Children in High Demand Organizations

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December 24, 2006

The so-called Lost Boy wants the FLDS leader to approve a reunion

By Brooke Adams

The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_4891049

12/23/2006

SOUTH JORDAN - Johnny Jessop is still holding on to hope.
There are two days to go before Christmas, five until his 18th birthday. That is time enough for a change of heart. Time enough for a call from Elsie, his 62-year-old mother, whom he has not heard from in 18 months.
The one man he believes can make it happen: polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs.
Johnny, a so-called Lost Boy ordered out of Hildale five years ago, has written Jeffs several letters pleading for help.
"I don't know what I did that was so bad as a 13-year-old to be forever cut off from my family," Johnny wrote in the first letter, sent a day after Thanksgiving. "I know that you alone have the ability to allow her to see me again. . . . All I want is to see her and be her son."
There has been no response from Jeffs, who is incarcerated at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane. He is to stand trial in April on charges of being an accomplice to rape for conducting a marriage despite protests from the 14-year-old bride.
Johnny's situation is not unlike that of the 80-plus teens, mostly boys, who gathered Friday night for a Christmas party sponsored by the Diversity Foundation. Most are cut off from parents and siblings in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., home of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter DaySaints.
They were kicked out of or fled the community after engaging in bad behavior or deciding they wanted a different life; some activists allege the boys are driven off to reduce competition for wives.
They have "no safety net of a family who will always be there for you," said Shannon Price, the foundation's director. "In normal society, a parent is going to do what they can to help that child get through that rebellious stage.
"In this community, they kick them out and say, 'You can't come back.' They don't allow them visitation or communication at all with their natural parents."
Jeffs has even given that counsel from the pulpit. In a sermon delivered July 16, 2000, in Colorado City, Jeffs told the faithful that the "great challenge among this people is the apostates are our relatives.
"If a mother has apostate children, her emotions won't let her give them up and she invites them into the home, thus desecrating that dedicated home. We want to see them and socialize with them, and every time we do, we weaken our faith and our ability to stand with the prophet."
But Johnny hangs on to one unshakable belief.

"I know she still loves me and wants to be my mother," Johnny wrote to Jeffs.
Johnny is the youngest of 14 children; he didn't spend much time with his father, who preferred his other family.
When he was 10, Johnny's mother was reassigned to then-FLDS Bishop Fred Jessop, regarded as the "catch basin for broken families." Fred Jessop had 39 wives by Johnny's count and, unable to have children of his own, was the stepfather or adoptive father of more than 200 children.
Johnny said he was welcomed into the large fold at first but admits he quickly got pegged as a troublemaker.
"I was considered the little sh--," he said. "I wasn't hop-to obedient or whatever you call it."
Among the hordes of children at Fred Jessop's home, Johnny hooked up with two brothers who had moved to Hildale from Salt Lake City and were the "worst rebels."
"I became like them," Johnny said. "I was an innocent thing until I moved to Uncle Fred's."
Johnny took up smoking cigarettes at age 11 and started drinking at 12, sneaking off to a party spot northwest of town dubbed "Edge of the World."
At home, the pressure built until, sick of being told he was evil, Johnny ran off to Hurricane and spent three days at a friend's home partying.
An older brother tracked him down and told Johnny that Jeffs wanted him out of the community. He was told to come get his belongings or they would be thrown out on the street.
Johnny remembers walking into his mother's room to say goodbye. She was crying, he said, and uttered a single word: "Why?"
With a teenager's bravado, Johnny celebrated his new freedom.
"I was happy I was out," said Johnny, who spent the next eight months or so living with his friend in Hurricane. He picked up construction jobs using skills he'd learned participating in communal work projects. But he also "went out and partied, drank and got in trouble."
Johnny landed before a St. George juvenile judge, who ordered him to return to Hildale. He moved in with a brother, but it didn't last long.
"I was getting kicked around all over the place by them, by the judge," he said.
His next stop, at age 15, was a juvenile detention center. Johnny spent a month there after his older brother urged a juvenile judge to give the teen time to reflect on his life.
Then he was back on his own.
Johnny said his mother would stop by once a week or so to go to lunch, unwilling to give up on him despite his wayward behavior.
"We were really close," he said. "I cared about her a lot."
Just before he turned 16, Johnny moved to the Salt Lake Valley and became a ward of Dan Fischer, a dentist and the successful entrepreneur behind Ultradent. Fischer, a former FLDS member and founder of the Diversity Foundation, has made helping Johnny and the other teens a personal campaign.
Johnny attended high school for a while but dropped out at the end of 11th grade. He now works for an excavation company, earning $10 an hour.
For a time, Johnny's mother called him once a week. But the calls dwindled. In her last call, Johnny said, his mother told him she was on the move and would be unable to contact him again due to the pressure on the community.
That was 18 months ago - a loss that set in hard at Thanksgiving, which Johnny said was his mother's "big thing."
Fischer suggested the letters, Johnny said, and "it sounded like a really good idea," worth a shot, anyway, to see if Jeffs would "open it up for me and my mom to see each other again."
"I want her to know that I'm doing good, that I'm still alive and kicking," he said. "The last time she saw me, I was small."

brooke@sltrib.com


Breaking away from the FLDS

* Johnny Jessop is one of 400 or so teens who have fled or been kicked out of a polygamous sect at the Utah-Arizona state line since 2002.
* Mostly male, the teens are known as the "Lost Boys" - a moniker many of them resent.
* Some say they left because they wanted more or different opportunities than those offered within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Many say they were driven out for breaking rules, such as dressing inappropriately or smoking and using drugs. Anti-polygamy activists maintain boys are driven off to reduce competition for wives.
* Most scatter around Washington County, banding together with other teens or older siblings. A number have turned to Dan Fischer, an ex-FLDS member and founder of Ultradent and the Diversity Foundation, for jobs, guidance and other help.
- Brooke Adams

Posted by Perry at 03:04 PM

Sexual abuse lawsuit filed

Lodi News-Sentinel
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2006/12/20/
news/8_ogrady_lawsuit_061220.txt

Lodi, California

Dec 20, 2006

An Orange County attorney who has previously sued former Lodi Priest Oliver O'Grady and the Stockton Diocese on sexual battery has filed another lawsuit, this one by a woman who was once enrolled in Catholic schools in Lodi and Stockton.

The defendants' names have not been announced, pending authorization by San Joaquin County Superior Court, according to Kathy Frederiksen, legal assistant for attorney John Manly, who filed the lawsuit on Dec. 6.

However, the lawsuit gives a description of the defendants. The description indicates the plaintiffs are O'Grady, St. Anne's Catholic Church and School in Lodi, Church of the Presentation and School in Stockton, the Stockton Diocese, the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly in Ireland, Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

Mahony was bishop of the Stockton Diocese from 1980 to 1985, while O'Grady was a priest there.

O'Grady, 61, was a priest at Lodi's St. Anne's Catholic Church from 1971 to 1978 and was a priest at four other churches in the Stockton Diocese until he was convicted of sexual abuse in 1993 in Calaveras County.

The plaintiff, identified only as Jane La Doe, is not being disclosed in order to protect her privacy, according to the lawsuit. She claims she was sexually abused between the ages of 7 and 9 while she was a student at the school at Church of the Presentation between 1981 and 1984, according to the lawsuit.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Posted by Perry at 03:00 PM

Sexual abuse allegations lead to suspension of prominent Southern Baptist pastor

Knoxville, Tennessee
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/
story.aspx?storyid=40667&provider=gnews

12/21/2006

Sexual abuse allegations have led to the suspension of a longtime minister at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where the late Adrian Rogers was pastor.

The 30,000-member Southern Baptist congregation says Paul Williams has been placed on paid leave pending an investigation of a "moral failure" 17 years ago.

But some Bellevue members say the claims involve abuse of a child and that Senior Pastor Steve Gaines didn't act quickly enough when he found out about them in June.

Gaines says he didn't take action then "because the event occurred many years ago," because Williams "was receiving professional counseling," and because of concerns about confidentiality.

He said in a statement that he now realizes he should have told church leadership immediately.

Posted by Perry at 02:55 PM

Grand jury indicts Joliet priest in sex abuse case

The Daily Journal - Kankakee, IL
http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/
dj/display.php?id=384977

2006-12-22

A 76-year-old Catholic Priest from Joliet was indicted by a Will County Grand Jury Thursday for the alleged sexual abuse of two teen brothers in 1996 and 1999.

Fr. Louis Rogge, a priest of the Carmelite Order, turned himself in to police Thursday.

Rogge posted $4,000 bail on a $40,000 bond and was released.

According to Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, this is the first case of sexual abuse involving a Catholic priest to be charged in Will County since the issue of sexual abuse by priests became a national scandal in 2002.

Rogge was indicted on four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse as a result of his alleged fondling of the boys. All of the counts are Class 2 felonies that carry a prison sentence of 3 to 7 years upon conviction.

Rogge was a longtime family friend and a spiritual advisor to both teenagers, Glasgow said in a statement released midday Thursday.

Both of the youths were 15-years-old at the time of the alleged abuse. The first incident is alleged to have occurred in the summer of 1996, and the second is claimed by the victim's family to have happened in the summer of 1999.

The indictments are the result of an investigation by the Will County State's Attorney's Office that began when family members of the victims brought the allegations to the attention of the state's attorney.

"Allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy must be thoroughly investigated, appropriately charged and prosecuted aggressively," Glasgow said, adding, "Priests and other clergy members hold positions of the highest level of respect and trust in our community. They must be held strictly accountable when that trust is violated. We teach our children to hold priests in the highest regard, and that, combined with a child's inherently trusting nature, makes their victimization truly a moral outrage."

According to Fr. John Welch, spokesman for the Most Pure Hearted Mary Province of the Carmelites in Darien, Rogge was removed from public ministry since 2002 when the order found out about his 1974 sexual molestation conviction in Athens, Ga.

Since then he's been assigned to work in the order's archives and has no contact with the public.

Allegations surfaced in 2005

Welch said the Carmelites first became aware of the families' allegations in 2005.

"We take it very seriously because of what we've leaned the last few years," said Welch, a reference to the sexual molestation by clergy which captured headlines just four years ago.

"We're as concerned for the safety of these young people as we should be. We take it very seriously and are cooperating fully with the authorities.

"We've reached out to the victims and their families and offered counseling and we just hope there's a just resolution for it ... that it lends itself to whatever healing might be needed," said Welch.

Welch noted that the order notified the church authorities and the Will County State's attorney's office when the family came forward with new allegations about Rogge.

The state's attorney's office secured the indictments based upon the current statute of limitations in Illinois. Under current law, prosecutors may file sexual abuse charges up to 20 years after the victim has reached the age of 18.

The statute of limitations was more restrictive in the 1990s, when the sexual abuse against these two victims is alleged to have occurred. The General Assembly, however, expanded the statute of limitations several times in recent years.

"Our authority to prosecute this case is a miracle of sorts," Glasgow said. "The statute of limitations was about to expire in one of these cases, but the General Assembly came through in the 11th hour with an amendment that gave the victim additional time to report the abuse. It was a critical change in the law that enabled us to file these charges."

Glasgow says the incident is not Rogge's first brush with the law over the sexual abuse of children. Rogge had pleaded guilty to charges of child molestation in Athens, Georgia in 1974 and was placed on six years probation.

"Despite his past record, we have these allegations of further sexual abuse decades later," Glasgow said. "We need to make certain that no clergy member can use his position to gain access to our children for inappropriate purposes."

Welch said that no matter the outcome of this latest case, Rogge's earlier conviction is enough to ensure he'll not be allowed to again assume a public ministry.

Posted by Perry at 02:51 PM

December 22, 2006

Washington archdiocese settles with victims of clergy abuse

Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/a-460220~Washington_
archdiocese_settles_with_victims_of_clergy_abuse.html

By DERRILL HOLLY, The Associated Press

Dec 16, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Archdiocese of Washington has agreed to pay $1.3 million to more than a dozen men who claimed they were sexually abused by priests between 1962 and 1982.

