RELIGION AND CHILD ABUSE NEWS:
AN ARCHIVE OF NEWS ITEMS* RELATED TO
CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, OR INFRINGEMENT OF
CHILDREN'S RIGHTS, IN A RELIGIOUS CONTEXT.
*Copyrighted materials appearing on this website are provided
solely for the Fair Use purposes of research and education.
Participating In Religion May Make Adolescents From Certain Races More Depressed
Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 12:55PM Science Daily - September 4, 2008
One of the few studies to look
at the effects of religious participation on the mental health of
minorities suggests that for some of them, religion may actually be
contributing to adolescent depression.
Previous research has
shown that teens who are active in religious services are depressed
less often because it provides these adolescents with social support
and a sense of belonging.
But new research has found that this does not hold true for all adolescents, particularly for minorities and some females. The study found that white and African-American adolescents generally had fewer symptoms of depressive at high levels of religious participation. But for some Latino and Asian-American adolescents, attending church more often was actually affecting their mood in a negative way.
Asian-American adolescents who reported high levels of participation in their church had the highest number of depressive symptoms among teens of their race.
Likewise, Latino adolescents who were highly active in their church were more depressed than their peers who went to church less often. Females of all races and ethnic groups were also more likely to have symptoms of depression than males overall.
Setting all other factors aside, the results suggest that participating in religion at high levels may be detrimental to some teens because of the tensions they face in balancing the conflicting ideals and customs of their religion with those of mainstream culture, said Richard Petts, co-author of the study, who did the work as a doctoral student in sociology at Ohio State University.
Warrants could lead to more FLDS charges
Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 11:33AM Deseret News - September 7, 2008
Grand jury will weigh evidence as church seeks their dismissal
by Ben Winslow
ELDORADO,
Texas — When a grand jury meets here later this month, criminal
indictments could be handed down against more members of the
Fundamentalist LDS Church. Search warrants reveal new names under
investigation by law enforcement for alleged underage marriages, the
Deseret News has learned. The April 9 search warrants obtained blood,
cheek and hair samples from five men, three of whom have already been
indicted on sexual assault charges.
The warrants accuse Raymond Jessop, Leroy Jessop, Michael George Emack, Nathan Jessop and Jackson Jessop of fathering children with girls who were all about 16 years old. Some of that information is based on initial interviews with the girls themselves.
"(The girl) referred to herself as the 10th wife of Nathan Jessop; that the father of her child is Nathan Jessop; and that (the girl) lived with Nathan Jessop at the suspected place and premises," Texas 51st District Attorney's investigator Diane Wilson wrote in a probable-cause affidavit filed with one of the warrants.
Law enforcement returned with DNA samples on April 14 to help establish paternity. Some of the men have been previously named in search warrants served during the raid on the YFZ Ranch. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence were removed from the temple grounds, including photographs, diaries, marriage and census records, and dictations by FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.
Some of that evidence has been used in child-custody cases over the hundreds of FLDS children taken into state protective custody during the raid. Texas Child Protective Services has said it has evidence of at least 10 underage marriages. A CPS caseworker testified during a court hearing last week that an investigation revealed "48 percent of the men at the ranch were involved in underage marriage practices."
A CPS spokesman could not elaborate, citing the ongoing child welfare investigation.
St Stanislaus' College "a pedophile paradise"
Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 11:29AM Sydney Morning Herald - September 6, 2008
Old boy calls school a pedophile paradise
by Damien Murphy
JUST
seven weeks ago Pope Benedict XVI apologised for the "evil" of clergy
sex abuse in Australia during his World Youth Day visit, but the legacy
of predatory priests still preys on St Stanislaus' College in Bathurst.
While sex abuse by priests, brothers and teachers at Catholic schools and orphanages has been an issue since the 1980s, the arrest of three Vincentian priests who once taught at the school, coupled with the apparent suicide of a brother and the order's $40,000 payment to a former student - while permitting the priest he accused to continue contact with children - has irrevocably stained St Stanislaus.
"John", the 51-year-old local who received the payment after he accused Father Guy Hartcher of interfering with him when he was 14, told the Herald he now realised the school was a kind of "pedophile paradise".
He recalled priests "grooming" pupils with pornographic magazines, students hiding from staff members when they came "hunting" for first and second formers, and a teacher he knew by the nickname of "Toad" who was notorious for grabbing pupils by their privates if they answered questions incorrectly in class.
"We were all just kids at Stannies, a real smorgasbord," "John" said.
