MyLittlePIMO

MyLittlePIMO t1_j9hpfy8 wrote

Reply to comment by jslayerjeep in Mandate that WA clergy report child abuse, without exceptions by littleblackcar

I think we can understand each other here :) yeah, if this were about child abuse only, I could see a slippery slope argument. Is spanking abuse? Is grounding your kid very strictly abuse? Eye of the beholder.

But child sex abuse is so far over the line that it’s a lot easier. If you’re debating about whether something counts as sexual abuse of a child, something has gone horrible wrong 😵‍💫

And, I’d also point out “mandatory reporting” does not equal conviction. It just lets the police have it on the record. If they can’t prove it they won’t press charges - but it’s incredibly helpful to store that info in the record (that the clergy was aware and can be called to testify later).

I personally know a case where the clergy knew a man had raped his children- a panel of multiple clergy had investigated and questioned him and confessed - but he got off because it was his word vs the mother’s, and a toddler struggles to express being raped in court.

The police either didn’t know they could have gone to the clergy, or didn’t have the legal power to question them, due to the current state of WA law.

They at least charged the guy and he plea dealed to a lesser charge of regular child abuse- good for him (no sex offender listing), ok for the prosecutor (they weren’t sure they could get a conviction on only the very traumatized mother’s word), and bad for the community (a known child rapist is walking around free without being listed anywhere).

The clergy have a confession in writing I’m fairly sure but the police couldn’t get to it.

I know these kids and the clergy involved personally and it’s a big part of why I’m an adamant supporter of this law.

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MyLittlePIMO t1_j9573gg wrote

Reply to comment by jslayerjeep in Mandate that WA clergy report child abuse, without exceptions by littleblackcar

This makes no sense. You hate compelled speech?

Are you against courts? Courts can subpoena people to share what they know. Except clergy currently under the current law.

Requiring people to report crimes is perfectly reasonable. If you subscribe to some kind of ideology that says it’s not, then you are completely disconnected from evidence based policy.

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MyLittlePIMO t1_j956n3y wrote

Reply to comment by FalseAnimal in Mandate that WA clergy report child abuse, without exceptions by littleblackcar

Also, doctors and teachers and therapists already are mandatory reporters with the same standards.

This isn’t remotely unreasonable or a high burden.

Also, Texas and West Virginia and there other states already make clergy mandatory reporters with no exceptions and it has worked out perfectly fine. Literally the only argument I’ve heard against this is slippery slope nonsense that hasn’t played out anywhere it’s been implemented.

This is a no brainer. Every politician who opposes it should be figuratively beaten over the head as a pedophile protector when they run for re election. Jim Walsh’s rant against this bill should literally be played straight as an attack ad by whoever runs against him.

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MyLittlePIMO OP t1_iu309ba wrote

Reply to comment by WhyHulud in Pennsylvania Attorney General announces arrest of 4 Jehovah’s Witness pedophiles with 19 victims across the state. by MyLittlePIMO

TBH there’s something different with the Jehovah’s Witnesses accusations that have been surfacing left and right lately.

The Catholics and Southern Baptists hired external auditors and made policy reforms and apologies

The Jehovah’s Witnesses literally have made announcements to members telling them not to read or listen to media, that it’s all lies from Satan, played video demonstrations of JWs literally running away when someone tries to show them a news article that is critical, and remind the members that the end of the world is coming any minute now, so don’t get caught up in these things.

(Link here to watch their broadcast to members, it’s all in the first 30 minutes if you can stomach it and are curious)

I don’t think any of the major religious organizations caught up in this level of scandal has stooped to quite the same level of mass denial. There’s over a million JWs in the US that hang on the leaders’ every words. It’s basically Scientology for poor people except 100x the global membership. Same structures of power, too, shunning and attacking any members that leave.

Pennsylvania is the first state to do an investigation at the state level. There’s been a ton of civil lawsuits and journalists (the Atlantic, the Spokesman-Review, the VICE documentary) exposing a lot though, as well as massive data to come out of Australia’s investigation that found molestation cover up rates 10x that of the Catholic Church per capita, and the Norway rulings over shunning as a social control.

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