The agreement with 16 men was announced Friday by church officials.

"Our clients were in severe distress, emotionally, psychologically, financially and spiritually, and felt that a settlement was appropriate at this time," said Peter M. Gillon, an attorney for the men.

Gillon said the men began pursuing the civil claims three years ago, but no lawsuits were filed, in part because the statutes of limitation had expired in the jurisdictions where the acts allegedly occurred. That's one likely reason for the agreement amount, which is much lower than other clergy-abuse settlements

The Archdiocese of Washington includes more than 560,000 Roman Catholics in 140 parishes in the District of Columbia and five southern Maryland counties.

Each of the men submitted medical histories and psychiatric evaluations before detailed discussions about monetary settlements began last year. Eighteen of about 30 clients initially accepted the settlement, but two dropped out because they have obtained new counsel and are pursuing separate claims that do not involve the archdiocese.

The settlement, first reported in Saturday's editions of The Washington Post, provides cash payments of $10,000 to $190,000 to each of the men.

Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, characterized the awards as money to "pay for counseling for people who've been harmed by clergy abuse."

In 2004, the archdiocese paid a total of $200,000 to cover counseling costs for alleged victims of sexual abuse by clergy members. Gibbs said the settlement agreement requires the 16 men to pay for all future counseling and related expenses.

"Most of the people involved here have been receiving counseling from the archdiocese; They've accepted it in the past," she said.

The allegations raised by the men stemmed from events that occurred between 24 and 44 years ago, and two of the men receiving settlement money already have lost legal claims against the archdiocese. The settlements will be covered by insurance reserves and not from other church assets, operating funds or collections, Gibbs said.

One of the victims, George Kresslein Jr., told The Post that he had hoped for a larger sum. But an even bigger disappointment, he said, was that his alleged abuser, who was removed from ministry, has not acknowledged guilt.

"An admission means much more to me than the money," Kresslein, 50, told The Post.

The settlement involves allegations of abuse by eight priests, all of whom have been removed from ministry. Seven have been prosecuted, and one was acquitted.

David Clohessy, the national director of the St. Louis-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerll is doing what leaders of many other Roman Catholic dioceses have done: Settle with victims before specifics about their allegations are made public.

"We're certain that there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of victims who are still suffering in shame and in self denial," Clohessy said.

Posted by Perry at 01:28 PM

Portland archdiocese files new bankruptcy plan reflecting $75M sex abuse settlement

Jurist - Legal News & Research
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/12/
portland-archdiocese-files-new.php

December 19, 2006

The US Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland has filed a new bankruptcy plan with the US Bankruptcy Court anticipating a payment of $75 million to settle outstanding sex abuse claims against some of its clergy. Under the plan submitted Monday, $40.7 million will go to 143 people, another $13.75 million will be allocated to cover claims by another 26 individuals who may yet sue or settle, and $20 million will be set aside as a contingency fund to cover any future claims. Insurance will cover over $50 million, with the remainder coming from liquidation of certain diocesan holdings not including parish or school property. Reuters has more

The Portland archdiocese, which filed for Chapter 11 in 2004, was the first one to file for bankruptcy in the face of civil litigation over sex abuse claims. Since then, the dioceses of Tuscon, Spokane, and Davenport have also filed for Chapter 11 protection in the wake of hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the clergy. In June, a federal judge allowed a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Portland archdiocese to continue, rejecting the Vatican's bid to dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction. The lawsuit, filed in 2002, alleged that the Vatican, the Archdiocese of Portland and the archbishop of Chicago conspired to protect a priest by transferring him from city to city, even though the church knew he had a history of committing sexual abuse. Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles settled 45 sexual abuse lawsuits for $60 million.

Posted by Perry at 01:22 PM

December 20, 2006

Former Jehovah's Witness elder guilty of sex assault

THE RECORD
http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?
pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=
1166568613176&call_pageid=1024322085509&col=1024322199564

KITCHENER, ONTARIO (Dec 20, 2006)

A former Jehovah's Witness elder has been convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl who attended his congregation.

Justice Michael Epstein said Claude Martin's evidence at his trial was "completely unreasonable.''

He was skeptical of Martin's precise recall of an incident in 2000 or 2001 when he went door-to-door with the girl to pass out Jehovah's Witness literature.

The girl testified Martin put his hand on her buttock and extended his finger and put pressure on her vagina over her clothes during a brief moment while they stood alone on a landing of the home.

Martin, 77, had made many such visits with that girl and other children in the church over the years, and would have no reason to recall details of that visit unless something happened to make that day stand out, the judge said.

"Claude Martin professed an incredible memory of this event,'' Epstein said.

He suggested Martin may have been "inventing'' his evidence. Martin testified that he might have inadvertently touched the girl while shifting his briefcase from one hand to another as they were standing in the small space.

Recalling that and other details "defies and stretches credulity and common sense to the breaking point,'' Epstein said.

He described Martin's testimony as "sarcastic, aggressive, testy and argumentative. There was an overall air of smugness about him, I found.''

In contrast, the victim was an "excellent'' witness, he said.

"It's clear the incident she described was most upsetting to her.''

He also agreed with the Crown's argument that the girl had no hostility towards Martin, a pillar of the church she had once admired. The incident would never have come to light if the girl's father hadn't found a diary entry she made about the incident years later, Epstein said.

The girl, who is now 16, wants to submit a victim-impact statement for the sentencing on Jan. 5.

The judge found Martin not guilty of sexually assaulting a second girl in 1988 or 1989 when she was about 11.

That girl testified Martin came up behind her while she was in his kitchen baking him a pie, put his hands on her hips and pressed his erect penis into her back.

Her father was in the living room at the time.

But Epstein accepted the testimony of Martin and his daughter, along with photographs, showing the kitchen counter space was too small and too crowded for pie baking. People normally used the table, the trial heard.

Epstein also agreed with defence lawyer James Marentette that the girl hadn't turned around to see if it really was Martin behind her.

The mother of the other victim approached her in 2005 and she decided to come forward to support her.

dwood@therecord.com

Posted by Perry at 03:06 PM

Bill would prevent adults from placing pressure on anyone under the age of 18 to increase or decrease their religious involvement.

Bill handcuffs Chabad's tefillin campaign

The Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=
1164881934470&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL

Dec. 20, 2006 10:33

The familiar sight of Chabadniks inviting youths to put on tefillin may suffer a serious setback if a bill proposed by Labor MK Ophir Paz-Pines in the Knesset on Monday becomes law. The bill would prevent adults from placing pressure on anyone under the age of 18 to increase or decrease their religious involvement.

According to Paz-Pines, too much pressure is placed on youths to alter their religious traditions. Pressing youths to observe or discard religious practices can 'cause the break-up of a family and cause damage to minors,' he said.

Menachem Brod, a spokesman for Chabad in Israel, said Paz-Pines's bill was absurd, and was intended to undermine religious Jewish life.

'Are they telling me that if someone is lacking a 10th member for their minyan, and they go out on the street and find a 17-year-old boy, they can't invite that bar-mitzvaed boy in to complete the minyan? This is evil,' he said. 'Why do we insist on treating teenagers as though they don't have the ability to make decisions?'

Ephraim Shore, a director of Jerusalem's Aish Hatorah Yeshiva, disagreed with Paz-Pines's reasoning, saying: 'There are so many reasons for schisms in the family... We have a heritage that has lasted over 3,000 years and we believe in teaching it to people. This heritage has not traditionally caused schism in the family.'

Shore rejected the assertion that some teenagers might be brainwashed into adopting religious practices.

'If you teach a Jew the beauty of Shabbat and he lights candles on Friday night, that is his choice, not some brainwashing,' he said. 'It's a free country. We have a popular Web site that 2 million people visit a month. Should we change it to an 'adult only' Web site just so that teens won't be exposed to the dangerous material we post there about Jewish life and traditions?'

Shore said there were dozens of programs in the US to encourage Jewish high school students to adopt Jewish traditions. He said most of Aish Hatorah's programs were geared for young adults over the age of 18, while other organizations, such as Chabad, encouraged teenagers to get involved and participate in their programs.

Paz-Pines's bill is the latest effort by MKs to supposedly protect youth. Earlier this month, MK Zevulun Orlev (NU-NRP) proposed a law that would make it illegal to sell lottery tickets to children under the age of 18. Two months ago Likud MKs sought to limit advertisements that could be placed near high schools.

Posted by Perry at 02:58 PM

FLDS member gets prison for sex with minor

Another man from the sect makes plea that avoids jail but may tag him as a sex offender

By Brooke Adams

The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_4865134

12/19/2006 12:29:55

A man who belongs to a polygamous sect at the Utah-Arizona state line will spend nine months in prison for engaging in sex with a minor, an Arizona judge decided Monday.
Another man from the same sect agreed to a plea bargain that will keep him out of jail but may still land him on the state's sex offender registry.
Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez sentenced David R. Bateman to nine months in prison on two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to engage in sexual conduct with a minor. The judge agreed to let Bateman serve the terms concurrently.
Bateman, who also must register as a sex offender, was taken into custody immediately.
Bateman, a construction worker and former school teacher, is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The polygamous sect is primarily located in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.
Warren S. Jeffs, the sect's leader, is scheduled to stand trial in Utah in April on charges of being an accomplice to rape for a 2001 marriage involving a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man.
Bateman was 44 when he was spiritually sealed to a 17-year-old girl in 2001. The woman is still married to Bateman and asked the judge for leniency, according to Gary Engels, a Mohave County special investigator.
Also on Monday at the Kingman,Ariz., court, Vergel Jessop entered a no-contest plea to child abuse, a lesser offense than the two felony sex-crime charges he faced. Mohave County Prosecutor Matt Smith agreed to the plea bargain because two of Jessop's wives have serious health issues.
Jessop, 47, will receive three years' supervised probation with no jail time. Judge Steven Conn also will decide in January whether to require Jessop to register as a sex offender.
Jessop works for the parks department in Colorado City. He entered into a spiritual marriage with a 17-year-old girl in 2000.
"Each one of these is a little different," said Engels. "I hope this makes the people up there think twice before they participate in this type of action in the future."
A Mohave County grand jury indicted eight men from the FLDS community on identical sex-crime charges in August 2005. So far, five cases have been resolved.
Kelly Fischer was convicted and sentenced to 45 days in jail in August. Donald Barlow was acquitted in September after the county prosecutor failed to prove the crime took place in Arizona. The county dropped its case against Terry D. Barlow in October after Barlow proved his marriage took place in Canada.
Charges are still pending against Rodney Holm, Randy Barlow and Dale Barlow.
brooke@sltrib.com

Posted by Perry at 02:48 PM

Brethren member guilty of indecently assaulting girl, 10

The Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/12/18/
1166290475602.html?from=top5

Geesche Jacobsen

December 19, 2006

"IN OUR community we really treat each other as if we are really, really close friends," the 10-year-old girl explained to the police officer.

The girl was talking about her religious community, the Exclusive Brethren.

And she was explaining how she came to stay with a man who digitally raped and repeatedly indecently assaulted her sister.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was yesterday found guilty in the District Court of four counts of indecent assault and a charge of sexual intercourse with a child under 10.

Judge Helen Murrell told the Downing Centre jury he was convicted last year of sexual offences against the girl's sister. She refused to continue his bail, pending his sentencing in January.

The judge also refused an application for the entire proceedings of the trial to be suppressed.

"It is through the publication of such matters that the community understands the extent and nature of child sexual abuse in the community … and can serve to encourage other victims to come forward," she said. The girl said she had trusted the man. "I thought he was really nice."

He had touched her under her dress while she was sitting in a car, despite his children being present, she told police.

Another time he had touched her while his wife was in the same room. He had put her hand on his penis, while hugging her sister on the bunk bed above her. "He got my hand. He does it in a sly way. And he gets you and he does it, though he's really nice. I was taken by it," she said. "You are lovable," he had told her but had insisted they keep what had happened between them.

After the assaults, when she had returned home, she no longer liked going to church, even though that was where she met all her friends.

"It freaked me out, and I hated seeing him."

