Failure to Report Abuse

[Gregory Matthews]

Ths following is an interesting story of a SDA pastor who reported sexual abuse and at the same time did not report sexual abuse.  He has now been charged with a crime.

See:

https://atoday.org/south-african-adventist-pastor-accused-of-neglecting-to-report-confession-of-sexual-abuse-of-10-year-old/

[I stand corrected.  I thought that the pastor was being charged with a crime by the police.  I was wrong and I thank Photodude for the correction.  It was the mother that wished that the pastor had reported the  crime.  Thank you Photodude for pointing out my error--GM.]  

 

[B/W Photodude]

Being South Africa, their laws regarding reporting of these assaults were not discussed in the article. In America, he would have been obligated in most states to have done so.

So, since the mother was informed and able to report it, the guilty party was convicted of the crime, and the perpetrator was disfellowshipped, ... Sounds like much ado about nuthin'. But did give atoday the chance to make another news story about problems in the church.

I did not see where the pastor was charged with a crime. He was accused by the family of the child for not going to authorities regarding the situation.

[B/W Photodude]

48 minutes ago, The Wanderer said:

He certainly deserves to be charged with a criminal offence.

Sure, let's ex post facto charge him!

[B/W Photodude]

8 hours ago, B/W Photodude said:

Sure, let's ex post facto charge him!

Seeing Wanderer's confusion, "ex post facto" refers to making up a law to charge someone with a crime after the act that was done was done when it was not illegal. This is generally not acceptable in the United States.