forgive me if this has been done, but I found this particularly upsetting on last nights news re the J.Witness elder

[ELF1981]

Sorry if you haven't heard this, I haven't seen it on mumsnet but I was outraged at this...

How does a Judge explain letting a man escape a prision sentence for child abuse just because "he pleaded guilty" and because of "his religious background"?

So, I could hurt a child, but its okay so long as I have religion and admit that I did it?

Please tell me this isn't common...

tiredemma- where exactly did u read about what the elder said, i done some research and cant find it. only thing I could find was other peoples comment on other forums saying he is now free 2 preach. but cant find anything about what the elder supposedly said. jw normally have a no comment policy on such issues, although this does them no favours

I believe there will be an appeal made.. and so it should, completely appalling.

One can't help but wonder if a bunch of Judges have something more sinister going on, because there are too many cases where Judges are ruling the most odd outcomes

I would've thought that as a "man of faith" more would be expected of him, not less.
Like the catholic priests who abused their position of authority, I feel they will have more to answer for than just the crime.

potoftea - i agree i think worse when person leading double life professing to be something they r clearly not, it shows he knows what he doin was wrong and just seems more premediated

Orangehead the bit about him being free to carry on hos role has been freely and widely reported by the local news. Not saying that the TV is always right of course, but its been reported over several days with names, and nobody seems to have required a retraction.

Orangehead- I read it in a newspaper the day after it was reported on the Tv news.