The allegations made against priests charged within the past 12 days concern events at the school in the 1970s and 1980s.
Polygamists say their kids are being educated
Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 11:14AM Salt Lake Tribune - September 6, 2008
They claim home schooling system, say children are not truants
by Brooke Adams
Hundreds of home school affidavits have been filed by parents from a
polygamous community at the Utah/Arizona border in the past week, a
reaction apparently triggered by a threat to enforce truancy laws. Since Aug. 28, the number of home school affidavits filed for children in Colorado City, Ariz., has soared from 14 to 413. The town, along with the adjoining city of Hildale, Utah, is home to
members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints.
"It is an interesting turn of events but we're glad it's
happening," said Michael File, Mohave County school superintendent. The
filings cover children from kindergarten to 12th grade, he said.
Similar information was not available from the Washington County School
District for residents of Hildale. LuAnne Forrest, two weeks into a new
job as student services director, said the district has not kept
well-organized records about homeschool enrollments. In both
states, there is minimal oversight of home schooling. Utah parents are
required to file exemption certificates with the local school board.
Under Arizona law, parents who choose to home school are required to
file a birth certificate for each child and an "affidavit of intent" in
which they pledge to cover basic subject areas. Until last week, most
parents ignored the filing requirement.
"I am not sure what clicked the wheels into motion but they are doing it," File said.
Call for enforcement:
In July, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard told the Senate
Judiciary Committee that it appeared that "hundreds of [FLDS] children
are not receiving an education." He noted parents were not filing
affidavits and said children were routinely seen outside their homes
playing during school hours. "I am enlisting the help of our state
school authorities and community advocates to enforce truancy laws and
persuade parents to enroll their children in school," Goddard said.
Respected office holder in Mormon church jailed for raping teen boy
Friday, September 5, 2008 at 09:29AM Conway, who is married and was planning to emigrate to Utah in the US, home of the Mormon church, was convicted of eight offences of sexual abuse following 13-day trial. He had denied any offence.
Judge Anthony Bate said the Mormon faith did not tolerate homosexual activity but Conway had broken the code. "You were driven by some compulsion to throw aside the strict Mormon code by which you professed to live," the judge told Conway. "It was a prolonged campaign of sexual abuse."
In later years, the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had suffered mental health problems and attempted suicide, the court heard. Conway, who delivered mail in Cambridge for more than 20 years, would remain on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life, the judge said.
This article was found at:
http://www.fenlandcitizen.co.uk/latest-east-anglia-news/Mormon-jailed-for-abusing-boy.4461031.jp
Teachers union did not discriminate against polygamists: B.C. Human Rights Tribunal
Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 12:43PM Canwest News Service - Canada September 4, 2008
by Tim Lai
VANCOUVER - The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a complaint by a polygamist couple who alleged that the teachers union discriminated against them and their religious group by calling on the provincial government to investigate allegations of sexual exploitation in Bountiful, B.C.
Duane and Susie Palmer, who are members of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, filed the complaint with the tribunal in December 2004. Duane is the superintendent of Mormon Hills School in Lister, B.C., the closest community to Bountiful in southeastern portion of the province near Creston, while Susie is a teacher there.
fundamentalism, spiritual abuse, neglect, exploitation, sexual abuse, legal, indoctrination, physical abuse, education, Mormons, polygamy, child brides, children's rights, forced marriage, child trafficking, sexual exploitation, religious freedom, abandonment, shunning, religious exemption, pedophilia Permalink Parents seek religious exemption for medical neglect murder of daughter
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 12:17PM StarTribune - Minneapolis-St. Paul September 2, 2008
Father renews call to dismiss homicide charge
by Robert Imrie | Associated Press
WAUSAU, Wis. - If a couple accused of killing their 11-year-old daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care goes to trial, the courts will wrongly become entangled in constitutionally protected religious matters, an attorney argued Tuesday.
A 19-page brief filed in Marathon County Circuit Court outlines an expected long legal fight on whether Dale and Leilani Neumann can be prosecuted for second-degree reckless homicide under Wisconsin law because they prayed instead of taking their daughter to the doctor as she died of diabetes.
Their attorneys have asked a judge to dismiss the charges, arguing the law is "unconstitutionally vague" as it applies to the allegations in the complaint. The defendants also contend the charges unconstitutionally infringe on their right to freely exercise their religion. Prosecutors have until Oct. 3 to submit a response.
