You know, this will sound really faithless, but I'm not so certain about the ability of our leadership to get the "right answer" solely through prayer (on how to proceed in a particular case when the subjects are potential liars).
I have read too many instances in which the Church leadership did just that and got it wrong.
(Additionally, I believe the changes taken by Salt Lake to address these issues further reflect that view.)
Edited: tortdog on 30th Aug, 2007 - 12:05pm
Unfortunately, another Mormon connection to a Heinous Crime. For me, is always surprising how people in the Church judges or perceives others based on how "high" the calling is, as if Stake Presidents or those high in authority cannot (by any means) commit serious offenses.
QUOTE |
A MAN of "high standing" in the Mormon Church has escaped jail for his predatory behaviour towards two teen siblings he met through the church. Joseph Carlton Atwater, 53, exposed his erect penis to the girl, 13; took the boy, 15, out of school for the day; and showed both teenagers pornographic computer images and sketches, the County Court heard. The former missionary sneaked into the teenagers' house at night without their parents' knowledge and entered the bedrooms of their younger siblings, the court was told. Atwater gave the girl a condom out of his wallet, sent text messages trying to lure her to his house, and emailed her on an internet chat room about how he liked to make love to his wife. He also drew pictures of naked men and women having sex and gave them to the boy, later telling police he was "merely educating him in respect to sexual matters". Atwater was found out after the teens' mother discovered three sexually explicit drawings in the laundry, the court heard. The prosecution claimed Atwater's predatory behaviour raised concerns he was "building up to something more sinister". Judge Jane Campton yesterday sentenced Atwater to a fully suspended two-year jail term and a 12-month community-based order, requiring him to complete 150 hours of volunteer work and a sex offenders' program. Atwater had pleaded guilty to one count of stalking the girl between September and December 2005, and one count of child stealing relating to the boy. Judge Campton said Atwater had the support of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and said a bishop described him as "of high-standing in the church, devoted to his wife, family and grandchildren... |
That is so scary! I am very careful with who I leave my children with but am lucky that my two oldest are 13 and 14 so I have built in babysitters, but it has not always been that way.
So this guy escaped? That can't be good because if that is the case then not only did he do the crime but then wasn't willing to fulfill his sentence. You can almost bet he will do it again. I was surprised to read how they said that The "Church" supported him--its one thing to say that he has been a good father, grandfather, whatever, with the knowledge they HAD, but with this new knowledge I wonder if "support" is a good word to use. I can guarantee that they don't SUPPORT his behavior and he sounds really disturbed to actually take a kid from school! That is scary that he was able to do that-It seems he may of been someone they were close or comfortable too.
The Colorado shooter who killed four people and wounded several others at two Christian Churches in Colorado was an LDS member baptized a year ago. This was confirmed by the LDS Church in a statement but they did not make any further comments.
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KSL News has learned the man who went on a shooting rampage at two Colorado church properties had been baptized into the LDS Church a year ago. Matthew Murray killed four people and wounded several others Sunday, before he turned the gun on himself. He targeted people at two Christian churches, posting anti-religion messages online before the shootings. But a year ago, he welcomed religion in his life, according to one man who taught Murray about the Latter-day Saint faith. A.J. Ormond was there the day Matthew Murray was baptized. He says he immediately noticed a change; Murray seemed happy, calm, at peace. It was a demeanor that changed dramatically in just a year. "He seemed like a normal person, maybe a little sheltered." That's how A.J. Ormond remembers Matthew Murray, the man police say shot and killed two at a Youth with Mission Center in Arvada, then two sisters at a New Life Church in Colorado Springs 12 hours later. Before the attacks, he posted hate-filled messages online like "You Christians brought this on yourselves," and "All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you... as I can." "I think everybody goes through 'Is there anything I could have done? Anything?'", Ormond said. Ormond met Murray in November 2006 in Colorado. Murray wanted to learn more about the LDS church. Ormond and his wife worked with the missionaries in their ward. "I think he was interested in learning about all religions, trying to figure out what fit him and his beliefs and finding somewhere where he could fit in," Ormond said. Ormond describes Murray as polite and friendly, a young man who, despite his family's protests, was seriously contemplating devoting his life to the LDS Church. Murray's experience with the LDS Church culminated with his baptism. Soon after, he stopped going to church; and just a little over a year later, Murray was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot to his head following a shootout with a security guard... |
The Church always tries its best to not go to trial. This case seems very fishy. How come the guy suddenly remembers of the abuse in 2004? What evidence is there to show if this happened in the 60's? Sounds to me like someone wants a big fat pocket for Christmas.
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- A former Mormon missionary accused of molesting an American Indian boy in the 1960s denies the allegation, and the church wants a federal judge to decide the case before it goes to trial. Ferris Joseph, 52, filed the civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in South Dakota against the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Latter-Day Saints, both of Utah. He is suing the Mormon church, claiming he was sexually abused by one of its missionaries, Robert Lewis White, in the late 1960s when Joseph was 11 or 12 years old. Joseph is an American Indian who lived with his family in Sioux Falls from 1966 to 1968, according to the lawsuit. The abuse happened at White's apartment in Flandreau, it states. White was based at the Northern Indian Mission in Rapid City and was assigned to Flandreau, in eastern South Dakota, where the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is located. Joseph had no memory of the abuse until an October 2004 visit to Canada to see his sister, a devout member of the Mormon church, according to the complaint. In a deposition transcript filed in court, White denies he sexually abused Joseph or any other boy, and testified that he was celibate when he served in Flandreau from Nov. 8, 1967, and July 13, 1968. "No, nothing bad went on," he told a lawyer. White's companion missionary at the time, Jay Larson, also testified that the two men followed the church's rule to stay in sight of each other at all times, and that he had no memory of White ever acting inappropriately, according to court documents... |
I am SERIOUS when I say: PLEASE, watch your kids AT ALL TIMES, even during Church services. Do you know where and with whom your kids are in Primary? Do you trust missionaries or leaders just because of their position or just because someone seem "nice and friendly". Please do not be naive, watch them!
QUOTE |
LAS VEGAS - A former Mormon missionary was sentenced Thursday to two to six years in prison after a judge ruled he violated terms of a plea deal that called for him to complete counseling and community service. The judge decreed John Misseldine, 26, guilty of lewdness with a child under the age of 14 and coercion, and ordered him to register and submit to monitoring as a sex offender. The felony charges, dating to 2003, had been stayed under terms of the October 2005 plea deal. "I still maintain my innocence in this case," Misseldine said when Clark County District Judge Donald Mosley asked him to speak. The judge dismissed Misseldine's assertions that the claims against him were false and a scheme by the girls' families to get money from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "I'm not buying it, No. 1," the judge said, "and No. 2, it doesn't make any sense. Why would they come up with this story? It's pretty hard to imagine this was just fabricated." Misseldine, of Little Rock, Ark., was accused of fondling the two girls while he was baby-sitting them in a classroom during services at a Las Vegas church in 2003. |