The man's lawyer, Paul Byrne, SC, argued that the offences were so brazen they were unlikely, and the jury should not believe the girl.

Posted by Perry at 02:44 PM

Swiss conductor acquitted in sect killings

Swissinfo
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/
Swiss_conductor_acquitted_in_sect_killings.html?
siteSect=105&sid=7369644&cKey=1166627893000

December 20, 2006

Swiss orchestra conductor Michel Tabachnik has been cleared of criminal involvement in the deaths of 16 members of a doomsday cult in France.

An appeals court in France on Wednesday upheld the verdict of a lower court, which in 2001 acquitted Tabachnik over the deaths of members of the Swiss-based Order of the Solar Temple.

Tabachnik, who admitted to belonging to the Solar Temple cult, was accused of encouraging cult members to "a transit towards the star Sirius"- a reference to mass suicide.

He stood trial in 2001, but was cleared of charges of conspiring to brainwash 74 followers of the group into accepting death by occult ritual.

At the new trial in Grenoble he faced new charges relating to 16 cult members, three of them children, whose charred remains were discovered in the French Alps in December 1995. It came after prosecutors appealed against his original acquittal.

The appeal came to court after numerous delays caused by the indictment in Paris of the main psychiatric expert responsible for overseeing the Order of the Solar Temple case.

Notorious

The Solar Temple cult gained worldwide notoriety between September 1994 and March 1997 when the burnt bodies of 74 of its members were found in Switzerland, Canada and then France.

Several had been shot in the head or asphyxiated, and many had been drugged, in what were apparently ritual murders, although some were thought to have been willing participants in the supposed mass suicides.

The two founders of the sect, Luc Jouret and Jo Di Mambro, were among the dead. They had allegedly extorted followers of their money and convinced them that they must die by burning to attain bliss in the afterworld.

At his trial in 2001, Tabachnik denied accusations of indoctrination. He also rejected charges that his writings – inspired by a mixture of the occult, and New Age and esoteric theories – had prepared the way for the cult members' deaths.

Swiss authorities investigating the deaths of 48 cult members who perished in two apparent mass-suicides in cantons Valais and Fribourg in 1994 failed to establish any link between the cult and Tabachnik, but a French investigating magistrate decided there was enough evidence to put the conductor on trial.

Tabachnik, who studied under conductor Pierre Boulez and composer Iannis Xenakis, has led the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lorraine and orchestras in Canada and New York.

swissinfo with agencies

--------------------------------------------
CHRONOLOGY OF THE SOLAR TEMPLE AFFAIR

1983 – The Belgian Luc Jouret and Frenchman Joseph De Mambro found a secret order in Geneva combining several groups. In 1990 the sect is named the Order of the Solar Temple.

September 30, 1994 – A 35-year-old Swiss man, his wife and three-month-old child are murdered in Morin Heights in Québec in an apartment belonging to Di Mambro. Four days later a Swiss couple are also found dead in the same location.

October 5, 1994 - 23 bodies are discovered in a burnt-out farm in Cheiry in canton Fribourg. The same day 25 bodies, including those of Jouret and Di Mambro, are found in Salvan in canton Valais.

December 23, 1995 - 16 bodies are discovered in a star formation in the Vercors region in France.

April 3, 1996 – According to the three Swiss judges in charge of the case in Switzerland, none of the people responsible for the massacres survived.

March 22, 1997 – Five bodies are discovered in a house belonging to a cult member in St Casimir in Québec. In total, 74 cult members died (30 Swiss, 30 French and ten Canadians).

July 3 2000 – Michel Tabachnik is ordered to appear before the Grenoble court for "criminal association", accused of being one of the cult leaders.

June 25, 2001 – The Grenoble court acquits Tabachnik of "criminal association". The prosecutor's office lodges an appeal.

December 20, 2006 - Grenoble appeals court upholds Tabachnik's acquittal.

Posted by Perry at 02:41 PM

Tabachnik relaxé en appel au procès de l'Ordre du temple solaire

L'Express
http://www.lexpress.fr/info/infojour/reuters.asp?id=33746&1435

Reuters

mercredi 20 décembre 2006

La cour d'appel de Grenoble a relaxé le chef d'orchestre franco-suisse Michel Tabachnik, jugé dans le dossier visant la mort de 74 adeptes de la secte de l'Ordre du temple solaire (OTS) de 1994 à 1997.

Le parquet général de Grenoble avait abandonné implicitement l'accusation le 31 octobre dans un réquisitoire de deux heures et demie.

L'avocat général Jean-Pierre Mélendez avait estimé que le prévenu, seule personne jamais poursuivie dans une affaire qui avait fait grand bruit, n'était pas un membre important de la secte.

Me Francis Szpiner, avocat du chef d'orchestre qui dénonce un "délit d'opinion", avait ensuite plaidé sa relaxe.

Le 25 juin 2001, en première instance, le tribunal correctionnel de Grenoble avait relaxé Michel Tabachnik, contre l'avis du parquet qui avait demandé cinq ans de prison ferme. Ce dernier avait fait appel.

Poursuivi pour "participation à une association de malfaiteurs en vue de commettre des assassinats", le chef d'orchestre se voyait reprocher d'avoir incité les adeptes de la secte à se suicider ou à accepter une mise à mort, par ses écrits ou ses discours.

Les massacres de l'OTS ont eu lieu dans trois pays : cinq morts le 30 septembre 1994 à Morin Heights, au Canada, 48 morts les 3 et 4 octobre 1994 à Cheiry et Salvan, en Suisse, 16 morts le 16 décembre 1995 en France, dans le Vercors, à Saint-Pierre-de-Chérennes, et enfin cinq morts le 22 mars 1997 à Saint-Casimir, au Canada.

Posted by Perry at 02:37 PM

Sociologue critique les méthodes pour lutter contre les dérives sectaires/Sociologist Questions Parliamentary Report on Cults

Libération
http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/
societe/224356.FR.php

Par Julie LASTERADE

mercredi 20 décembre 2006

Raphaël Liogier, sociologue, professeur à l'IEP d'Aix-en-Provence, directeur de l'Observatoire du religieux et auteur d' Une laïcité «légitime», la France et ses religions d'Etat. Selon lui, les méthodes utilisées pour lutter contre les dérives sectaires en France sont «arbitraires» et inefficaces.

Les auteurs du rapport parlementaires s'inquiètent du sort des enfants dont les parents appartiennent à un mouvement considéré comme secte. Qu'en pensez-vous ?

Il n'y a pas de secte qui soit a priori dangereuse en France. Toutes les études sociologiques ont prouvé qu'il n'y a pas plus de dérives dans ces groupes-là que dans d'autres groupes qui ne sont pas religieux. Et les parlementaires ou la mission interministérielle n'ont mené aucune enquête sérieuse pour démontrer le contraire. S'ils recensent 40 000 enfants parmi les témoins de Jéhovah, ils en concluent que 40 000 enfants sont en danger. Or, s'il y avait un vrai problème, on observerait des cas de maltraitance, de sous-éducation, etc. On aurait des remontées via les assistantes sociales ou l'Education nationale. Je ne dis pas que cela ne peut pas arriver, mais, quand ils existent, ce sont des cas particuliers qui n'ont rien à voir avec le fonctionnement général de la secte.

Dans ce cas, pourquoi lancer une mission pour étudier l'influence des sectes sur les mineurs ?

Parce que les sectes représentent le bouc émissaire idéal. On les imagine tentaculaires, incontrôlables. Après avoir tenté sans succès de les coincer sur leurs finances, on tente maintenant de dire que leurs enfants sont manipulés, car c'est un sujet ultrasensible d'un point de vue émotionnel.

Comment repérer les dérives ?

En cessant d'être dans le vague, en réagissant de façon plus rationnelle. Il faut être vigilant sur les associations qui pourraient vraiment dériver, comme celles avec un projet fondé sur le racisme ou bien celles qui concentrent le pouvoir sur une seule personne et dont les adeptes sont dans un abandon total à leur chef. Pour les repérer, il faut des enquêtes scientifiques et sociologiques. Il faut apporter des preuves avant de stigmatiser, et cesser de s'appuyer sur des dénonciations tous azimuts, sans enquêtes à charge et à décharge. Sinon, on plonge dans l'arbitraire, on aboutit à des mesures discriminatoires, et on crée des problèmes de liberté publique plus importants que ceux qu'ils sont censés résoudre.

Posted by Perry at 02:28 PM

50 mesures pour protéger les mineurs/50 Recommendations to Protect Children

TF1
http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/france/societe/
0,,3371567,00-mesures-pour-proteger-mineurs-.html

Pour un spécialiste de la commission parlementaire chargée des sectes, "60.000 à 80.000 enfants" seraient concernés.

Cette commission rend ce mardi son rapport sur l'influence des mouvements sectaires. L'Eglise de Scientologie et les témoins de Jéhovah, ont exprimé leurs réserves sur ces travaux avant même qu'ils ne soient publiés.

- le 19/12/2006 -

Les enfants sont une proie de plus en plus facile pour les sectes et l'engagement des pouvoirs publics contre les conséquences des dérives sectaires "s'avère très inégal", selon un rapport publié mardi par une commission parlementaire qui avancent 50 mesures pour protéger les mineurs. La "commission d'enquête relative à l'influence des mouvements à caractère sectaire et aux conséquences de leurs pratiques sur la santé physique et mentale des mineurs" présidée par Georges Fenech (UMP, Rhône), s'est intéressée à la fois aux enfants vivant actuellement dans les sectes et à ceux qui risquent d'être touchés par ce phénomène.

La commission s'est inquiétée du nombre d'enfants concernés. Un des spécialistes interrogés parle d'un "minimum de 60.000 à 80.000 enfants élevés dans un contexte sectaire". Elle a travaillé à partir des témoignages d'anciens adeptes, de fonctionnaires en charge de l'enfance, de magistrats, d'un pédopsychiatre, etc et a mis en exergue les méfaits de l'endoctinement et de l'enfermement psychologique. Elle insiste particulièrement sur les conditions de scolarisation et sur le suivi médical (profil psychologique, accès ou non aux transfusions sanguines et à la vaccination).

Pas de listes

Les 50 mesures proposées concernent aussi bien l'éducation (redéfinition des critères autorisant l'instruction à domicile, contrôle des organismes d'éducation à distance), la santé publique (contrôle médical scolaire systématique quel que soit le type de scolarisation des enfants, unification des sanctions pour refus de vaccination des enfants, prise en charge des sortants des sectes, définition des "bonnes pratiques des psychothérapeutes), l'Intérieur (prendre davantage en considération l'intérêt de l'enfant dans le statut des associations cultuelles), la Justice (droits des grands parents, sanction de l'enfermement), etc...

La commission n'a pas produit de liste des sectes mais elle en a défini les caractéristiques, dont la déstabilisation mentale, le caractère exorbitant des exigences financières, l'embrigadement des enfants, sans oublier l'"abus frauduleux de l'état d'ignorance ou de faiblesse". Avant même d'être citées, certaines associations sont montées au créneau. Les Témoins de Jéhovah estiment devoir se trouver hors du champ d'investigation de la commission. L'Eglise de Scientologie, elle, réfute toute référence au mouvement sectaire. La Coordination des associations de particuliers pour la liberté de conscience (Caplc), conteste déjà les statistiques qu'auraient utilisées les parlementaires.

Posted by Perry at 02:23 PM

Les enfants proies de plus en plus faciles pour les sectes/Children Easy Prey For Cults

http://today.reuters.fr/news/newsArticle.aspx?
type=topNews&storyID=2006-12-19T070348Z_01_
CHE925394_RTRIDST_0_OFRTP-FRANCE-SECTES-
RAPPORT-ASSEMBLEE-20061219.XML

déc. 19, 2006

PARIS (Reuters) - Les enfants sont des proies de plus en plus faciles pour les sectes et l'engagement des pouvoirs publics contre les dérives sectaires est très inégal, affirme la commission d'enquête de l'Assemblée nationale sur l'influence des sectes sur les mineurs.

