Clergy Child-Abuse Experts to Talk FLDS in Scottsdale This Afternoon

By James King Fri., Dec. 9 2011 at 8:00 AM

Janet Heimlich, author of the book Breaking Their Will, will lead a discussion on clergy child-abuse this afternoon.

Clergy child-abuse expert Janet Heimlich will be in Scottsdale this afternoon to give a talk about abuse within the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect of Mormon polygamists once led by Warren Jeffs.

Heimlich is the author of Breaking Their Will, an expose on maltreatment of children in religious institutions.

The book "takes an in-depth look at the many forms of child maltreatment that manifest themselves in religious contexts, including biblically prescribed corporal punishment; beliefs about the necessity of 'breaking the wills' of children; terrorizing children with scary religious messages; sexual abuse perpetrated by religious authorities; and religiously motivated medical neglect."

Also speaking during the discussion will be Flora Jessop and TV newsman Mike Watkiss, who's covered FLDS abuse cases for 3TV.

Jessop was raised in a polygamist "cult" in Utah. She escaped, though, only to be sent back to the polygamists' compound by the government agency she turned to for help: the Utah Department of Child and Family Services.

After escaping a second time, Jessop moved to Phoenix, where she's mounted a campaign to help children escape the abuse that occurs in polygamist communities.

Read Jessop's bio here.

The conference starts at 8:30 a.m. at the Plotkin Judaic Museum at Temple Beth Israel near 56th Street and Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale.

Jessop, Heimlich, and Watkiss will be speaking at 3:30 p.m.

Tags:

arizona, child abuse, flds, flora jessop, fundamentalist church of jesus christ of latter day saints, janet heimlich, warren jeffs

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Ok the information is really useful for me although its not what I'm looking for i think they for helping child I hope after the conference they should come to fair decision.

bsl103158

I know a lot about flds, and there is no way to compare flds and average society this way in an article this short. That is what people commenting seem to be doing, and it's ridiculous. Flds practices in many of its members' homes are extreme compared to most homes where children are living.

bsl103158

I sure would like to see the people who have raised their kids without ever swatting their behinds. I would just love to see all these perfect people who have been able to raise their children by "just talking to them" and/or taking away priviledges. Parenting well is by far the hardest job in the world. One of the reasons is that children DO have minds of their own, and they are fully capable of doing wrong things that have nothing to do with the way they were raised. You can take a kid who was given the best of everything and they can turn out to be criminals. Ted Bundy himself told a reporter that he had great parents and that the things he chose to do had nothing to do with the way he was raised. I have gone through quite a bit with my own two kids, and NOBODY is going to tell me a didn't do a good job, because I know I did, and still do. Nobody has loved and been more generous and understanding with their kids than me. Sitting here looking at this article, what I see beign done is comparing extreme treatment of children within strict groups to the society as a whole- that is a bogus and dishonest thing to do.

Phd Everit

In 31 nations, child corporal punishment is prohibited by law (with more in process). In fact, the US was the only UN member that did not ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The US also has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

The US states with the highest crime rates, poorest academic performance, highest obesity rates and health problems, poorest economic ranking, and largest public welfare burdens are also the ones with the highest rates of child corporal punishment.

Of all the things prison inmates lacked in their upbringing, "spanking" certainly wasn't one of them.

There is simply no evidence to suggest that child/adolescent/teenage-only "spanking" instills virtue.

bsl103158

are you an experienced parent? I would want to hear your "credentials" as a parent, how many kids you have, how old they are, etc. Lots of "professionals" who think they know better than the "average" parent are not even parents themselves yet. When they become a parent, their tune almost always changes- by quite a bit.

Goppy

One reason Ms. Heimlich should be commended for her book is that her brother, a former elected official in Ohio, is reportedly involved with millionaire evangelist Bill Gothard's "Character Cities" front group: http://bit.ly/rpXdoM

Gothard's cult-like Institute in Basic Life Principles (the Duggar family, etc.) has been the subject of allegations of extreme child abuse: http://www.rickross.com/groups...

Glad to see her charting a different course by helping to expose such fanatics.

Phd Everit

Research/recommended reading: Spanking Can Make Children More Aggressive Laterhttp://tulane.edu/news/release...

Spanking Kids Increases Risk of Sexual Problemshttp://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/...

Use of Spanking for 3-Year-Old Children and Associated Intimate Partner Aggression or Violencehttp://pediatrics.aappublicati...

Spanking Children Can Lower IQhttp://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/... Plain Talk About Spankingby Jordan Riakhttp://www.nospank.net/pt2010....

The Sexual Dangers of Spanking Childrenby Tom Johnsonhttp://nospank.net/sdsc2.pdf

"Spanking" can be intentional or unintentional sexual abusehttp://www.nospank.net/101.htm

Phd Everit

In light of Judge Adams video,

We often hear from those who fight to uphold this practice for those under the age of 18 (even to the blaming of the social maladies of the day on a supposed "lack" of it), but we rarely, if ever, find advocates for the return of corporal punishment to the general adult community, college campuses, inmate population, or military. Why is that?

Ask ten unyielding proponents of child/adolescent/teenage-only "spanking" about the "right" way to do it, and what would be abusive, indecent, or obscene, and you will get ten different answers.

These proponents should consider making their own video-recording of the "right way" to do it.

Visit Unlimited Justice or Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education to learn more.