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Child Abuse Prevention Month - April |
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Tobias
*explodes*
Age: 38
Gender: 
Joined: 17 Jan 2003 |
 Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:29 am Post subject: |
no problem kid. You pretty much hit the nail on the head in regards to how I feel.
Let me know if i can do anything for ya.
~Tobs |
_________________
I am not afraid to die today
Nor afraid of what Death will bring.
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Sciler
Mistress
Age: 46
Gender: 
Joined: 15 Sep 2002 |
| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:17 pm Post subject: |
I just get so angry, and I hate feeling so helpless. I wish I could help them catch these people or help change something to where they have to be in jail for longer than like 30 yrs, which I think may be max (may be more now, not sure honestly). And I feel so bad for the many kids out there who are dealing with this, or NOT dealing with this, and just suffering silently, afraid to speak up or have spoken up and werent taken seriously. It just breaks my heart.  |
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Is a cat durid for eat sum1's hed & stuf? OMG YES LOL! |
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FawkesFyre
Saving the World, one Kitty at a Time
Age: 46
Gender:
Joined: 28 Sep 2006 |
| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 4:47 pm Post subject: |
There are some sick individuals out there in the world. If you ever need anything, Al and are always here. |
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Sciler
Mistress
Age: 46
Gender:
Joined: 15 Sep 2002 |
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:19 am Post subject: |
| Quote: | Sect Accused of Marrying Pubescent Girls
By MICHELLE ROBERTS
Associated Press Writer
ELDORADO, Texas (AP) -- The scared girl, already a mother at 16, whispered into a cell phone: she wanted out. She'd been forced to spiritually marry a man more than three times her age, becoming his seventh wife.
Her husband sexually assaulted her, and when he was angry, he would beat her while other women held her infant, she told a family violence shelter in a series of secret calls that triggered an investigation of the polygamist sect here.
The girl had looked for opportunities to escape before, but she was warned that outside the double-gates blocking entry to the Yearning For Zion Ranch, in a world completely foreign to her, she would be forced to cut her hair and wear makeup, and to have sex with many men - all damning transgressions in a faith where modesty calls for women to wear long underwear year-round under pioneer-style dresses.
At the end of one call she began to cry; she wanted to take it all back.
But child welfare officials allege in court documents released Tuesday that the compound built by leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was rife with sexual abuse, with girls spiritually married to much older men as soon as they reached puberty and boys groomed to perpetuate the cycle.
The documents detail the hushed phone calls, but days after raiding the West Texas compound, officials still aren't sure where the girl is. She is not named among the children in initial custody petitions by the state.
Texas authorities have legal custody of 416 children, all of those believed to have lived at the ranch, Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner told reporters in San Angelo, about 40 miles from the compound in Eldorado.
Court documents said a number of teen girls at the 1,700-acre compound were pregnant, and all the children were removed on the grounds that they were in danger of "emotional, physical, and-or sexual abuse." Nearly 140 women left on their own.
"Investigators determined that there is a widespread pattern and practice of the (Yearn for Zion) Ranch in which young, minor female residents are conditioned to expect and accept sexual activity with adult men at the ranch upon being spiritually married to them," read the affidavit signed by Lynn McFadden, a Department of Family and Protective Services investigative supervisor.
McFadden said the girls were spiritually married to the men as soon as they reached puberty and were required to bear children.
Attorneys for the church and church leaders have filed motions asking a judge to quash the search on constitutional grounds, saying state authorities didn't have enough evidence and that the warrants were too broad. A hearing on their motion was scheduled for Wednesday in San Angelo.
Church lawyer Patrick Peranteau did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday.
An unknown number of men and women were at the ranch while authorities completed the search of the gleaming 80-foot-high temple, a cheese-making plant, a cement plant, a school, a doctor's office and housing units. Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday the adults were not being held, but if they left the compound, they could not return while the search continued.
At least two FBI agents were seen entering the back entrance of the temple on Tuesday.
Spokesmen for the FBI and DPS declined comment.
The compound was raided Thursday after the girl called a local family violence shelter March 29 and 30, using someone else's cell phone and speaking quietly to avoid being overheard, McFadden's affidavit said.
The girl said she was not allowed to leave the compound unless she was ill. She told the shelter that her husband would "beat and hurt" her when he got angry, hitting her in the chest and choking her while another woman in the house held her baby. Once, he broke her ribs, she said.
The girl also said her husband sexually assaulted her, and that she was several weeks pregnant. The girl told the shelter her husband went to "the outsiders' world" but she didn't know where.