Aussi formule-t-elle 50 propositions destinées à "contrer les dangers du phénomène sectaire".

"Les conclusions qui se dégagent de nos travaux permettent de dresser un double constat", résume la commission d'enquête dans son rapport présenté mardi sous le titre "L'enfance volée. Les mineurs victimes des sectes".

"D'une part, les enfants constituent une proie de plus en plus facile pour les sectes. D'autre part, l'engagement des pouvoirs publics contre l'influence des dérives sectaires sur les enfants s'avère très inégal", affirme la commission d'enquête qui remet mardi son rapport au président de l'Assemblée, Jean-Louis Debré.

La commission d'enquête, créée le 28 juin dernier et présidée par Georges Fenech (UMP), le rapporteur étant Philippe Vuilque (PS), a procédé à l'audition de plus de 65 personnes.

Elle s'est également rendue à Sus (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) le 21 novembre afin d'enquêter sur la communauté biblique Tabitha's Place avant d'auditionner le 5 décembre deux de ses anciens adeptes.

Le rapport cite un haut fonctionnaire du ministère de la Santé et des Solidarités qui évalue "au minimum, de 60.000 à 80.000" le nombre d'enfants élevés dans un contexte sectaire dont "environ 45.000" chez les Témoins de Jéhovah.

Dénonçant "l'emprise mentale" sur les enfants exercée par les mouvements sectaires, le rapporteur estime que "sans aller jusqu'à (l') extrémité de la tentation suicidaire, l'emprise mentale subie dans l'organisation à caractère sectaire peut provoquer de graves troubles de la personnalité et du comportement".

POUVOIRS ACCRUS POUR LA MIVILUDES

Il ajoute que "les spécialistes de la protection de l'enfance, au-delà même du phénomène sectaire, soulignent que tous les systèmes clos sont susceptibles de favoriser la maltraitance et les abus sexuels".

La commission, qui souligne le travail "remarquable" accompli par la Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires (MIVILUDES) depuis sa création en novembre 2002, affirme, qu'en dépit "des avancées" législatives" et la mise en place d'une politique de lutte au niveau national et régional, "force est de constater que des failles perdurent".

"Celles-ci sont perceptibles dans plusieurs domaines: la sensibilisation des administrations aux problèmes sectaires, la procédure de reconnaissance du statut d'association culturelle, les mécanismes du contrôle éducatif et l'absence de contrôle des activités des psychothérapeutes", est-il précisé.

"Les dispositifs juridiques et administratifs existants demandent à être complétés pour assurer aux mineurs victimes d'une organisation sectaire une réelle protection", estime le rapporteur.

Ainsi la commission propose-t-elle de redéfinir le régime de l'instruction à domicile et celui de l'enseignement à distance et de renforcer celui des agréments des organismes de soutien scolaire.

La commission, qui plaide en faveur d'une formation spécifique des auditeurs de justice et des avocats stagiaires au fait sectaire, veut rendre obligatoire un contrôle médical annuel par la médecine scolaire pour les enfants de plus de six ans instruits dans leur famille ou scolarisés dans des établissements hors contrat.

Elle propose également de préciser les conditions d'attribution du titre de psychothérapeute, ou bien encore, en matière de justice, d'autoriser les grands-parents à saisir directement le juge des enfants "lorsque la santé, la sécurité ou la moralité d'un enfant sont en danger".

Elle demande aussi de sanctionner l'enfermement social des mineurs ou bien encore de redéfinir les conditions de l'engagement des poursuites pour prosélytisme à l'encontre des mouvements à caractère sectaire.

Enfin, elle plaide pour la création au sein du ministère des Affaires étrangères d'un poste de correspondant chargé de ce dossier et propose de renforcer les pouvoirs et compétences de la MIVILUDES tant au niveau national, que local et international.

Posted by Perry at 02:16 PM

December 17, 2006

Teen's case fits lawmakers' intent for emancipation law

She has filed documents to show independence and says she wants to live away from her community

By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_4851381

12/16/2006

St. George - Shannon Price, Director of the Diversity Foundation (left) helps 17 year old Jenifer Broadbent fill out paperwork as Broadbent prepares to apply for emancipation from her parents, who are part of Warren Jeffs' FLDS church.

Jennifer Broadbent is just the kind of teenager for whom Utah's emancipation law was crafted: an independent teen opting for life outside a closed, polygamous community.
But so far, only Broadbent and two other teens from plural families have petitioned for adulthood - something advocates attribute to fear and lack of information.
Broadbent said she left her home in Colorado City, Ariz., in 2005 in search of a future that offered more than marriage and babies. At 17, she moved in with a cousin in St. George, got a fast-food job and set her sights on college.
In September, Broadbent convinced a juvenile judge she was emotionally and financially independent enough to be considered an adult.
"I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere now," said Broadbent, who enrolled this fall in the Clearfield Job Corps.
Proponents pitched the law as a way to fast-forward adulthood for teens who can't rely on or are estranged from their parents. As minors, the teens are unable to enroll in school, get medical care or sign rental agreements and bank loans.
Teens who have left or been kicked out of polygamous communities - most from the twin towns of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah - were held out as prime beneficiaries of the bill. The towns are the home base of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
"These kids don't know why they need to be emancipated, that [the law] exists and what it can do for them," said Shannon Price of the Diversity Foundation, which works with the teens.
They are also reluctant to reach out for government help given their cultural upbringing, Price said.
Proving financial independence and possibly having to face off in court against parents, who must be notified when a petition is filed, also may be hurdles.
"It was intimidating to me at first," Broadbent said, but others "need to know it is an easy process."
Price is working with the Utah Safety Net Committee to add a page to the Web site justforyouth.utah.gov that would include information about the law. The page should be available in January.
"The more people who go through the process, others will look at them and say it's not impossible and that they can do it as well," Broadbent said. "It has just opened up so many doors."

brooke@sltrib.com

Posted by Perry at 05:02 PM

Missouri Church Leaders Accused of Child-Sex Abuse

by Doualy Xaykaothao

NPR - Morning Edition
http://www.npr.org/templates/
story/story.php?storyId=6622525

December 14, 2006

Early next year, the first of several child-sexual abuse cases involving church leaders is expected to be heard in a courtroom in southwest Missouri. The sex charges were filed this summer by women who grew up in a religious community deep in the Ozarks. Most of the accusers and the accused are related by blood or marriage.

The five women who have pressed charges are all now adults. They attended Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church in Washburn, Mo. If what they say is true -- and that's still to be proven -- they were lured into sexual conduct by some of their church leaders when they were children, one as young as 8.

At a preliminary hearing in the Newton County, Mo., courthouse in October, 20-year-old Mackenzie Kyle Amey testified against her alleged molester, 63-year-old pastor George Johnston, a man she used to call Grandpa. Her younger sister has also made claims against Johnston. Attorney Andy Wood represents Johnston. He says his client is innocent.

In neighboring McDonald County, Duane Cooper, an attorney for Raymond Lambert -- the other pastor accused of multiple counts of statutory sodomy and child molestation -- also questions the timing of the accusations. Cooper says Lambert is innocent, and Cooper isn't happy about all the publicity the case has received locally.

"There's an assumption of guilt," Cooper says. "As soon as people see it on TV, hear about it on the radio, read about it in the newspapers, they assume because the great powers of the state have charged a crime, that a person is actually guilty."

Cooper and other lawyers representing Raymond Lambert say they don't want to try their client's cases in the media, but they agreed to let NPR ask pastor Lambert about the effects of the accusations on his life.

"It's been tough on everyone, but I believe we're going to make it," Lambert said. "My vision of what our farm would be -- a school, a farm -- in a moment of a few days, and seemingly a few hours, it all changed."

One accuser, who fears reprisals for speaking out, tells NPR she left the community in April. Since then, she no longer attends church because she finds it hard to trust any religious figure. She doesn't want to be identified by name. She alleges her sexual relationship with pastor Raymond Lambert started when she was 15.

Another woman who left is Charyn Epling. She says she wasn't encouraged to read the Bible in this community because it was preached to her that only men of God read it.

Charyn Epling is now reading the Bible. The first thing she learned, she says, is that "nowhere in the Bible does it state that you can touch a child. Nowhere. You cannot sexually touch a child, and that's basically what this is all about."

Next week, a hearing is set for one of the accused church leaders in McDonald County. Other cases are pending, and one trial is set for February.

Posted by Perry at 04:59 PM

Child Sex-Abuse Cases Rock Ozarks Religious Group

by Doualy Xaykaothao

NPR - All Things Considered
http://www.npr.org/templates/
story/story.php?storyId=6625955

December 14, 2006

In southwest Missouri, police are investigating allegations of child sexual abuse involving church leaders and church members. Prosecutors in two counties say there are multiple victims and similar patterns of abuse.

Some of the alleged sexual contact may have been committed as part of a ritual or ceremony, crimes that are rare in the United States. NPR has reviewed extensive legal documents in these cases over several months and also talked to most of the accusers, as well as some of the accused.

The area of Missouri where the cases surfaced has been home to extremist and fringe groups in the past. Data show that a high number of cases of child sexual abuse in the same area are reported annually to the Department of Social Services. What makes this story different is that almost all the accusers -- five so far -- and the accused -- five in total -- are related by blood or marriage.

Newton County's Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Bill Dobbs says complicated family ties are involved in the cases.

"We have, in McDonald County, Raymond Lambert, who is married to his stepsister," Dobbs says. "We have George Johnston, who is an uncle to Raymond Lambert. It is alleged by some members of that community that the religious leaders may, in fact, be the biological parents of several children who have been born into this group."

Our story focuses mostly on the pastors Raymond Lambert and his uncle George Johnston. Both men are charged with multiple counts of statutory sodomy or child molestation. Pastor Lambert led his flock on a 100-acre farm. Pastor Johnston led his on a 10-acre farm. They ministered in the family's Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church.

A Close-Knit, Isolated Community

Earlier this year in the spring, 10 people secretly moved out of the 100-acre farm. Most of those left behind were shocked, since members of the religious community were unusually close.

A woman who left with this group agreed to be interviewed, but only on condition of anonymity. NPR agreed to this because she fears for her and her family's safety. She is also an alleged victim named in one of the child sexual-abuse cases. The woman, in her late 20s, says she fled because she realized her extended family was behaving like a religious cult.

"They operate in a cult-like fashion," she tells NPR. "Raymond Lambert sets all the rules for the people who live there. He tells you what to go to school for, he tells you who to marry. He basically controls your life."

Former residents of this religious commune say non-church members were kept at arms-length. While children were home schooled, adults did have jobs outside of the farm. Some worked at Wal-Mart's headquarters in nearby northern Arkansas. The anonymous woman says Pastor Raymond Lambert told her to study music in college, so she became a music teacher.

One day last year, while surfing the Internet, she accidentally came across a cult-awareness Web site. The Bible-based cults she read about began to sound as if they were pages out of her own life. Alarmed, she contacted a California rabbi linked to the Web site. She says he counseled her for months, and in April of this year, she finally found the courage to leave everything she once believed in. Pastor Raymond Lambert not only controlled her, she says, but he also used his role as a minister to sexually molest her.

'This Was Her Way to Heaven'

"The first incident started with taking my clothes off when I was 15 years old," she said. "He touched me from head to toe, every part of my body, and told me that this body belongs to God. And the only way that I could subject myself to God is to give my body to Raymond, who is God in the flesh."

She grew up on the farm, passionately believing in God and church, trusting that her sexual relationship with Raymond Lambert would bring her closer to God.

"I believed that it was right, and that it was OK," she said. "I didn't feel like I needed to tell anybody, because I was believing in that at the time."

In June, she filed child sexual-abuse charges against Raymond Lambert. Not long after, Missouri police began to investigate other church leaders in the community, including Pastor George Johnston, an uncle of Raymond Lambert.

Mike Barnett, Newton County's child-abuse investigator, says another alleged victim, a 17-year-old girl, told him that Johnston sexually abused her, beginning when she was 8 years old.

