Amish Bishops Charged for Failing to Report Sex Abuse

Fox News ^ | 11/03/09

[marshmallow]

MARSHFIELD, Mo. — Prosecutors have charged four Amish bishops in southwest Missouri with failing to report suspected child sex abuse.

The four men were charged Tuesday with one misdemeanor count each.

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

A lawyer for the four men questioned whether the law applies.

[Just mythoughts]

Well I am going to bump this thread to make sure that some people know that ‘everybody’ is doing it and it gets reported.

[Teacher317]

The headline seems like it was made by random headline generator

[Kansas58]

Just wondering -— how many abortion providers have been charged, under this reporting law?

[Former MSM Viewer]

what about charging Planned Parenthood with the same thing...

A girl who was working undercover to expose their corruption said she was a minor and was pregnant by a 20-something man.

Planned Parenthood ‘advised’ her how to lie to the judge to obtain an abortion without parental consent, even after she told the Planned Parenthood agent that the ‘father’ was in his late 20’s...

[TruthBeforeAll]

So, was there sexual abuse? If so, by whom? Why was this not reported? I will always give the Amish the benefit of the doubt. Which means, I will assume their actions, or lack there of, were proper unless proven otherwise. Especially in a story this weak.

[ontap]

I’ve been anxious out the wazoo wondering when those dangerous Amish people were going to be bridled in.

[chickpundit]

There are wonderful Amish people, but there are evil people in their ranks like any element of society. Here’s a story on the original incident:

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/63900957.html

[GovernmentShrinker]

There’s actually a lot of sexual abuse in some of the Amish communities (I’m sure tolerance for it varies a lot, because the communities are independent and very different). The Amish in general are carry the concepts of forgiveness and pacifism to pretty extreme levels. Recall the incident where the madman barged into an Amish school, lined kids up and executed them. There was no sign of physical resistance at all. The teacher ran off to find other adults to “help”, but the reality is that even if she’d gotten “help” before the kids were shot, the “help” would almost certainly have been unwilling to physically intervene. And the kids basically did whatever the guy told them to — he obviously had no business being there, but when he told them to line up, they all did. As I recall there were at least a couple of kids in the 13-14 year age range, and between that and the number of them, they COULD have stopped the guy before he shot every single one of them, but they just didn’t.

I read a few accounts of sexual abuse in Amish communities, and it was generally handled by having the guy say he repented in front of the community, and they forgave him, and that was that — even if it wasn’t the first time. The victim was supposed to forgive and forget too, even if the abuser was her father, who she still lived with, and had been through the rape-repent-repeat cycle multiple times.

There are lot of things I like about the Amish, especially their success in forcing the government to butt out of their lives in areas like Social Security. But it’s not like they’re faultless.

[marshmallow]

Which means, I will assume their actions, or lack there of, were proper unless proven otherwise. Especially in a story this weak.

You're right, it is weak.

That's the whole point.

I found it hiding, tucked away in a corner of Fox News.

There's quite a variety of emphasis given to sex abuse stories and it seems to depend on the names and affiliations of the perpetrators.

[Reaganesque]

Well, they don’t have phones so...

[TruthBeforeAll]

Thank you for the link. I would have to agree, they should have handled it differently. I just view the Amish as the barometers of freedom in this country. As long as they are allowed to live as as they wish, without persecution, I think there is hope for us all. This incident, however, was handled poorly to say the least. I guess sexually abusing children is just part of the human condition without regard to race, religion or nationality. sigh...

[Ditter]

Some of them have phones! I was in an Amish store in Michigan, lit by lanterns no electricity, when I heard a phone ring. I was shocked and I had to ask the owner about it. He seemed a little upset that I had heard it and he said “we have to stay in touch”. LOL!

[tioga]

I thought the Amish were quite good at shunning. Seems that should have been his punishment.

[Alex Murphy]

My first reaction was "there's Amish bishops?"
My second reaction was "there's Amish in Missouri??" I'd have thought they would be Mennonites, not Amish.

Which just goes to show that you can learn new things every day!

Related threads:
Amish population nearly doubles in 16 years
Our phone? Past the barn, near the hedge (Amish/Mennonite communities cutting deals with technology)
Recession Has Serious Impact on Amish Way of Life
Amish buggy, dry wall truck, become involved in police pursuit
Morristown seeks help in Amish permits case
Amish sect's values cause conflict with Cambria County building codes
An Amish Christmas: Simplicity is a cherished gift

"Make Fun Of The Amish" Day
Amish Radio Station Folds After Just Six Months
10 Reasons Why You Probably Shouldn't Be Amish Anymore
First Ever “Emerging” Amish Church

[Houghton M.]

The teeny tiny story doesn’t give enough information to form an opinion. Normally Amish bishops aren’t functioning like schoolteachers, priests, therapists etc. They are not “bishops” in the Catholic or Anglican sense but “overseers”—much closer to Methodist “superintendents” or Lutheran “bishops” than to Catholic or Episcopalian bishops (or at least what Episcopalian bishops used to be). But if in this case information had been given to them about child abuse that was going on in families within their “district” and they did not follow the laws for reporting, then I suppose prosecution is warranted.

The report might have given more information. The lawyers’ defense sounds a bit doubtful to me.

[GOPJ]

Just wondering -— how many abortion providers have been charged, under this reporting law?

That answer would be "ZERO". The MSM is going after the Amish because they're perceived as being "good". And good people are an affront to the "story" MSM filth believe...

[Reaganesque]

LOL! Can’t say as I blame him, though!

[Gamecock]

From another source:

Authorities say the men were aware for at least six months that Johnny Schwartz, a member of one of Webster County's six Amish churches, allegedly had been molesting two female relatives.

Johnny Schwartz, 36, was arrested and charged in early October with four counts of statutory sodomy and two counts of child molestation.

His wife, Fannie Schwartz, 47, has been charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of her children because she allegedly knew her husband was sexually molesting the girls, now ages 15 and 16

Fannie Schwartz:

[GovernmentShrinker]

That’s one of the punishments they commonly use, but it’s often for only a brief period, like a month or so. Then all is forgiven and anyone who brings is up is criticzed for “not forgiving”. So a little girl who’s been raped by her father isn’t allowed to complain that she’s still afraid of him when he returns home (although I believe in some cases, he never physically left — just got “shunned” in place, and wasn’t allowed to attend Sunday services).

[Ditter]

Fannie is only 47? Amish women lead a tough life.