Jehovah’s Witnesses Church to pay $13.5M for alleged child abuse, Child abuse survivors tell Theresa May: inquiry must have full force of law

Jehovah’s Witnesses Church to pay $13.5M for alleged child abuse
November 1, 2014 by Ellina Abovian

SAN DIEGO — Jose Lopez was awarded a $13.5 million judgment Wednesday from the head of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church for alleged sexual abuse by Gonzalo Campos of the Linda Vista Spanish Congregation and Playa Pacifica in Pacific Beach.

Lopez, 36, claims that the abuse began around 1986, when his mother enrolled him at age 7 in bible study classes with Campos....

Lopez’s mother went to the heads of the congregation but said that the allegations were overlooked.

“If they don’t get a confession from the perpetrator or they don’t get two eye witnesses to the abuse…under their policies and practices, they will do nothing,” Zalkin said.

After years of staying quiet, Lopez filed a lawsuit against Campos and the church in 2012.

He is one of eight children who have accused Campos of sexually abusing them between 1982 and 1995, according to his lawsuit against the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the entity that oversees Jehovah’s Witnesses churches.

During the litigation, the head church in New York refused to provide documents and witnesses, Zalkin said....

Associate General Counsel for Watchtower Mario Moreno commented in a statement: “Jehovah’s Witnesses abhor child abuse and strive to protect children from such acts. The trial judge’s decision is a drastic action for any judge to take given the circumstances of this case. We will seek a full review of this case on appeal.”

Zalkin said Campos moved to Mexico soon after allegations against him began to surface....
http://fox5sandiego.com/2014/11/01/jehovahs-witnesses-church-ordered-to-pay-13-5m-for-alleged-child-abuse/


Child abuse survivors tell Theresa May: inquiry must have full force of law
Victims call for Fiona Woolf’s successor to be given statutory powers over witnesses and evidence  Child protection  The Observer  Jamie Doward and Daniel Boffey Saturday 1 November 2014

Home secretary Theresa May is coming under new pressure to redraft the terms of the independent inquiry into child abuse so that it has powers to compel witnesses to give evidence and see those who give false statements prosecuted.

The potentially huge shift in the scope and the nature of the inquiry, hinted at by government-appointed lawyers to the inquiry when they met survivors of abuse on Friday, would go some way to addressing concerns that it will be little more than a whitewash.

The current inquiry has been plunged into chaos after its second chair, Fiona Woolf, resigned on Friday after accepting that abuse survivors had lost confidence in her ability to conduct the investigation impartially. Her resignation followed concerns over her links with the former home secretary, Lord Brittan, who has been accused of failing to act on a dossier of paedophile allegations in the 1980s. Woolf’s departure was a huge blow for the government after the inquiry’s previous chair, Baroness Butler-Sloss, also quit.

The former attorney general, Dominic Grieve MP, said on Saturday that May might need to look abroad for someone to chair the inquiry into historical child sex abuse, in order for the victims to have full confidence that it is independent of the British establishment....
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/01/child-abuse-theresa-may-inquiry-fiona-woolf

Survivorship Webinar - October 15 - Educating Others About Ritual Abuse

fwd with permission

Survivorship Webinar - October 15 - Educating Others About Ritual Abuse

Upcoming Webinar:

Saturday, October 15, 2011
10 am Pacific Time (please note change of time)
Neil Brick
"Educating Others about Ritual Abuse"

Neil Brick is a survivor of ritual abuse. He founded S.M.A.R.T. ( http://ritualabuse.us ) a ritual abuse educational research resource with a ritual abuse newsletter and annual conferences. He is a member of the Survivorship Board of Directors. He is an advocate for getting the truth about ritual abuse out to the general public.

The webinar focus will be on how survivors can safely empower themselves by getting the truth out about the reality of ritual abuse to other child abuse survivors and the general public. Different ways of reaching the public and the media will be discussed.

REGISTRATION
Registration closes Thursday evening October 13, 2011

To reserve a space in the webinar, e-mail Shamai at shamai@survivorship.org and give her this information:

1. Your name
2. The webinar you wish to attend: " Educating Others about Ritual Abuse "
3. Amount and method of payment (check, PayPal, money order)
4. Your preferred e-mail address (so we can send you instructions)
5. The name you will be using for the webinar. (This does not have to be your real name or your message board screen name.)

You will receive a confirmation email immediately and a guide and instructions after the registration closes

COST
Webinars are on a sliding scale from $50.00 to full scholarship (Please remember to factor in the cost of the telephone call.)

The PayPal button is near the bottom of the page at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html

If you wish to pay by check please send it to: Survivorship, Family Justice Center, 470 27th Street, Oakland, CA 94612.

PAST WEBINARS
Survivorship members may listen to past webinars in the members’ section.
For information on joining Survivorship, go to http://www.survivorship.org/about/membership.html

Complete details on all our webinars are at http://www.survivorship.org/webinars.html

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Shamai@survivorship.org