"It became worse at about 12," Barnett says, referring to the 17-year-old's case. "He would tell her that he was ordained by God, that this was her way to heaven, and that she needed to give her body to him."

Barnett says he investigates child abuse all the time, and cases involving religion are rare. In a police statement, he says 63-year-old pastor George Johnston told this alleged victim that even if she had sexual intercourse with him, she would remain a virgin. In neighboring McDonald County, the state alleges that Johnston gave "angel kisses" to this same young girl, where the kiss would involve touching and fondling of her breasts and other inappropriate areas.

Allegations Heard in Court

At a preliminary hearing in October, another alleged victim, 20-year-old Mackenzie Kyle Amey, took the stand in the Newton County courthouse. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Bill Dobbs asked her what happened in the winter of 1998, when she was 12.

"I was starting to develop or go through puberty," Amey said, "and I had some stretch marks coming, and he told me that he could heal them for me, and he touched my breasts."

On the stand, Amey alleged that Pastor George Johnston, whom she used to call Grandpa, was going to teach her algebra, but instead, "he touched me on my breasts and my vagina."

Months before these allegations, families in the religious community were coping with other disturbing news, says Amey Burkett, who grew up on the 100-acre-farm.

"In April, I learned that my grandfather thought that his daughters needed taking care of spiritually," Burkett tells NPR. "And so in order to do that, in order to keep his daughters, he had sex with them. He then went on to father a child for most all of his daughters, or his daughter-in-laws [sic]."

Her grandfather was the late Cecil Epling, a minister originally from Ohio. According to Burkett, Epling wanted his seven sons and four daughters to become a tight-knit community, so he helped buy them the Missouri farm. When Epling died, his stepson, Raymond Lambert, took over the ministry. George Johnston later joined the family's church.

Family members say Cecil Epling passed his sexual beliefs to both pastors, teaching them that they needed to fulfill the sexual needs of their daughters and selected girls in the church.

"What's inside of them is God, and they think that they have all the power, all that it takes to take care of a woman," Burkett says.

Taking care of a woman meant having sex with her, in some cases from early childhood on. Burkett said that Pastor Raymond Lambert believes that women should be put in their place to make them humble. Burkett said that this usually required stripping off clothes.

"He would always say, if you're spiritually hindered, it's one of two things: your mind or your flesh," Burkett said of Lambert. "By taking off your clothes, and knowing that you weren't ashamed of your body, it did feel like it set you free. And I know that sounds weird. A lot of things sound weird to me now. But it didn't then."

Pastors Deny All Charges

Lawyers for Raymond Lambert and George Johnston say each of their clients deny every charge made by the alleged victims.

"No one has begun to question, why are you talking now?" says defense attorney Dwayne Cooper, who represents Raymond Lambert and his wife, Patty Lambert. "What are their motives in coming forward at this time, all of them simultaneously?"

Pastor George Johnston's attorney, Andy Wood, said the allegations have hit his clients hard.

"George and his wife are just absolutely devastated," Wood said. "This has come out of nowhere. These kids that they did think of as being their grandchildren -- now these kids have made these just horrible, horrendous accusations against him. And obviously, it's ruined their whole life."

I met Pastor Johnston at a preliminary hearing for one of three child sexual-abuse cases against him. He's a balding man, with a moustache and pasty skin. During the hearing, he sat solemn and devoid of expression, rarely looking up at anyone in the courtroom. When I ask him about the charges against him, he declines to speak, referring me to his lawyer.

Lawyers for Pastor Lambert and his wife, Patty, agreed to let me talk to their clients, but with substantial restrictions. I was allowed only to ask about life on the farm, and how the allegations have affected them.

Raymond Lambert is charged with seven counts of statutory sodomy or child molestation in McDonald County. Patty Lambert is charged with child molestation.

In a soft voice, Pastor Lambert describes his life: "You wake up one day and things have all changed. And the whole world now seems to be looking at our lives, and they're accusing us. We've been tried and sentenced in the media already."

Lambert says he loves every person who left the 100-acre farm, including those now accusing him of child sexual abuse. He says the allegations have been tough for his entire congregation.

"God said he was going to try us," Lambert said. "The only problem of it is, we never thought we'd be tried in such a way." While he speaks, his wife Patty holds his hand tightly.

"Everyone that lived there by choice would build, and we would watch each other's children as we went out to work," Raymond Lambert says, recalling life on the farm. "And it was a place of a community -- it was not something of a forced thing."

'They're Not Fearing Me'

Raymond and Patty Lambert say families left the farm not because they feared Raymond, but because of rumors that the FBI or other authorities might take children away from families and put them into foster care.

"They're not fearing me. That's not what this is about," Raymond Lambert says.

Patty Lambert adds, "The fear came from the outside. I have no great fear of these charges, because I'm going to trust my God all the way through it."

Raymond Lambert nods his head in agreement.

"If our love and our truth about one another, and about what God has given us -- and about our relationship, my wife and I -- hadn't been based on something true and strong, this would have tore our life apart," Raymond Lambert says.

"But thanks be to our lord that our love is stronger," he says. "We stand together and we believe as one that our lord is going to make a way, as he's made a way and going to make a way for all those that have left."

The child sexual-abuse allegations have affected more than 30 families. One trial date has been set for Pastor George Johnston in February. No matter what the legal outcome of any of these cases, this community that so many believed in for decades is gone.

Posted by Perry at 04:51 PM

December 16, 2006

Self-taught historian offers in-depth views of FLDS

By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4848553

12/15/2006

CANE BEDS, Ariz. - Ben Bistline can't see worth a darn, and a wood-trimmer took off the tip of his right index finger, which makes it hard as hell to type words that include, say, "h" or "m" or "j."
Still, the self-taught historian keeps plugging away at a new book about the polygamous sect that straddles the Utah/Arizona state line and its infamous leader, Warren S. Jeffs.
Bistline's previous works about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints aren't best-sellers. His first book, The Polygamists: A History of Colorado City, Arizona, is a roughly written chronicle that is currently No. 565,601 on Amazon.com's sales list. A condensed version, Colorado City Polygamists: An Inside Look for the Outsider, is No. 300,614.
But for those who want insider details about the polygamous sect led by Jeffs, now facing an April trial on two sex-crime charges, and its complicated, fractious history, Bistline's books are must-reads.
"Certainly, there is information there that can't be had anywhere else," said Marianne Watson, a Salt Lake historian and fundamentalist Mormon. "He is as up close and personal as you can get, being one of the people involved, yet far enough away so that is fairly accurate. I don't see bias overwhelming it."
Others do, though. "He definitely has an ax to grind," said Ken Driggs, an Atlanta attorney and FLDS historian.
The books also give a historical overview of the communal trust that owns virtually all property in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., homebase of the FLDS church. Until May 2005, the sect ran the trust and decided who could build or live in homes in the community.
The trust, now overseen by a court-appointed fiduciary, is being dismantled - a process that is of particular interest to Bistline, a plaintiff in a decade-long lawsuit against the trust in the 1980s.

'The Work': Today, Bistline, 71, and his wife, Annie, 68, live in a double-wide trailer off a washboard, red-dirt road in Cane Beds, a small community two miles south of the Utah border.
Cane Beds is a live-and-let-live place; Bistline describes his far-flung neighbors as "mostly rednecks" and "ex-Creeker kids."
As he talks, Annie sits in the kitchen, bottling peaches and filling in details when Ben stumbles for a name or date.
He moved to Short Creek, as the twin towns were once known, when he was 10. Bistline was 18 when Arizona authorities staged the infamous 1953 raid on the community, sending the men to jail and taking custody of the women and children.
Among them: then-15-year-old Annie, whom Bistline planned to marry.
Bistline was among about 40 residents of Utah left behind. He worked at a sawmill near Bryce Canyon and sent off frequent letters to Annie. When she returned to the community in 1955, they married and eventually had 16 children.
As a younger man, Bistline supported his family through timbering and construction. In those days, Bistline was a staunch supporter of "The Work," as the fundamentalist Mormon movement was called.
"I totally believed I needed to be a polygamist to reach the highest level of heaven," he said.
But church leaders rebuffed his requests for a second wife, and by 1975, Bistline had determined that entering plural marriage required the right family connections rather than sincere faith. Doubt set in.
"I began," he said, "to reason things out."

Losing faith: Ever so slowly. It took Bistline 20 years to give up his beliefs and break with the sect, a process aided by friends he made in the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among them: Dale Stout, then-mayor of Hurricane; Henry Richards, then a regional area president for the LDS Church; and Max Anderson, who was working on his book Polygamy: Fact or Fiction, a criticism of fundamentalist Mormon beliefs.
"I started studying everything I could get about fundamentalist history," Bistline said. "I could see Max was right."
But accepting that conclusion wasn't easy. "It was my life, my family, my relatives," he said.
Bistline's final parting came after sect leaders evicted his brother from a home on land owned by the FLDS church's United Effort Plan (UEP) trust, a move he saw as mean-spirited since the brother was in the process of moving anyway.
"That was the point when I decided I didn't want anything to do with these nincompoops," said Bistline, who joined the LDS Church 15 years ago.

About the same time, the UEP trustees published a new list of beneficiaries and Bistline found his name had been removed.
In 1987, Bistline and about 30 other community residents, all apostates from the faith, sued to claim homes they'd built on trust land. Eleven years and $1 million later, the group won what Bistline considers a partial victory.
The court granted the plaintiffs the right to stay in their homes or negotiate with UEP trustees to buy them out.
"I could live in that house as long as I lived, but then they could evict Annie," Bistline said.
That, in part, is why he agreed in 2003 to a settlement with the UEP, which sold him the mobile home "real cheap" and helped the couple move to Cane Beds, where some of their children had settled.
Of the Bistlines' 14 living children, none belong to the FLDS faith; Jeffs kicked out the last one about 2 1/2 years ago.

A handmade history: Both of Bistline's books focus heavily on the protracted property dispute. But they also provide a who's-who overview of the sect and help connect the dots between past and current events.
Bistline spent 10 years compiling the first book. He first sold about 500 handmade copies - Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff bought a couple three years ago at the first polygamy summit in St. George.
"It was one of my first in-depth views [of the FLDS sect] from someone who had been in that community," Shurtleff said. "It was very helpful, very educational - hard to read, but I stuck with it."
Shurtleff's office used material from Bistline's book to help craft its primer on polygamy.
Bistline said he first decided to chronicle the community's history because no one else was likely to do it. But as Jeffs came to power, he wanted the younger generation to have facts that might "free them from the bondage they are under."
"I want to try to get the truth out to anyone interested in it to help free them," Bistline said. Jeffs has "gotten rid of all the old-timers, people who knew what happened, what the history was."
In Bistline's view, Jeffs - who grew up in the Salt Lake Valley and moved to Hildale in 1998 - "never did have any love for the UEP like those of us who grew up in it and supported it."

'I had so many questions': His newest work centers directly on Jeffs, Bistline said, offering an explanation of how he came to power and "how the people are brainwashed to believe what he says."
Bistline's books are now published by Agreka Books, a Scottsdale, Ariz., company.
He uses a spare bedroom as an office, spending a couple of hours at a time dictating his thoughts into a computer that an assistant later edits.
"That's about all I can stand," said Bistline, who also has heart trouble.
He expects to finish the book next summer, after prosecutions in Utah and Arizona are finished.
By then, there likely will be a new chapter to add on the UEP Trust as fiduciary Bruce R. Wisan moves ahead with plans to parcel out lots to residents. Wisan is asking residents to pay as much as $20,000 for those property deeds.
"What has been done is good," Bistline said. "It's freeing the people, giving them their homes so they can't get kicked out. It needs to be absolutely broken up and distributed among the beneficiaries."
But Bistline is critical of Wisan's approach to running the trust, particularly his proposal that residents pay for their lots. He calls that "a bunch of B.S."
"Paying taxes is as far as it should go," Bistline said. "Is the reason he wants that $20,000 to pay his salary? Those people shouldn't have to pay . . . for their homes when they already built them. I think it's extortion."
Bistline hopes he is around to see the trust dissolved. A year ago, he figured his time was short - and even told his family he didn't expect to live until spring.
"Obviously, I made it," said Bistline. Today, he is feeling better than ever, buoyed in part by those who have told him they've found his books educational.
"What makes me really feel good is there have been a few people who've come out of there and they told me, 'I had so many questions, and when I read your book it answered all those questions for me,' " Bistline said. "That really makes me feel good, that I could help any of them see what was happening."
brooke@sltrib.com

Posted by Perry at 03:48 PM

Stan State prof suspected of cult link

Ex-members describe sexual crimes; instructor, school won't comment

By MICHELLE HATFIELD
BEE STAFF WRITER
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-dp_morning/
story/13104533p-13754085c.html

December 12, 2006

TURLOCK — Among the crop of tenure-track professors hired this fall at California State University, Stanislaus, is a sociology lecturer believed to have been part of a cult accused of abusing children and prostituting women.

