Texas Lawyer - Judging Amy
Talking about it seemed easier with Kimberlee Norris -- a woman, a lawyer, someone with whom they could entrust their deepest confidences, their fragile psyches.

Norris recounts that the two prospective clients told her strikingly similar stories of betrayal: Both women alleged that, as minors, they were members of the same Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) church when each was sexually assaulted by a different male congregant. After each reported the incident to church elders, as members are instructed to do to help cleanse the church of "sin," these lay ministers initiated an investigation. But these investigations, which applied an Old Testament burden of proof, enabled the same result -- the alleged perpetrator was protected, and the victim not believed. In fact, the women said elders told them that if they repeated the allegations to church members or secular authorities, they risked possible "disfellowshipping" -- excommunication from the church and God....Read More

MSNBC - More Evidence in Jehovah's Witness Allegations
Frederick McLean is one of the most-wanted fugitives in the United States, charged with 17 counts of child sexual abuse in California. Law enforcement sources say that when a victim’s family confronted McLean in 2004, he allegedly confessed. But before he could be arrested, McLean fled.

Authorities identified at least eight victims that McLean allegedly abused over the course of nearly a decade. One victim estimated McLean molested her “over 100 times,” according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Deputy Marshal Thomas Maranda, who is leading the hunt for the 56-year-old fugitive, says McLean gained the trust of many of his victims through his leadership position, as a so-called ministerial servant, in his local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses near San Diego....Read More

Star Telegram - Alleged Sexual Abuse at now Masonic Home
The family of a former resident at the now-closed Masonic Home and School of Texas is suing the operators, saying that he was beaten and sexually abused by two 15-year-old male residents.

The lawsuit, filed in Tarrant County civil court, contends that the Grand Lodge of Texas did not implement meaningful protections throughout the years to prevent the boy’s assault, particularly in providing qualified management that could provide a safe environment for residents.

Gregory Love, one of the attorneys representing the family, said that his client, who was 10 at the time, was abused during a brief stay in 2001 but that it wasn’t revealed until....Read More

Donald Hughes - Disciplined
The state medical board has revoked the license of Arlington psychiatrist Donald Hughes, who in 2004 was accused of inappropriate sexual contact with three young patients.

Hughes, who practiced in several Arlington locations and the Texarkana area, was also ordered to pay a $55,000 penalty and nearly $2,400 in transcript costs. Hughes’ license was suspended in May 2004 after it was deemed that allowing him to continue practicing medicine
would pose a public threat....Read More

Donald Hughes - License Revoked