The girl's husband was not identified in the court documents released Tuesday. But authorities have issued an arrest warrant for church member Dale Barlow, a 50-year-old believed to be in Arizona.
Authorities were looking for documents, family photos or even a family Bible with lists of marriages and children to determine whether the girl was married to Barlow, who was sentenced to jail last year after pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for three years while he is on probation.
Authorities were trying to determine the identities and parentage of many of the children; some were unwilling or unable to provide the names of their biological parents or identified multiple mothers.
The boys were groomed to be ready to marry underage girls upon adulthood and engage in sexual activity, resulting in them becoming new "perpetrators," the affidavit said.
Children in the sect were deprived of food and forced to sit in closed closets as a form of discipline, a warrant said.
An FLDS member now living in the Texas Panhandle, Samuel Fischer, objected to the raid.
"It's religious persecution," said Fischer, who moved to a ranch near Lockney with his two wives and 12 of his children from Hildale, Utah, last year.
The Texas investigation is the state's first of FLDS members, but prosecutors in Utah and Arizona have pursued several church members in recent years, including sect leader Warren Jeffs, who is serving two consecutive sentences of five years to life for being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old wed to her cousin in Utah. He awaits trial on other charges in Arizona.
Authorities investigating the Eldorado compound have described FLDS members as cooperative, but the house-by-house search of the temple, factories and living quarters has led to some trouble.
On Monday, 41-year-old Leroy Johnson Steed was arrested on charges of felony tampering with evidence - a day after 19-year-old Levi Barlow Jeffs was arrested on misdemeanor charges of interfering with the duties of a public servant, said DPS spokesman Tom Vinger.
He declined to give details on the arrests or how Levi Barlow Jeffs might be related to the FLDS leader.
---
© 2008 The Associated Press
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Are you kidding me? Religious persecution? I didnt realise that saving children and teens from sick, horny old men was considered religious persecution. I guess the same could be said for all those Catholic priests molesting little boys too eh? 
then people wonder why I dont like organized religion.
I feel so bad for the 400+ kids and teens who have been abused, and bred to believe that its how life is supposed to be. Brainwashed for generations into thinking that this is how it is around the world. These old men/leaders KNOW its wrong, or they wouldnt run away or withhold information when these places are raided and questioned. this whold story just makes my stomach turn, and it makes me sad to think that this is not the only place out there like this... |
_________________
WoW - Gilneas server
A - Lixx (80) | Kahlanrahl (71) | Sci (74) | Lixxi (71) | Lixxia (51)
H - Sciler (35) | Lixxie (8 )
Is a cat durid for eat sum1's hed & stuf? OMG YES LOL! |
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Wins 1 - Losses 0
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EXP: 0
HP: 2125
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STR: 775
END: 675
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Al the DLOE
Director of Unpleasent Facts Dept.
Age: 43
Gender:
Joined: 05 Dec 2006 |
| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:32 am Post subject: |
you know my stance on child abusers and what punishments i would like to have done to them. at least you have us with you and on your side as well as the world having our vigilance to make sure we notice this happening or coming close to do what we can to stop it. prosecution often is not enough...
on the morman spinoff group, jeffs needs a cinder block face slap. his founding the spin off (or is it just a branch) is a travesty so horrid that i dont think even God would forgive him. it will be an "appology accepted" just as the trap door opens to Hell, dropping him down for his daemonic "piercings" as the innocents now feel damned for another destroying him/her. i know you understand this better than i can but still firmly grasp. |
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"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."
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Get off a shot FAST, this upsets him long enough to let you make your
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Tobias
*explodes*
Age: 38
Gender:
Joined: 17 Jan 2003 |
| Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 12:02 pm Post subject: |
| The New York Times wrote: |
April 16, 2008
THE POPE'S VISIT
Pope Expresses Deep Shame Over Priests’ Sexual Abuse
By JOHN HOLUSHA
Pope Benedict XVI said on Tuesday that following the Roman Catholic Church’s child sexual abuse scandals in the United States, the church is reviewing candidates for the priesthood with the objective of excluding those with a tendency to molest children.
Speaking to reporters on an airplane taking him for his first visit to the United States as pope, he addressed the scandal in the U.S. that has produced more than 5,000 sexual abuse victims since it erupted in 2002 and cost the church more than $2 billion.
“It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen,” he said. “As I read the histories of those victims it is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way. Their mission was to give healing, to give the love of God to these children. We are deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible that this cannot happen in the future.”
