Lutheran sect leaders in Finland admit they neglected to protect children from abuse by pastors and members

IceNews  -  Iceland      April 15, 2011

Religious group admits child abuse blunders

Leaders of a religious movement in Finland have admitted that cases of child abuse within its ranks have not been handled properly. An internal study into the Central Committee of Conservative Laestadian Congregations (SRK) – a revival group within the Evangelical Lutheran Church – has identified between 70 and 100 members as child abusers in the last 30 years.

At a press conference last Thursday, SRK leaders conceded that they did not always act on allegations of abuse within the movement. Most of the cases are believed to have taken place within families, with some of the crimes happening so long ago that they can now no longer be prosecuted.

The probe concluded that matters were not investigated early enough by SRK administrators and that the guidance given to those involved in child abuse cases was often contradictory or wrong. “There are situations in which forgiveness has been misunderstood, and where people have not been guided to take responsibility before the law,” said SRK Secretary-General Tuomas Hanninen at the press conference.

The SRK also expressed regret that previous statements were deemed to be protecting the perpetrators while downplaying the status of the victims. “We have not had a sufficient overall picture in the matter,” said SRK deputy chairman Matti Taskila in a Helsingin Sanomat report.

The internal inquiry was launched at the end of last year after allegations of extensive child abuse began to emerge from the Lutheran Church and its revival movements. Of the cases which were reported, around 30 have been put through court or have legal proceedings pending.

Between 10 and 15 of the alleged abuses are preachers, all of which have now lost their positions, according to Conservative Laestadian administrators. The management of the movement has, however, not been changed.

This article was found at:

http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2011/04/15/religious-group-admits-child-abuse-blunders/

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Finnish Lutheran sect leaders say up to 100 incidents of child sex abuse by members but gives no details

Winnipeg Free Press - April 7, 2011

Christian sect in Finland says members involved in dozens of suspected pedophilia cases

By: The Associated Press



HELSINKI - A Finnish Christian sect says its members are suspected of being involved in dozens of pedophilia cases since the 1980s.

The Conservative Laestadian Congregations group says there have been up to 100 suspected incidents, some of which were "very serious." Thirty cases have ended in court and several are being investigated by police.

Laestadian leaders on Thursday condemned the incidents saying that "even one case of child abuse is too many." They gave no details on the incidents.

The Lutheran revival movement, dating to the 19th century, uses the Christian Bible as a basis of its doctrine. It has 35,000 members, in a country where more than 80 per cent of the 5.3 million population belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

This article was found at:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/breakingnews/christian-sect-in-finland-says-members-involved-in-dozens-of-suspected-pedophilia-cases-119408904.html

RELATED ARTICLES ON THIS BLOG:

Lutheran bishop of Hamburg resigns after neglecting to protect juveniles from serial pedophile minister

20 N.J. Men Allege Sexual Abuse By Lutheran Pastor

Church-run homes investigated for abuse 


Settlement reached in sex abuse case involving Lutheran pastor


Child protection policies vary from church to church, but spotty compliance continues to endanger children 


Child abuse cases similar yet so different

German Protestants pledge to expose child abuse in church-run homes

More than 260 sex abuse cases reported annually to insurance companies by Protestant churches

Settlement reached in sex abuse case involving Lutheran pastor

The Star-Ledger, New Jersey   January 14, 2009

by Jeff Diamant | Star-Ledger reporter



Twenty-two men who claimed they were molested by the same Lutheran pastor in Brick Township when they were boys in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s reached a financial settlement today with the estate of the pastor, Robert Slegel, and with other parties in their lawsuit, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs.

The amount of the settlement was not made public, as the agreement forbids the parties from discussing the terms, said Robert Fuggi, a Toms River attorney representing the plaintiffs.

Fuggi had been seeking $5 million per plaintiff in the suit, which was filed in 2005 against Slegel, St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Brick, and the New Jersey Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The settlement was reached after a mediation session, Fuggi said in a statement.

"While the settlement will do much to help my clients," he said, "it will not in and of itself alleviate the lifelong struggle that victims of child sexual abuse, and especially clerical sexual abuse, have in struggling to find healing and closure."

The Rev. Stanley Ellison, current pastor of St. Thomas Lutheran Church, said he was pleased the suit is now resolved.

"We're very grateful that it's settled -- very, very grateful to everyone who worked so hard to come to agreement on it," he said. "And we're grateful to God. We hope that this brings closure to everybody involved -- the plaintiffs, the church and the school."

