What are churches doing to stop predators in the church?

[JohnH]

we arre talking about child abuse that clearly presents. Please stop draging "whataboutisms" to derail the conversation. If you see it, you know.

The mandatory reporting being discussed (and some of the cases Mrs Soloist brought up) covers more than just children; you should know from your education you claim to have had that it can cover adult victims as well.

[Judas Maccabeus]

By reporting abusive parents to the authorities, for starters.

Many of us are “mandated reporters “ which means, essentially we have no choice, if there ever was one to begin with.

These are old cases where they may not have been mandated reporters, so what then?

tell the individual to report it to the police. If they are of age, they can do this. More "whataboutism."

[JohnH]

Many of us are “mandated reporters “ which means, essentially we have no choice, if there ever was one to begin with.

These are old cases where they may not have been mandated reporters, so what then?

tell the individual to report it to the police. If they are of age, they can do this. More "whataboutism."

That would be breaking the law, at least for the jurisdiction where I was a mandated reporter 15 years ago. Age of the victim was irrelevant to my responsibilities.

So no, it’s not “whataboutism”.

Another example is an now-adult victim might make a mandated reporter aware of something the at happened when the victim was a minor.

At some level, perhaps pastors should start all visits with their members this way:

“You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to have an attorney present when speaking with me. Anything you say can a may be reported to law enforcement, who can and will use it against you in a court of law.”

Agree or disagree?

[Judas Maccabeus]

These are old cases where they may not have been mandated reporters, so what then?

tell the individual to report it to the police. If they are of age, they can do this. More "whataboutism."

That would be breaking the law, at least for the jurisdiction where I was a mandated reporter 15 years ago. Age of the victim was irrelevant to my responsibilities.

So no, it’s not “whataboutism”.

Another example is an now-adult victim might make a mandated reporter aware of something the at happened when the victim was a minor.

At some level, perhaps pastors should start all visits with their members this way:

“You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to have an attorney present when speaking with me. Anything you say can a may be reported to law enforcement, who can and will use it against you in a court of law.”

Agree or disagree?

You are being ridiculous here. We are talking about a crime that clearly presents itself, not second-hand rumors or stories of long ago.

[Judas Maccabeus]

If you see something that clearly rises to the level of child abuse, you pick up the phone, and call either child protective services or the police, depending upon your state. Many of us “moderate conservatives “ have had training on the issue. All of us who teach in schools have, at least in my state, and I suspect most others.

I would guess more than half the employed adults in our church hold positions at work that make them mandatory reporters.

I don't know what New York has in law, but here, it is likely true.

[JohnH]

You are being ridiculous here. We are talking about a crime that clearly presents itself, not second-hand rumors or stories of long ago.

"Clearly presents itself?" How? Are ministers conducting investigations and holding trials?

If you see something that clearly rises to the level of child abuse, you pick up the phone, and call either child protective services or the police, depending upon your state. Many of us “moderate conservatives “ have had training on the issue. All of us who teach in schools have, at least in my state, and I suspect most others.

I would guess more than half the employed adults in our church hold positions at work that make them mandatory reporters.

I don't know what New York has in law, but here, it is likely true.

You may want to educate yourself a little more deeply, particularly since you are in a leadership position; if you go to a church function in PA, just about anyone is a mandated reporter who is a typical Mennonite church member, since it is so broadly defined.

Fortunately there is a liason in PA now that plain churches can contact and simply contacting them counts as meeting the mandatory reporting obligations.

[Anthony]

Im pretty sure mandatory police reporting is the most effective way an institution can stop this from happening, most churches do implement this, or an individual can just bring it up to the authorities themselves.

The catholic church had many famous cases 30 years ago, they implemented reforms now its essentially a fixed structural problem. Public schools do the same.

This Harold Herr case was from 50 years ago and the culture has shifted since then. I consider this a fixed problem culturally within most churches.

[Judas Maccabeus]

You are being ridiculous here. We are talking about a crime that clearly presents itself, not second-hand rumors or stories of long ago.

"Clearly presents itself?" How? Are ministers conducting investigations and holding trials?

I would guess more than half the employed adults in our church hold positions at work that make them mandatory reporters.

I don't know what New York has in law, but here, it is likely true.

You may want to educate yourself a little more deeply, particularly since you are in a leadership position; if you go to a church function in PA, just about anyone is a mandated reporter who is a typical Mennonite church member, since it is so broadly defined.

Fortunately there is a liason in PA now that plain churches can contact and simply contacting them counts as meeting the mandatory reporting obligations.

You do realize that I have been to those meetings, and the report will be forwarded to a unit of the state police? In my fine state simply contacting CPS is a report? It is not leadership’s role to investigate. It is our role to report.

Than again, we do not have “paneling” or other such investigative functions.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Im pretty sure mandatory police reporting is the most effective way an institution can stop this from happening, most churches do implement this, or an individual can just bring it up to the authorities themselves.

The catholic church had many famous cases 30 years ago, they implemented reforms now its essentially a fixed structural problem. Public schools do the same.

This Harold Herr case was from 50 years ago and the culture has shifted since then. I consider this a fixed problem culturally within most churches.

I can’t say it can’t happen, but if it comes to our attention, it will be reported. We have also made rules that create a set of policies that prevent anyone from being alone with a child that is not their own, or a sibling.

[Jeff Altweg]

In the very sordid case of the very conservative writer and Mennonite preacher ,William R Mcgraph who wrote at least 50 books and pamphlets ,who passed away at 84 years old in 2015, in Ireland, it's breathtaking how long that all went on , over a period of 30 plus years , he operated with impunity , even though more and more people were onto him as time went on....
His writing was concise and very in depth, though you very rarely see or hear much about any of his books now , nobody seems to want them,to buy or to read now, because of the stigma of his actions ,that so many Mennonite people covered up for him ...and they did ,
There were , and are ,a large body of evidence , that this all happened ,
in one particular case , he was caught outright abusing a young single man who was acting as his "Driver" , going from place to place on his speaking tours, the Bishop overseeing things in that instance ,which is documented , simply made William apologize to the young man,which he did halfway, but with the remark that ,"He enjoyed it as much as I Did', that was as far as it went, how sad and revolting that kind of thinking is .....covered up good seems like ...He moved, or perhaps fled to Ireland then ,And I have heard it said he "made things right", and hopefully he did ....