Barry Gerard-Prendergast, 57, is teaching six classes in his first semester on campus as a temporary, full-time instructor.

University officials would not comment on Gerard-Prendergast's past, citing confidentially restrictions. Nor would they comment on whether they were reviewing his background.

The Bee began an investigation after an anonymous caller told the paper a student had found links on the Internet between Gerard-Prendergast and a group formerly known as the Children of God.

Now called The Family International, the group is described as a Christian missionary organization. But people who have left the group say it's a cult and have alleged that members have taken part in prostitution, sexual acts between adults and children, and child pornography.

According to stories in the Houston Chronicle, former members of the group allege GerardPrendergast ran a Family "victor camp," a children's indoctrination site in Italy in the 1980s. In 1999 newspaper stories from Texas and Colorado, Gerard-Prendergast denied any affiliation with The Family.

Gerard-Prendergast did not respond to repeated efforts by The Bee to talk with him:

He did not return calls to his office and home Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Monday.

A reporter went to his classes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but he was not at any of them.

Visits to his home and office were unsuccessful; a woman who said she was his roommate at a house in Turlock said she had let him know The Bee wanted to speak with him. "He knows you're looking for him," the woman said Wednesday.

An attorney who contacted The Bee's editor Friday said GerardPrendergast did not want to speak with a reporter.

At Stanislaus State, sociology department office staff said GerardPrendergast had been on campus last week, which was the week before final exams.

Originally from England, GerardPrendergast has a master of arts degree from the University of Exeter, according to a Stanislaus State newsletter.

While declining to discuss Gerard-Prendergast specifically, a university official said faculty candidates undergo interviews, reference checks and passport review. Although fingerprinting is mandatory for some administrators, it is not required for faculty, said Kristin Olsen, director of public and institutional relations.

"The university conducts thorough and extensive background checks," Ol-sen said.

Internet searches have not been standard procedure, but she said "in the last six months to a year, it's beginning to take place more and more."

Academic departments usually conduct faculty searches, she said. Sociol-ogy department Chairman Paul O'Brien would not comment on GerardPrendergast.

In a Google search for "Barry Gerard-Prendergast," several links turn up between his name, The Family and the Children of God.

Searching public records, The Bee matched Gerard-Prendergast's birth date and other information to that of Zack Prendergast, who lived in Colorado from 1993 to this year.

Ex-members of The Family who knew Gerard-Prendergast connected him to the group, according to postings on XFamily.org, a collaboratively edited online encyclopedia similar to Wikipedia. The site said the man was known by several names, including Barry Gerard Prendergast, Zach, Zack or Zacchaeus Star.

The Bee compared a photo on XFamily.org of a man identified as Zack Prendergast with a photo of Gerard-Prendergast in an October newsletter from Stani-slaus State. There is a strong resemblance between the two men.

Before moving to Turlock, Gerard-Prendergast developed a parenting program for teen fathers in Colorado. Business records show the nonprofit business dissolved in 2002.

Under the name Zack Prendergast, he and his wife, Naomi, received the National Parent of the Year Award from the National Parents Day Foundation in 1999.

The couple have 10 girls and two boys — three of them adopted, according to the Houston Chronicle. Questions from the paper about Prendergast's involvement with The Family in the 1980s led him to return the award, a foundation spokesman told the Chronicle. Prendergast cited "some definite misunderstandings and distortions" that were unfounded, the paper said, but the couple did not deny membership in the group.

It is unclear whether Naomi Prendergast or any of their children moved to Turlock with Gerard-Prendergast.

The Bee found no information on his whereabouts immediately before he moved to Colorado. Nor did it find any evidence that he has ever been arrested or convicted of any crimes, or how long he was involved with The Family.

One of his students described him as a great teacher who is flexible. Stephanie Morris, a junior sociology major, said she knows little of his personal life. His religious beliefs have not been a factor in class, she said.

"It hasn't affected his teaching," she said.

Gerard-Prendergast's classes include introduction to sociology, research methods and classical theory, according to the Stanislaus State fall schedule. He's set to teach one introduction to sociology class next semester.

Bee staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at 578-2339 or mhatfield@modbee.com.

Posted by Perry at 03:44 PM

December 15, 2006

Orthodox church's insurer settles abuse claim

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5817617&nav=1TjD

BLANCO, Texas. A man who says he was abused as a teenager by monks at a Blanco monastery has settled a lawsuit against the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The church's insurance company settled the claim yesterday.

Church attorney Lin Hughes says the settlement includes an undisclosed payment to the plaintiff, James Wright Junior.

Wright sued the church along with San Antonio-businessman-turned-monk Samuel Greene Junior. Two other monks and a nonprofit founded by Greene were also named in the lawsuit.

Wright alleged he was sexually abused about a decade ago at the Christ of the Hills monastery after being sent there as a teenager for "acting out."

The monastery was allied with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. But the church broke ties when allegations of indecency by Greene with an 11-year-old studying at the monastery surfaced.

Greene pleaded guilty in 2000 to indecency and was sentenced to probation. He was arrested again in July on charges of sexual assault of a child.

Authorities raided the monastery looking for evidence in the case over the summer. They seized a Mary and Jesus icon said to cry tears of myrrh _ a draw for thousands of visitors.

Posted by Perry at 05:33 PM

Polygamist church battered; April trial set for Jeffs

Dennis Wagner

The Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
news/articles/1215jeffs1215new.html

Dec. 15, 2006

When a Utah judge on Thursday ordered polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs to stand trial on charges of being an accomplice in the rape of a 14-year-old girl, it was just one more hurdle in a legal gantlet facing the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and its estimated 12,000 members.

For centuries, forces of nature in the Arizona Strip sculpted rust-colored bluffs overlooking the polygamist communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. Now, winds of change are ripping at the bedrock of those towns: the FLDS.

As Jeffs, known as the prophet, sits in a Utah jail awaiting the April 23 trial, a wide government campaign churns on against nearly every facet of sect members' lives:

• Eight other churchmen face charges in Mohave County on conspiracy and sexual conduct with minors.

• The Colorado City Unified School District, taken over by a court-appointed receiver and a new board of education, has replaced church members who served as trustees, administrators and teachers.

• The Police Department remains under investigation after allegations that its officers are more devoted to Jeffs than to law enforcement.

• The church and its leaders face lawsuits filed by former members who were expelled amid power struggles.

• Jeffs and his followers have lost control of the United Effort Plan, an FLDS trust that oversees $110 million in assets, including nearly all the congregants' homes and businesses.

• Colorado City and Hildale residents appear to be suffering amid unemployment, tax-collection efforts and faltering businesses.

Some have fled the Arizona-Utah towns to join satellite communities in Texas, Colorado, South Dakota and British Columbia. What remains unclear is whether the government initiatives will strengthen the community's resolve or force it to dissolve.

"I see a huge internal combustion of some sort for the FLDS," said Ed Firmage, a University of Utah law professor who believes polygamy ought to be legal.

Others say church members are becoming more zealous and insular.

"They regard it as a test of their faith, and the more the Lord tests them, the more they're going to prove their faith," said Rodney Parker, an attorney who unsuccessfully defended a Colorado City police officer against bigamy charges in Utah. "True believers, they're sticking with Jeffs."

One example of that attitude is exemplified by a note Colorado City Marshal Fred Barlow wrote while Jeffs was a fugitive. In the letter, seized by authorities, Barlow assures Jeffs that his peace officers are following the prophet's directives. He explains how authorities are investigating and disrupting FLDS members, including the Police Department. Finally, he writes, "I rejoice in the tests, and hope and pray that I will not offend God. . . . I love you and acknowledge you as my priesthood head."

The FLDS is not affiliated with mainstream Mormonism, which bans polygamy.

Critics, including many former members, say the FLDS perpetuates pedophilia, fraud, bigamy and tax evasion.

Defenders say the sect is a victim of religious and cultural intolerance.

Jeffs continues guiding his flock from behind bars, sending directives via letters, calls and visitors. His legal plight, meanwhile, seems to symbolize the fate of his church.

During hearings, police snipers and SWAT members hover around the courthouse in St. George, Utah. Inside, the case hinges on legal intricacies and the words of a young woman who says she was forced into a "spiritual marriage" with a cousin when she was 14.

The accuser, now 20, gave tearful testimony during preliminary hearings, describing her horror when marital bonds were consummated.

Jeffs has pleaded not guilty to two charges of being an accomplice to rape. A trial is scheduled for April 23 in Washington County, Utah.

"The strength of this case is the emotional content of the witness statements," said Parker, who unsuccessfully defended Colorado City police Officer Rodney Holm.

In the Holm case, Parker said that he asserted that the criminal acts may have taken place across the state line in Arizona, but jurors "just had no patience for that type of argument."

In court motions in Jeffs' case, defense attorney Walter Bugden Jr. argued that prosecutors could not prove the accuser had been sexually assaulted by her husband, let alone that Jeffs had directed or sanctioned non-consensual sex.

Defense lawyers may also attempt to paint Jeffs as a victim of religious persecution, a notion that already has been advanced outside the courtroom.

On the other hand, Holm employed some of those strategies in his 2003 trial for bigamy and sexual contact with a 16-year-old, one of three spiritual wives. He was found guilty; the conviction was upheld by Utah's Supreme Court.

Reach the reporter at dennis .wagner@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8874.

Posted by Perry at 05:29 PM

December 14, 2006

Ex-elder can't control sex urges

THE RECORD
http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/
ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/
Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1166050215576&
call_pageid=1024322085509&col=1024322199564

DIANNE WOOD

KITCHENER,ONTARIO (Dec 14, 2006)

A former elder with the local Jehovah's Witnesses, who is charged with molesting two girls, admitted to police more than three years ago that he has sexual urges he can't control.

The admission came in August 2003, when police were questioning Claude Martin about an alleged incident involving a 12-year-old girl who delivered a newspaper to his home.

Martin told police that as he saw the girl approaching his home, he fondled his genitals. He was standing in his front porch and he said it's possible the girl saw him through a window.

When she got to his front door, he made conversation, asking what she was doing on the holidays, where she lived and how old she was.

When told she was 12, he commented: "Oh, you're growing up. You're getting to be a sexy-looking girl.''

The girl then said she had to go. It's unclear who called police.

During the police interview, the Kitchener man acknowledged a long-standing problem with uncontrollable sexual urges.

He said he's had the problem since he was six and experienced a "childhood trauma'' involving molestation by a nine-year-old relative.

Justice Michael Epstein will rule tomorrow on whether Martin's statement to police can be admitted as evidence at his trial.

In the statement, Martin admitted to being sexually attracted to both girls and women. He said he engaged in fantasy sex and sometimes masturbated at those times.

"I've been fighting that since I was six years old,'' he told Const. Jeff Slater. "It's never gone away.

"I'm not a bad man. I'm sick. I got something that I can't handle.''

He dismissed the episode with the delivery girl as "not that big of a big deal," according to the police statement. "Like I'm not threatening anybody. I didn't threaten this girl."

He did agree that he shouldn't have told her she was getting to be a "sexy-looking girl.''

Martin's lawyer, Jim Marentette, is trying to have the police statement excluded from Martin's trial. The 76-year-old man is charged with sexual interference of two girls who attended his church.

