4 Amish bishops charged with not reporting abuse

[moobu2]

MARSHFIELD, Mo. — Four Amish leaders in southwest Missouri who chose to "shun" an accused child molester in their community rather than report him to authorities were charged Tuesday with failing to report the sexual abuse.
Webster County prosecutor Danette Padgett said all four are bishops and face one misdemeanor count each of failure to report child abuse as a mandatory reporter.
Under Missouri law, people with "responsibility for the care of children" are required to report suspected child abuse. Examples of mandatory reporters under the statute are doctors, nurses, social workers and teachers and ministers who are not engaged in a "privileged communication."
The bishops were identified as Emmanuel M.S. Eicher, 44, Peter M. Eicher, 59, Jacob P. Schwartz, 79, and Christian J.F. Schwartz, 41, all of rural Webster County.

<snip>

The four men knew that a member of their community, Johnny A. Schwartz, 36, had been abusing two underage children from June 2007 through June 2008, according to the probable cause statement. Schwartz was charged in mid-October with six counts involving sexual abuse of children.


LINK

[DURHAM D]

1. Good - its about damn time they started charging

those a-holes.

[mrbarber]

2. Throw their asses in jail.

It's about time this country realized that abuse (or bigotry) hiding under the guise of religion does not excuse it.

I hope they all get to share a cell.

[CountAllVotes]

3. throw them in one of their lovely dog kennels

it will be too good for them living in one of their own personally created hell holes filled with feces and blood and hate; aka a puppy mill and/or a dog auction.

Enjoy wallowing in the filth you have created PIGS. :grr: :grr: :grr:

:kick:

[struggle4progress]

4. Amish wife is accused of not reporting husband's sexual abuse of girls (Oct 15)

Amish wife is accused of not reporting husband's sexual abuse of girls
by Marie Saavedra, KY3 News
Story Published: Oct 15, 2009 at 3:49 PM CST
Story Updated: Oct 15, 2009 at 4:22 PM CST

... Last week, Johnny Schwartz was charged with having sexual contact with two teenage relatives ...

"It's my understanding she did, at different points in time, report it to the church and the church took care of that situation, in their opinion,” said Padgett. Court documents show Schwartz told detectives that she knew Johnny was having sexual relations with the girls, and they talked about it several times ...

Sheriff Roye Cole says he understands there are cross-cultural conflicts but the two charges of child endangerment is no different for the Amish or anyone else. "Do they even know they need to report it? Who's going to report it? And how do they report it? I don't think the Amish community's going to have a list of phone numbers so they know to call the hotline,” said Cole ...

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/64445517.html

[struggle4progress]

5. 4 Amish bishops charged with not reporting abuse

By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER (AP)

... Under Missouri law, people with "responsibility for the care of children" are required to report suspected child abuse. Examples of mandatory reporters under the statute are doctors, nurses, social workers and teachers and ministers who are not engaged in a "privileged communication."

The bishops were identified as Emmanuel M.S. Eicher, 44, Peter M. Eicher, 59, Jacob P. Schwartz, 79, and Christian J.F. Schwartz, 41, all of rural Webster County.

An attorney for the men, Will Worsham, questioned whether they can be considered mandatory reporters. He said the Amish do not separate government and religion and that a bishop is akin to a mayor or city councilman.

"I'm not convinced `bishop' necessarily implies any type of religious authority in their community. And even if it did, I'm not sure they would qualify as `clergy.' It doesn't appear anywhere in the law" ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hqceHJsOnlFcjNYkt6g7XsdRg_3wD9BODKH00

[Critters2]

7. I agree. The term "bishop" in the Amish community means something very different

from what it means in the Catholic Church, for instance. These are lay people elected to leadership in their churches. They have no formal training, and almost certainly didn't even know they were mandated reporters. In fact, my guess is that the legal questions will center on whether they actually qualify as mandated reporters. Which isn't to say that shunning was adequate in dealing with the offense. Children need to be protected.

[darkstar3]

8. Whether mayor, city councilman, or high-ranking clergyman,

the fact remains that these four people hold venerated offices in their community and as such are in a position of responsibility and some authority. Consequently, I seriously doubt that they will be able to defend themselves in court. And even if they somehow manage to get the charges dropped against them, they are still guilty of abdicating their moral obligations.

[struggle4progress]

9. The ministers are chosen by lot; I don't know how the bishops are chosen from the ministers

[moobu2]

10. The method the Amish use to select their Bishop

wouldn’t be a significant legal issue. The Amish Bishops would fit the legal description of a "mandated reporter" even though the law doesn't mention them specifically. A judge would look at the intent of the legislature, and obviously, the legislative intent was to target someone exactly like these Bishops. The Amish Bishops serve as ministers to their communities, even if they aren't called ministers, and ignorance of the law is no excuse.

MANDATED REPORTERS (210.115 RSMo.)

The following individuals must report child abuse: (1) Teachers, principals, and other school officials; (2) Health care professionals (physicians, medical examiners, coroners, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, podiatrists, residents, interns, nurses, hospital or clinic personnel); (3) Mental health professionals; (4) Social workers; (5) Day care/child-care workers; (6) Law enforcement officials (police officers, juvenile officers, probation/parole officers, jail or detention facility personnel) (8) Ministers; (10) Other persons with responsibility for the care of children.

[ZombieHorde]

11. Sounds like a dangerous situation for children to be in.

Sounds like dangerous "cult behavior" to me.

[struggle4progress]

6. 4 Amish Bishops Charged

By Doug Magditch
Story Created: Nov 3, 2009 at 11:00 AM CST
Story Updated: Nov 3, 2009 at 5:58 PM CST

... We did try to speak with members of the Amish community in Webster Co., but they refused to comment on the case, saying, simply, "we let God decide."

"Religious convictions are no excuse for disobeying the law," says Webster Co. Prosecutor Dannett Padgett.

The Webster Co. Sheriff's department met with members of the Amish community in October to explain that abuse needs to be reported. Sheriff Cole says he doesn't know if the message stuck.

"If it happens again, do I think they'll report it? I don't know," says Cole ...

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/68869112.html