Jehovah’s
Witnesses group on charges of recruiting children, encouraging
believers to break from their families, inciting suicide and
preventing believers from accepting medical assistance.″
(RAPSI, 04/15/16)
Jehovah’s Witnesses face £1M legal bill after young girl was
sexually abused by one of its members
“The Jehovah’s Witnesses face a million-pound legal bill
after a young girl was sexually abused by one of its members.
The victim, now aged in her 20s, was molested by an elder,
or ‘ministerial servant,’ Peter Stewart, over a five-year period
in Loughborough in the 1980s and ‘90s, London’s High Court
heard. Last year, a judge ordered the organization to pay
£275,000 compensation to the victim for failing to protect her
or to warn other parents about Stewart. The church sought