Slegel had resigned in 1993 as pastor of St. Thomas Lutheran after police charged him with soliciting an adult male prostitute in Lakewood. He died in 2006 in North Carolina, at age 77, just over a year after the lawsuit was filed.

In court papers, the plaintiffs, identified by initials only, contended that the abuse occurred between 1967 and 1985 and occurred for between one and nine years for each plaintiff. The plaintiffs contended they were between five and 15 years old when they were abused.

The suit contends that Slegel would fondle the boys and himself, usually in the church or in his office, and then would verbally pressure them not to tell anyone what happened. The plaintiffs included parishioners at the church, students at the school associated with the church, and children from the area.

With 22 plaintiffs, the case ranks among the largest involving clergy sex abuse in New Jersey. Other large cases have involved Catholic priests in Morris and Camden counties.

Attorneys for the defendants argued last year that the case should be dismissed on the grounds that civil statutes of limitations had expired. But Superior Court Judge Thomas E. O'Brien ruled the case could proceed.

The school connected to the church downsized last year, closing its first through eighth grades. It still has a pre-school and kindergarten.

This article was found at:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/estate_of_brick_pastor_
reaches.html

Church-run homes investigated for abuse

Anglican Journal - November 1, 2008
Ecumenical News International

Trier, Germany
Protestant leaders in Germany say they will investigate and expose past cases of mistreatment in church-run children’s homes after an investigation found that children had been physically and sexually abused in such institutions.

“We have established to our horror that even in church-run homes children were brought up with violence,” Bishop Margot Kässmann of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover said Sept. 22. -

The bishop’s comments follow the preliminary findings of an investigation she commissioned into claims of violence and abuse at children’s homes run by the social welfare agency of the Hanover church in the 1950s and 1960s.

“Our investigations that have been undertaken by our social welfare agency have shown that there were infringements of human rights, and sexual assault by individuals in our institutions,” said Bishop Kässmann. “We need to listen to the victims, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice.”

Hans Bauer, the researcher employed to investigate the claims, found cases of physical and even sexual abuse, the German Protestant news agency EPD reported.

“Children in homes had to scrub tiles with toothbrushes or were locked into windowless cells for days on end,” Mr. Bauer was quoted as saying by the news agency on Sept. 15.

“The violation of the most vulnerable was the order of the day,” said Bishop Kässmann.

This article was found at:

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/issues/2008/134/nov/09/article/church-run-homes-investigated-for-abuse/

German Protestants pledge to expose child abuse in church-run homes

Ecumenical News International

September 22, 2008



Trier (ENI). Protestant leaders in Germany have said they will investigate and expose past cases of mistreatment in church-run children's homes, after an investigation found that children had been physically and sexually abused in such institutions. "We have established to our horror that even in church-run homes children were brought up with violence," Bishop Margot Kässmann of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover said. Her comments follow the preliminary findings of an investigation she commissioned into claims of violence and abuse at children's homes run by the social welfare agency of the Hanover church in the 1950s and 1960s.


This article was found at:


http://www.eni.ch/

20 N.J. Men Allege Sexual Abuse By Lutheran Pastor

CBS2 - August 17, 2007


(CBS) TOMS RIVER, N.J. Twenty men have come forward and are claiming the pastor of a Lutheran church in New Jersey sexually abused them when they were children, adding that children in the parish were abused for almost 20 years.

Michael Isaacs is the only one of 20 men suing St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Brick, N.J. on sex abuse charges who isn't afraid to show his face and address the public.

"He'd make you touch him, ask if you liked it, and make sure you wouldn't tell anybody about it," Isaacs tells CBS 2 HD. "He called it the 'typewriter game' where he'd bring you into his office, sit you on his lap and let you hit the typewriter keys and he would fondle you."

Other plaintiffs insisted on staying anonymous because they say the alleged abuse by former pastor Robert Slegel was so traumatic they don't want any more public embarrassment.

Many of the plaintiffs lived in the neighborhood and they charge that the sexual abuse took place not only at the church, but also at the pastor's house.

"He would take you into the house. He would sodomize you," Isaacs says.

Robert Fuggi is one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, seeking tens of millions in damages.

"He was a surrogate father figure. He manipulated them through trying to intimate that he loved them, but did sexual things to them," Fuggi says.

The case passed its first hurdle when the judge agreed to let it into court, but the next hearing won't be for about a year-and-a-half.

The bishop of the New Jersey Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church says it's too early to comment on the allegations in the lawsuit, but he stressed the church "does not tolerate inappropriate sexual behavior of any kind by members of the clergy."


http://cbs2.com/topstories/topstories_story_229180347.html