Comments on: Church elder convicted of sexual abuse remains at large – he’s too fat for prison!

By: angela t

angela t — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:32:18 +0000

“I was a member of the Plymouth Brethren here in England”
I notice past tense. What did you do wrong you were ejected? Want to tell us or do we just guess?

By: ELAINE K

ELAINE K — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:30:20 +0000

Excuses,excuses. why did church members try and stop this abuse as they knew darn well it was happening.
They, the abusers, of course do not really believe in a god but know that by entering the church they can abuse little boys and girls and get away with it. When convicted only to get light sentances.
Stop giving y our meoney churchgoers to pay for priests pensions for your money goes to buy shares to pay these.

By: berylconrad

berylconrad — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:48:15 +0000

I too was a member of the Brethern, and I’m disgusted at Barry John for his view of them. You make it out that all brethern churches and people are the same. Shame on you

By: berylconrad

berylconrad — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:45:38 +0000

I just wish the media would get all this right. This man was not an elder in his church or ever was. He did not have sexual intercourse with this girl or even near it. This man has been a victim of a twisted person who after 30 years waited until the man was unable to defend himself and made allegations. This man would have been uncapable of any misendeamour, because I knew him personally and 30 years ago his mobility was poor. If he was as bad as she says why didn’t she get a lift to church with someone else. She would have been alot faster on her feet to avoided him. This reeks with discrepancies and I hope he gets justice for what she has done. She stated she was abused at sunday school until she was 18! She left at 15! One of her many untrue allegations.If it caused her so much concern, why didn’t she shout before now? Hadn’t the guts I persume.

By: barriejohn

barriejohn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:36:17 +0000

You don’t surprise me at all, Stuart H. I was a member of the Plymouth Brethren here in England, but many of their adherents are of Scottish or Irish descent, as are many of their leading “speakers”. They are almost without exception narrow-minded, bigoted, ignorant and overbearing people, cast very much in the mould of Ian Paisley! They are not people to be crossed. I have mentioned before the lovely young woman with whom I grew up, who threw herself from a multi-storey car park some twenty years ago because her father-in-law (a real leading light amongst the local Brethren) had been abusing her sons. The cause of her grief, though, was only known, and probably is to this day, to a select few; and that is that he had been doing this before and had, after tears of repentance, been “forgiven” and given another chance! I don’t think that ANY of these facts were made widely known or reported to the authorities, and he simply left the organization and was welcomed with open arms by another local evangelical church. (They all love to “poach” members from one another, BTW. It’s like a competition!) The boys, of course, went off the rails, but that was of little concern. Everything has to be done to hush up any such scandals within the sect, “for the sake of the testimony” (a phrase that I heard over and over again)!!

By: chrsbol

chrsbol — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:32:35 +0000

I’d like to take that filthy bastard for a little walk somewhere in his wheelchair. I know just the place!

By: barriejohn

barriejohn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:23:04 +0000

You’re REALLY confused there, @Angela_K! It’s the WAFERS that turn into the actual Body of Christ, as any fule kno!! At least the non-conformists don’t make THAT claim. (The Lord’s Supper is only seen as a commemorative observance.) Also, it’s eating too much STARCH that makes you fat – you really haven’t been paying attention, have you?

By: Mike Williamson

Mike Williamson — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:46:32 +0000

2 and a half year’s suspended sentence for 27 counts of indecent assault of a child! What the hell is going on?

By: Stuart H.

Stuart H. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:50:33 +0000

There was a sadly similar case round here a decade ago. In that one, despite it being a small town, the police had a hell of a job getting it to court because the church elders ‘persuaded’ the families of most of the abused not to ‘ruin a good man’ by giving evidence. Those who did were not only driven out of the church but the area. Given that they came here in the first place to escape the Northern Irish ‘troubles’ there was really nowhere left for them to go to either.

By: Angela_K

Angela_K — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:43:13 +0000

Barriejohn, thanks for the comment. That would be the proper bread that turns into the body of some dead bloke when some other bloke mumbles bollocks over it. Perhaps I should have said cannibalism makes you fat!