Attorneys for both sides have declined comment about the case, citing a judge's gag order that banned them from talking about it outside the courtroom. An autopsy determined Madeline Neumann — called Kara by her parents — died from undiagnosed diabetes at the family's rural Weston home on Easter. The girl likely had symptoms for weeks and perhaps months before she died, court records said.
Leilani Neumann, 40, has said the family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God, and she never expected her daughter to die as they prayed for her. The parents told investigators Kara had not been to a doctor since she was 3. According to the criminal complaint, Dale Neumann, 46, considered his daughter's illness "a test of faith," and Leilani Neumann thought her daughter was under a "spiritual attack" that could be overcome with prayer.
Prosecutors contend Kara could not speak, eat, drink, walk or breathe easily for about 48 hours before her death — enough time for the parents to seek medical help. The parents failed in their legal duty to care for the child, prosecutors allege.
Five women beaten and buried alive in Pakistan 'honour killing'
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 12:37PM The Independent - UK September 2, 2008
by Omar Waraich in Islamabad
Pakistan ordered an inquiry yesterday into how five women were buried alive in an "honour killing". Three suspects were arrested as condemnation of the outrage spread across the country.
The atrocity took place six weeks ago in a remote region of the vast and restive province of Baluchistan. Three teenage girls named as Hameeda, Raheema and Fauzia, attempted to marry men of their own choosing, and were then reportedly kidnapped by armed local tribesmen along with two older women.
According to human rights groups and local reports, the five women were driven away to a desert area by men belonging to the Umrani tribe. The three teenage girls were hauled out, beaten and shot. Injured, but still alive, they were thrown into a ditch. When the two older women, aged 45 and 38, protested at what was happening, they were subjected to the same treatment. "All five women were connected," said Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch.
The killings have been defended by politicians from Baluchistan. Reacting to a female colleague's attempt to raise the issue in parliament, Israrullah Zehri said such acts were part of a "centuries-old tradition" and he would "continue to defend them".
Vaccination dramatically cuts childhood disease
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 12:26PM Globe and Mail - Canada September 2, 2008
As B.C. fights mumps outbreak, research shows incidence of chickenpox in the U.S. dropped 90% in 10 years of universal shots
by Fiona Morrow
VANCOUVER
-- As B.C. health officials continue to monitor a major outbreak of
mumps in the Fraser Valley, a study released today shows how
vaccinations for common childhood illnesses can make significant
inroads into mortality and morbidity.
The study, published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, looked at the impact of the chickenpox (varicella) vaccination program in the United States over the first 10 years from the program's inception.
In 1995, the United States became the first country to introduce a universal childhood varicella vaccination program. The vaccine is available for every child, regardless of ability to pay. Though laws vary from state to state, it is part of the immunization required before children enroll in public school (exceptions being those seeking exemption because of a compromised immune system or conflict with philosophical or religious beliefs).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that by 2005, the incidence of chickenpox across the United States had dropped by 90 per cent. Hospitalizations for chickenpox-related illnesses declined 75 per cent, while there were 74 per cent fewer deaths from these illnesses in people younger than 50. Of those, the greatest reduction was seen among children aged 1 to 4 (92 per cent) and 5 to 9 (89 per cent). Inpatient and outpatient medical costs associated with chickenpox fell 74 per cent.
Dutch Reformed conservatives at root of Canadian mumps outbreak
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 12:13PM The Vancouver Sun - August 30, 2008
by Todd Douglas | The Search blog
A retired physician in Chilliwack vividly remembers the conservative Christian mushroom farmer who came to him in 1978 severely ill with polio, which was starting to paralyze his body.
The B.C. polio victim was a member of an arch-conservative arm of the Dutch Reformed church, which held it goes against God's will to accept vaccinations for polio or other infectious diseases, Dr. R. W. Van der Flier said in an interview.The B.C. mushroom farmer had caught the polio virus from a visitor from the Netherlands who was a member of the same traditionalist Protestant Reformed denomination, which was at the time the focus of a severe polio outbreak in Holland.
That decades-old drama is echoing again this week. Fraser Valley Health officials have acknowledged an outbreak of mumps that originated in the Chilliwack area was linked to a Christian group that doesn't believe in vaccinations.
Of the more than 196 cases reported since the outbreak began in Chilliwack in February, 10 to 20 are still active. Half of the people who have been infected had not been immunized.
Van der Flier joins with other residents of Chilliwack, university professors and health researchers around the world in confirming that some members of the Reformed tradition in the valley, as well as in other parts of Canada and the Netherlands, continue to refuse vaccinations for polio, measles, rubella, mumps and other infectious diseases.