Apparently drawing a distinction between priests with homosexual tendencies and those inclined to molest children, the Pontiff said “I would not speak at this moment about homosexuality, but pedophilia which is another thing. And we would absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry.”
“Who is guilty of pedophilia cannot be a priest,” he added.
The Pope said church officials were going through the seminaries that train would-be priests to make sure that those candidates have no such tendencies. “We’ll do all that is possible to have a strong discernment, because it is more important to have good priests than to have many priests.”
“We hope that we can do, and we have done and will do in the future, all that is possible to heal this wound.”
The Pope answered four questions from reporters that were submitted in advance and selected by the Vatican. He spoke for about 15 minutes.
The Pope also spoke about immigration and said he would discuss the issue with President Bush, who is scheduled to meet the Papal airplane when it lands this afternoon at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. He also discussed the role of religion in America.
One of the repercussions of the child abuse scandals in the United States is that lay Catholics across the country are demanding more financial accountability from their bishops and more control over decisions, particularly when it comes to parishes.
The Pope plans to spend several days in the Washington, D.C., area before traveling to New York to hold services, address the United Nations and visit a synagogue. |
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_________________
I am not afraid to die today
Nor afraid of what Death will bring.
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Wins 112 - Losses 110
Level 16 |
EXP: 535
HP: 3000
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STR: 1000
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AGI: 1000
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Sciler
Mistress
Age: 46
Gender:
Joined: 15 Sep 2002 |
| Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 5:53 pm Post subject: |
Yeah I saw this today, I was just too busy at work to post it.
While I'm not overly religious, I really like his reaction to this.
| Quote: |
"It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen,” he said. “As I read the histories of those victims it is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way. Their mission was to give healing, to give the love of God to these children. We are deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible that this cannot happen in the future.”
Apparently drawing a distinction between priests with homosexual tendencies and those inclined to molest children, the Pontiff said “I would not speak at this moment about homosexuality, but pedophilia which is another thing. And we would absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry.”
“Who is guilty of pedophilia cannot be a priest,” he added.
The Pope said church officials were going through the seminaries that train would-be priests to make sure that those candidates have no such tendencies. “We’ll do all that is possible to have a strong discernment, because it is more important to have good priests than to have many priests.”
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that last line is very smart of him, I like him  |
_________________
WoW - Gilneas server
A - Lixx (80) | Kahlanrahl (71) | Sci (74) | Lixxi (71) | Lixxia (51)
H - Sciler (35) | Lixxie (8 )
Is a cat durid for eat sum1's hed & stuf? OMG YES LOL! |
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Wins 1 - Losses 0
Level 3 |
EXP: 0
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Tobias
*explodes*
Age: 38
Gender:
Joined: 17 Jan 2003 |
| Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:03 am Post subject: |
That's what really got to me too. Now, I don't always agree with the Catholic Church, but hearing the ponitifical-big-guy say something like that makes me hope that he's ready to sacrifice more priests for the sake of having better priests in the long run.
But If i keep on going, it'll turn into a religious debate. We don't want that...now do we? |
_________________
I am not afraid to die today
Nor afraid of what Death will bring.
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Wins 112 - Losses 110
Level 16 |
EXP: 535
HP: 3000
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STR: 1000
END: 1000
ACC: 1000
AGI: 1000
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Eden (Sword)
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Jaena
Senior Otaku
Gender:
Joined: 09 Jan 2007 |
| Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:17 pm Post subject: |
One of my WoW buddies is in law school and one of his classes was discussing the compound in Texas. They were specifically discussing a 13 year old girl who was pregnant, and one of the girls in his class piped up with
"I still think it's religious persecution, I don't see who got hurt in all of this."
The professor responded with "Let's focus on the 13-ness of the 13 year old pregnant girl. Maybe that will show you who got hurt."
"But I still don't see it."
My friend told us this is party chat while we were in Heroic Mech, and one of my fellow party members who is usually very softspoken and such accidentally gave her response in guild chat. It involved some rather.... explicit language and ideas on how to teach the one who couldn't understand who got hurt to finally understand... |
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Shandriz
Your Death Shall be Swift
Gender:
Joined: 28 Sep 2003 |
| Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:00 pm Post subject: |
I'm all about religious freedom, but I'm definitely against forcing children to participate in religious things which may injure them emotionally or psychologically. I'd expand further, but I'm afraid I may get offensive/start religious debate. However, this almost ranks up there with 'cult' practices, to be sure. |
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