He allegedly touched the buttocks of a 10-year-old girl and put his finger on her vagina during a door-to-door visit by the pair to a Kitchener home to promote their religion sometime between January 2001 and December 2002.

The second girl was about 11 when she says Martin put both hands on her hips and rubbed himself against her while she was standing in his kitchen, baking him a pie, sometime between January 1988 and December 1989.

Crown prosecutor Mark Poland said he wants the 2003 statement included because "it's evidence of an impulse control failure that leads to sexual risk-taking."

Martin's lawyer argued that his client's admission to uncontrollable urges to masturbate is not "outwardly directed." There's no indication he wants to sexually touch women or girls, Marentette said.

"There's no evidence he's ever done anything close to what's alleged,'' he said.

He also noted Martin told police he could become attracted to "any sexually attractive girl or woman,'' not just girls.

"He sometimes gives in and masturbates when he fantasizes about an attractive woman,'' the lawyer said. "So what?''

Such an urge is "extraordinarily common in the population at large," Marentette said.

"He's confessing the most common condition in the world."

The Crown wants to show that if he has a propensity to do this, "he could do something else,'' Marentette said. "He masturbates and fantasizes, so of course, he'd touch a girl.''

But Poland said the statement has to be put into context. Martin made it after being arrested following a complaint about the incident with the newspaper carrier.

"He was expressing a sexual attraction to a 12-year-old,'' Poland said. "He masturbates in a situation where she could see him.''

Martin was not charged after he promised police to step down as an elder in the church and get counselling. His congregation was told he had health problems.

Martin told the police officer he'd struggled for decades trying to overcome his problem so that he could measure up to biblical and church standards.

"I'm respected in my congregation," the police statement quotes him as saying. "I'm an elder and an elder should be irreprehensible. Nobody should be able to say anything bad about him and that's bothering me because I have this problem, and I'm not irreprehensible.''

dwood@therecord.com

Posted by Perry at 02:43 PM

Lawsuit Seeks 5,000 Names of Clergymen Accused of Molestation

Wrongful death case focuses on priest in mortuary deaths

St. Paul Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/mld/
pioneerpress/news/local/16225973.htm

Posted on Wed, Dec. 13, 2006

BY KEVIN HARTER

Frustrated with what they see as inaction and lack of concern for victims of clergy sexual abuse, the family of one of the two men likely killed by a Hudson priest in 2002 "reluctantly" filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against the Diocese of Superior.

The attorney for Carsten and Sally Ellison filed the lawsuit in St. Croix County Circuit Court seeking unspecified damages from the Roman Catholic diocese. The Barron, Wis., family hopes to use any money from a verdict or settlement to establish the James Ellison Foundation for the Protection of Children.

"We do not want blood money. No proceeds will ever be used for our personal use," said Carsten Ellison, noting that the statute of limitations for filing was near. "If we didn't do something, it just all goes away. We felt we needed to do something for James. It was such a terrible crime. Someone needs to be accountable, to take responsibility for the deaths of our son and Dan O'Connell."

Diocese officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Hudson funeral director Dan O'Connell and the Ellisons' 22-year-old son, a University of Minnesota mortuary science intern, were shot to death about five years ago at the O'Connell Family Funeral Home. Investigators say the likely killer was the Rev. Ryan Erickson.

Erickson, who was assigned to St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Hudson at the time of the homicides, had an extensive firearms collection and a history of excessive drinking, mental instability and alleged sexual abuse.

"The lawsuit was filed against the diocese and Bishop (Raphael) Fliss for failure to heed the warning signs of this psychopath and sociopath," said Jeff Anderson, the St. Paul-based attorney for the Ellisons.

"This family agonized over this decision, but they are committed to preventing this from happening to others," said Anderson, who is nationally known for representing victims of clergy abuse. "This is the best and only option for them now to seek accountability from the church."

Anderson also represents the family of Dan O'Connell, which has filed a lawsuit seeking some 5,000 names of clergymen accused of molestation. The suit, naming all U.S. Catholic bishops, seeks no financial damages, only the names. The family plans to publish them.

Investigators believe Erickson killed O'Connell, 39, because the St. Patrick's parishioner may have confronted Erickson with concerns or evidence of the priest's sexual abuse of children. Ellison, who had stopped by the funeral home on Feb. 5, 2002, to have internship papers signed, was killed when he entered O'Connell's office, investigators have said.

The wrongful death lawsuit was assigned to St. Croix County Judge Eric Lundell, who ruled in October 2005 that there was overwhelming circumstantial evidence showing that Erickson, who committed suicide in December 2004 after being questioned by police, had murdered the two men.

The Ellisons' lawsuit contends the diocese was fully aware of allegations against Erickson but did nothing. Diocesan leaders allowed him to be ordained despite the concerns of some of his seminary professors, the suit says.

The diocese then placed Erickson at St. Patrick's parish without disclosing any information regarding his past to its parishioners or clergy. The bishop later transferred Erickson to Ladysmith and then Hurley, where the 31-year-old priest hanged himself.

"Our son did not have to die. It was not a car accident. It could have been prevented," Sally Ellison said.

"It is our hope that some good can still come out of this tragedy," she added. "We want to do what we can to prevent child abuse, and to provide counseling and after-care for those who have been abused. That is our vision for the foundation."

Kevin Harter can be reached at kharter@pioneerpress.com or 800-950-9080, ext. 2149

Posted by Perry at 02:34 PM

What if you were abused? Getting yourself healthy is the first step

Patti Wenzel,
patti.wenzel@mx3.com

THE-BEE
http://www.phillipswi.com/bee/
index.php?sect_rank=1&story_id=206177

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

It is not unusual to have questions, doubts and fears following the revelation of accusations of alleged abuse on the part of Fr. Terrence Fitzmaurice, the cleric who served Phillips Roman Catholic community from 1986-1999.

"It would be uncommon to not hear more accusations after something like this comes out," said Peter Isely, Midwest Regional Director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Isely and SNAP's national director, David Clohessy, said the first thing someone who suspects clergy abuse should do is know they're no alone.

"They have to know they are not alone," Clohessy said. "And that something like this is never, ever their fault."

Clohessy said the next step is to find help from an independent therapist. Both men were adamant that a victim or someone with suspicions should never contact the church itself.

"The main reason abuse cases have been mishandled by the bishops is because they can," Clohessy said. "By reporting it to them, they have the opportunity to threaten and intimidate people, move abusive priests and destroy evidence."

Instead, victims should contact law enforcement or human services to report the incident, no matter how old the allegations might be.

"These people are the professionals. They know how to investigate these things. They know how to protect people," Clohessy said.

"Above all else, don't keep this type of violation of trust a secret," he continued. "Silence is deadly."

SNAP is an independent support group made up of victims, family members, therapists and clergy who support, comfort and advise others who have been abused by priests, nuns and other church workers.

Clohessy said many victims don't even realize that they have been abused, choosing instead to minimize the event.

"They minimize it by saying ‘he only touched me once,' or ‘it could have been worse,'" he said. "But then their troubles pile up and they start to take a close look at their lives. We're here to help them when they come to terms with it."

He added that the abuse in the Catholic Church occurred because of the nature of the organization.

"The crux of this problem is that the church is a monarchy with unchecked power and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

What is the church doing?

The Archdiocese of Chicago, where Fitzmaurice is accused of abusing teenage boys in the 1970s, and the Diocese of Superior, which is the overseer of the Phillips congregation both have reporting policies concerning abusive priests and lay workers in place.

Both bodies have adopted all or portions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, along with enacting communication and ethics policies for priests, nuns and layworkers.

Fr. Phillip Heslin, the Moderator of the Curia in the Superior Diocese, is the contact person for those who suspect or have been abused by diocesan employees. Heslin can be contacted at 392-2937, ext. 106.

The diocese also has a lay person to take abuse reports, Cate Van Lone-Taylor. She can be contacted at 364-2950.

Within the Superior dioceses' communication, morals and ethics policies, possible victims are directed to report incidents of sexual abuse to a minor to local law enforcement and human services.

Included in the diocese policies is a requirement that all references given by church employees will be contacted before hiring and that background checks are to be administered to those who will regularly work with minors in the church.

Those policies were amended in 2003, but the diocese did not return calls to say if these same policies were in place prior to or during Fr. Fitzmaurice's tenure in Phillips.

When reports of abuse by clergy are made to the Superior diocese, according to its policies, the incidents will be reported to state authorities, after which a preliminary investigation will be conducted in accordance with church law.

The accused person will be temporarily suspended from service and if the worker belongs to a religious order, the order's superior will be notified of the accusations in writing.

The policy also notes that the accused's reputation is to be protected throughout the investigation.

If the charges are substantiated by civil authorities or through the church's own investigation, and the accused is an priest, he will be removed permanently from the ministry. He may also be removed from the clerical state, or defrocked, if the case so warrants.

In a case where the priest is elderly or infirm, the USCCB allows dioceses and orders to maintain the priest's status, but asks that the man refrain from the public ministry and instead lead a "life of prayer and contrition."

The investigation into allegations against a priest is conducted by the diocesan review board, made up of laypeople and appointed by the Bishop.

Another requirement the USCCB has put in place is the mandated reporting of religious workers names and where they had served is allegations have been substantiated.

Not doing enough

According to a survey commissioned by the USCCB in 2004, about 4 percent of U.S. priests ministering between 1950-2000 were accused of sexual abuse of a minor, or roughly 4,400 clergy. More than $800 million has been paid to victims of clergy abuse from U.S. dioceses and religious orders.

Most of the settlement monies have come from the sales of church properties, investments and liquid assets. Church officials assure the membership that regular offering collections have not been used to pay settlements in these cases.

Isely said while the policies are in place, and settlements have been made to help victims, he doesn't have confidence in the church, either in Superior, Chicago or Rome.

He also isn't pleased with the state of Wisconsin's laws that protect priests, bishops and the Catholic Church.

"We are the only state in the nation where a pedophile priest's superior (the bishop or religious superior) cannot be named in a civil case for negligence," Isely said.

"This is a complete shield for the Catholic Church, one of the largest corporations in the world, and for the predator."

He characterizes Wisconsin's child abuse laws as archaic and protective of the church.

Neighboring states, Illinois and Minnesota, do allow victims to sue the church and its officers, namely the bishops, for negligence in civil suits.

"Wisconsin is in the top five for the highest proportion of residents who call themselves Catholic," Isely said. "We have the highest concentration of religious orders than any other place in the nation. These laws have to go to protect victims."

Isely said Gov. Jim Doyle would sign a law to remove the current legal restrictions from victims of clergy sexual abuse. Isely was unsure when a bill would be forwarded in the Legislature to correct the inequity he feels exists.

"We also need to eliminate the statute of limitations on child abuse," Isely said. "Mainly, people need to report abuse, no matter how old the incident is. Because by not reporting it, that's how the church gets away with it."

If you or a loved one has been abused or suspects abuse on the part of a priest or other religious worker, contact SNAP at (414)429-7259 in Milwaukee or its national headquarters at (314)645-5915

Representatives of the Chicago Archdioceses and the Superior Dioceses did not return calls concerning this topic.

Posted by Perry at 02:27 PM

Pastor held on child kidnap charges

The Independent
Published: 14 December 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/
uk/crime/article2073048.ece

By Chris Greenwood

A controversial evangelist who claims he can help infertile couples have "miracle babies" through the power of prayer was arrested yesterday.

Pastor Gilbert Deya, 54, faces extradition to Kenya to be tried on six allegations of child kidnap.

He was arrested in London by members of the extradition and international assistance unit after a request from the Kenyan authorities. He was due to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday afternoon.

Mr Deya, who claims to have been consecrated as an archbishop in the US in 1992, is the head of the Gilbert Deya Ministries religious movement, which has churches in Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Manchester, with an estimated combined congregation of 34,000.

He has been accused of trafficking Kenyan children from Nairobi slums and the Charity Commission has frozen his ministry's bank accounts.

In 2004, a High Court judge ruled one so-called "miracle baby" was a victim of child traffickers, when making public the findings of a private court hearing to warn of the "cruel deception" and to try and trace the boys' real parents.

Twenty more babies connected to Deya have been taken into care in Kenya after DNA tests showed they had no genetic connection to their mothers.

A controversial evangelist who claims he can help infertile couples have "miracle babies" through the power of prayer was arrested yesterday.

Pastor Gilbert Deya, 54, faces extradition to Kenya to be tried on six allegations of child kidnap.

He was arrested in London by members of the extradition and international assistance unit after a request from the Kenyan authorities. He was due to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday afternoon.

Mr Deya, who claims to have been consecrated as an archbishop in the US in 1992, is the head of the Gilbert Deya Ministries religious movement, which has churches in Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Manchester, with an estimated combined congregation of 34,000.

He has been accused of trafficking Kenyan children from Nairobi slums and the Charity Commission has frozen his ministry's bank accounts.

In 2004, a High Court judge ruled one so-called "miracle baby" was a victim of child traffickers, when making public the findings of a private court hearing to warn of the "cruel deception" and to try and trace the boys' real parents.

Twenty more babies connected to Deya have been taken into care in Kenya after DNA tests showed they had no genetic connection to their mothers.

Posted by Perry at 02:00 PM

December 11, 2006

Brooklyn Rabbi Arrested On Sexual Assault Charges

The New York Sun
http://www.nysun.com/article/44810

By BRADLEY HOPE

Staff Reporter of the Sun

December 8, 2006

A Brooklyn rabbi was arrested on charges of sexual assault of a child yesterday, police officials said.

Rabbi Yehudi Kolko, 60, who taught at an all-boys school, in May was the target of a $20 million lawsuit by a former student. On Tuesday, another student filed a lawsuit seeking $10 million. Both students say Mr. Kolko sexually assaulted them.

Mr. Kolko was arrested yesterday at his home at 1249 E. 22nd St. following a long-term investigation, police said.

He was charged with four counts of sexual abuse, including two felony counts, and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

The most recent sexual abuse was allegedly against an 8-year-old boy, who says he was abused while he was in the first grade during the 2002-03 school year, police said.

Mr. Kolko has been on administrative leave since May from Torah Temimah, a school for Orthodox boys school in Brooklyn with 1,000 students. He was also active in the school's summer camp, Camp Silver Lake, according to an article in New York magazine.

According to the magazine article, he attracted suspicion among religious leaders in the mid-1980s for similar allegations. A dozen children reported to counselors that Mr. Kolko had abused them, but those accounts did not lead to a criminal investigation, the article said.

As of yesterday evening, Mr. Kolko had not been arraigned on the charges in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

Posted by Perry at 04:24 PM

Polygamist leader wed girls under 16, he tells Larry King

Winston Blackmore, head of B.C.'s Bountiful group, says none of his wives are underage now

Wency Leung, Vancouver Sun
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/
national/story.html?id=87ab93bb-b16c-
4ab7-b488-0187b55b70ef&k=71593

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Winston Blackmore, the leader of the Bountiful polygamist commune in southwestern B.C., told CNN's Larry King Live that he has married girls under the age of 16, and that he was aware of at least one case of inter-marriage between family members.

Blackmore, who was investigated by police earlier this year over alleged misconduct, said none of his wives are underage now, but some were "just barely" under 16 when they married.

"There's one that was, and one that lied about their age, but that's not unusual for women, is it?" he said.

During the interview, aired Friday night, he also told show host Larry King that intermarriage between family members "should not happen."

But asked if it did occur, he said he had heard of one case.

"I think that's before the court," he said.

About 700 people live in the Bountiful commune.

In late September, the RCMP submitted a report to the B.C. Crown after a lengthy probe into alleged misconduct by some of Bountiful's residents.

The Crown said in October that it was determining whether any criminal offenses had been committed.

Blackmore told King he was never a member of U.S. polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs's Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, though he knew Jeffs and "had quite a bit to do with him."

Jeffs was arrested in August and is awaiting trial in the U.S. on charges related to marriages he allegedly arranged between underage girls and older men in both Utah and Arizona.

"He hasn't been convicted of anything," Blackmore said. But he said: "I think he should've just faced up and not tried hiding from his problems, because those problems just don't go away."

Blackmore said that, unlike Jeffs, he does not have his own church.

"I'm just one of a lot of people who believe in the basic, simple fundamentals of our LDS [Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints] faith," he said.

The mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or LDS, however, disavowed polygamy in 1890.

Blackmore has about 20 wives and at least 100 children, though he would not say exactly how many.

He said, however, that polygamy is not intended for everyone, but is acceptable if it is directed by God.

As for his wives, he said: "I didn't go out courting me up a bunch of wives. These people came into my life."

Polygamy is illegal in Canada, but the country hasn't enforced its anti-polygamy law for about 100 years.

Blackmore said that it was "biblically sound" for only men in his faith to have multiple marriages, and that, if any of his wives were to take another husband, she would have to leave the society.

Blackmore told King that he had been served a $1-million tax bill by the Canadian government.

That bill was not for unpaid taxes, he said.

Rather, he said, "An auditor came along and they're assessing me because we have lived in a community-style living."

wleung@png.canwest.com

Posted by Perry at 04:20 PM

Medical emergencies in children of orthodox Jehovah’s Witness families

"Paediatrics and Child Health" : Official Journal of the Canadian Paediatric Society

December 2006, Volume 11, Number 10 : 655-658

http://www.pulsus.com/Paeds/11_10/guic_ed.htm

Medical emergencies in children of orthodox Jehovah’s Witness families: Three recent legal cases, ethical issues and proposals for management

J Guichon, I Mitchell

Three recent Canadian legal cases have dealt with the proposed blood transfusion of adolescent members of Jehovah’s Witness (JW) families. In each case, the court permitted transfusions if medically necessary. Much critical analysis of the issue of forced treatment of decisionally competent adolescents focuses exclusively on competence and questions why mature minors may not decide for themselves. The authors argue that a focus on decision-making competence alone is too narrow. Before one may legally give or refuse consent to medical treatment, three conditions must be met: competence, adequate information and lack of coercion. In striving to find agreement on medical treatment, physicians, patients and JW family members seek and, in fact, often achieve mutual understanding and cooperation. Coercion by actual or threatened shunning and excommunication can occur, and these factors may affect adolescent decision-making. In this context, a court order authorizing medical treatment can, therefore, be seen as enhancing patient freedom. The authors suggest that, in addition to fulfilling existing statutory duties to report a child in need of protection, health care professionals caring for acute patients of JW families should actively look for evidence that the patient has accurate medical information and is acting without coercion. The authors also explore suggestions on how to deal with the unusual complexities of such cases.

Posted by Perry at 04:18 PM

Les urgences médicales chez les enfants de familles orthodoxes Témoins de Jéhovah

"Paediatrics and Child Health" : Official Journal of the Canadian Paediatric Society
December 2006, Volume 11, Number 10 : 655-658
http://www.pulsus.com/Paeds/11_10/guic_ed.htm

Les urgences médicales chez les enfants de familles orthodoxes Témoins de Jéhovah : Trois causes judiciaires récentes, des problèmes éthiques et des propositions de prise en charge

Trois causes judiciaires canadiennes récentes ont porté sur la transfusion projetée de sang à des adolescents de familles Témoins de Jéhovah (TJ). Dans chaque cas, le tribunal a autorisé les transfusions si elles s’imposaient d’un point de vue médical. Une grande partie de l’analyse critique du traitement forcé d’adolescents compétents à prendre leurs décisions est exclusivement axée sur la compétence et sur les raisons pour lesquelles des mineurs matures ne peuvent pas décider eux-mêmes. Les auteurs font valoir que la seule compétence de prise de décision constitue un point de vue trop restreint. Avant d’accorder ou de refuser légalement le consentement à un traitement médical, trois conditions doivent s’appliquer : la compétence, l’information pertinente et l’absence de coercition. Dans leur recherche d’une entente quant au traitement médical à administrer, les médecins, les patients et les membres de la famille TJ s’efforcent de parvenir à une entente mutuelle et à une coopération. Souvent, ils y réussissent. Il est toutefois possible d’exercer une coercition par des mesures ou des menaces de fuite ou de reniement et d’excommunication, et ces facteurs peuvent influer sur la prise de décision de l’adolescent. Dans un tel contexte, l’ordonnance d’un tribunal autorisant le traitement médical peut donc être perçue comme une accentuation de la liberté du patient. Les auteurs postulent qu’en plus de respecter leur obligation statutaire de déclarer un enfant qui a besoin de protection, les professionnels de la santé qui soignent les patients en soins aigus de familles TJ doivent évaluer activement si le patient possède l’information médicale exacte et s’il agit sans coercition. Les auteurs évaluent également des suggestions sur la manière d’affronter les complexités inhabituelles de ces cas.

Posted by Perry at 04:16 PM

December 09, 2006

Are Baptist leaders doing enough about clergy sex-abuse revelations?

Associated Baptist Press
http://www.abpnews.com/1557.article

By Hannah Elliott

Published December 7, 2006

DALLAS (ABP) -- Recent sex scandals among Catholic and evangelical leaders are prompting renewed calls for action against clergy sexual abuse. But with research indicating such abuse is more prevalent among clergy -- including Baptists -- than other counseling professionals, abuse-victim advocates are asking if enough is being done.

Comprehensive studies are difficult to find. But a 1993 survey by the Journal of Pastoral Care found that 14 percent of Southern Baptist ministers admitted to engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior. Seventy percent said they knew another minister who had.

A 2000 Baptist General Convention of Texas report indicated more than 24 percent of ministers said they had counseled at least one person who had sexual contact with a minister. The BGCT report called the level of sexual abuse by clergy “horrific” and noted that “the disturbing aspect of all research is that the rate of incidence for clergy exceeds the client-professional rate for both physicians and psychologists.”

Christa Brown, an attorney from Austin, Texas, maintains www.stopbaptistpredators.org. She works with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, a volunteer self-help organization of survivors of clergy sexual abuse. She also recently handed out brochures at the annual BGCT convention Nov. 13 in Dallas.

“We call upon the Baptist General Convention of Texas to stop shielding clergy predators and to take action for the protection of kids,” the SNAP leaflet said. It called on the BGCT to hire independent experts to investigate sexual abuse cases within the convention, which maintains that autonomy among local churches -- a Baptist tradition -- sometimes makes it difficult to ferret out and prosecute sexual predators.

Brown, 54, who said she was abused by a Southern Baptist youth minister in 1968, insists if Baptist leaders cared enough about protecting kids from clergy abuse, they would not let congregational autonomy be an impediment to action.

But representatives from the Baptist General Convention of Texas take issue with Brown’s characterization. They say they’re actually the only Baptist group to take a proactive stand against clergy abuse -- all the while working within a denominational structure built to maintain autonomy in local churches and resist top-down management.

Emily Row, coordinator of leader communication for the Texas convention, said her initial reaction to hearing from any victims group is one of sadness. She acknowledged that “there have been and continue to be gaps within the system,” and said she understands “the grief and the anger and the frustration that is bound to be a process of having been a victim.”

Still, she said, there’s a lot of misunderstanding about how the BGCT deals with clergy misconduct, and some of it is hearsay.

“Groups like SNAP say that we are harboring people guilty of sexual misconduct,” Row said. That’s not the case, she added. Instead, churches can report sexual misconduct to a confidential file on a volunteer basis. “What happens is that duly-elected members of a church provide us with information of incidents of sexual misconduct…. It has to be in writing.”

That practice is intended to protect both the accuser and the accused, Row said.

The issue of confidentiality versus secrecy has remained a large part of the debate, especially concerning the BGCT's file of ministers who reportedly committed sexual misconduct. SNAP officials criticized the Texas file in a letter they delivered Sept. 26 to the SBC Executive Committee in Nashville calling for an independent review of Baptist abuse.

But BGCT leaders point to the file as proof they’re doing more than other Baptist groups in trying to stop sexual abuse. Indeed, while the file remains confidential, it is a step that oth