The Last Days (July 3-9, 2023)
Issue No. 12
Welcome to the twelfth edition of The Last Days newsletter.
The Last Days delivers a collection of curated JW-related news articles from around the world, and other entertaining information, straight into your inbox every weekend. You choose what you want to read, believe, download, listen to, watch, or subscribe to.
You can find the last edition of TLD covering June 26 - July 2, 2023, here if you missed it. If you prefer to read The Last Days on our webpage click here.
This edition of The Last Days, covering the week of July 3-9, 2023, contains our leading Feature of the Week: Grand Jury Investigation charges five more Jehovah’s Witnesses with child sexual abuse; a JW Protest article from Sweden, JW News from Russia and the United States; a JW News Fact Check with a difference; a JW Book Review; your regular JW Celebrity News ‘gossip’ section with this week’s celebrities in focus… Coco Rocha; a video on author M. James Penton from the YouTube channel Borean Pickets; and more!
Enjoy the Last Days! . . .
“The events unfolding around us, are making clearer than ever, that we’re living in the final part of the Last Days, undoubtedly the final part of the final part of the Last Days, shortly before the Last Day of the Last Days.” - Stephen Lett, member of the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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Pennsylvania Grand Jury Investigation into Child Sexual Abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses charges another five people
The ongoing Pennsylvania grand jury investigation into child sexual abuse within in the Jehovah’s Witnesses has charged another five people with raping or molesting children as young as 4.
Attorney General Press Release
ATTORNEY GENERAL HENRY ANNOUNCES CHARGES AGAINST FIVE MEN FOR SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA
Victims and defendants in all five cases were members of Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations; arrests follow sexual abuse charges against nine different members of Jehovah’s Witness congregations in October 2022 and February 2023
PHILADELPHIA– Attorney General Michelle Henry today announced the filing of criminal charges against five Pennsylvania men for the sexual assault and exploitation of children. In each case, the defendants and their victims were members of Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations.
Arrested and charged are:
David Balosa, of Philadelphia County; Errol William Hall, of Delaware County; Shaun Sheffer, of Butler County; Terry Booth of Panama City, FL; and Luis Ayala-Velasquez, of Berks County.
“The details of these crimes are sad and disturbing, facts which are made even more abhorrent because the defendants used their faith communities or their own families to gain access to victims,” said Attorney General Michelle Henry. “Our office will never stop working to seek justice for those who have been victimized, and we will continue to investigate and prosecute anyone who harms the most vulnerable in our society.”
The defendants are being prosecuted by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General for the following offenses:
David Balosa, 61, of Philadelphia, is alleged to have sexually assaulted a young girl when she was just 4-years-old. Balosa became close to a family in his congregation after moving to the United States. They welcomed him, and even allowed him to stay in their home where he had access to the young victim and sexually assaulted her. Balosa is charged with Aggravated Indecent Assault, Indecent Assault, and Corruption of Minors.
Errol William Hall, 50, of Delaware County, is alleged to have inappropriately touched a 16-year-old girl whom he knew through his Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation. Hall was an elder in the congregation, which helped him gain the trust of many parents and afforded him access to their children. He is charged with Indecent Assault and Corruption of Minors.
Shaun Sheffer, 45, of Butler County, is alleged to have sexually assaulted a young family member, beginning when the child was just 7-years-old. Due to their close relationship, Sheffer was often left alone with her for long periods of time during which he repeatedly raped and assaulted the young girl. He is charged with Rape, Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, Aggravated Indecent Assault, Indecent Assault, and Corruption of Minors.
Terry Booth, 57, of Panama City, FL, was a mentor to a 16-year-old boy whom he knew through his Jehovah’s Witness congregation when he lived in Allegheny County. He spent extended periods of time with the child during which he proceeded to engage in inappropriate sexual conversations and inappropriate touching. Booth is charged with Indecent Assault and Corruption of Minors.
Luis Manuel Ayala-Velasquez, 55, of Reading, is alleged to have abused a young family member for several years, beginning when she was 12-years-old. Testimony from the victim stated that Ayala-Velasquez would sneak into her bedroom while she was sleeping and sexually assault her. Years later, when his victim was an adult, he allegedly raped her in his home. He is charged with Rape, Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, Aggravated Indecent Assault, Indecent Assault, Endangering the Welfare of Children, and Corruption of Minors.
The charges in these cases have been filed in the corresponding counties of Philadelphia, Delaware, Butler, Allegheny, and Northampton.
Anyone with information regarding child sexual abuse [in Pennsylvania] should make a report to ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313, and anyone with additional information regarding these cases should make a report to the Office of Attorney General’s hotline at 888-538-8541. These cases are being prosecuted by Chief Deputy Attorney General Christopher Jones. All charges are allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Attorney General Michelle Henry Press Release
SaySorry.org | article on previous arrests
Malmö, Sweden
July 9, 2023 | Reporting by JW News from Malmö, Sweden, for The Last Days
Concerns have been raised that broadcasting laws may have been breached during the screening of a homophobic film this weekend at the “Visa tålamod” (“Exercise Patience”!) Jehovah’s Witnesses convention in Malmö, Sweden.
“Visa tålamod” (“Exercise Patience”!) convention in Malmö, Sweden
On Friday morning, July 7 at 09:20, a homophobic film was shown to families attending the Malmö convention. During the convention about thirty films, film clips, videos will be shown in total.
On Sunday, July 9 at 1:50 p.m., a Drama called: Put your life in Jehovah's hands will be the main day’s feature.
According to the Swedish Media Council, the Jehovah’s Witnesses community have not submitted any films for review prior to the “Visa tålamod” convention.
The background laws
On February 19, 2020, the Svea Court of Appeal upheld a district court's verdict against an elder of the Jehovah's Witnesses who failed to submit films to the Swedish Media Council for review.*
Despite the Supreme Court rejecting the elder's appeal, the Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to comply with the law on films shown in public.
[Translation of above media article reporting on the 2020 court case]
The Svea Court of Appeal upholds the district court's verdict against a congregation leader, belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses, who was convicted of having shown films that were not reviewed by the Swedish Media Council for Children at Stockholm Fair 2018.*
The parish leader was convicted in April of violating the law on age limits for films to be shown in public.
Jehovah's Witnesses appealed the verdict to the Court of Appeal citing freedom of religion and freedom of expression. On Friday, the Court of Appeal announced that it would uphold the district court's verdict.
This summer it emerged that Jehovah's Witnesses continued showing films during their large meetings after the district court's verdict, which led to several new police reports.
Jehovah's Witnesses have been criticized on several occasions for the films directed at children that the community produces. Among other things, the films have been accused of being discriminatory against homosexuals and of scaring children with doomsday messages.
The Swedish Media Council
The purpose of the Swedish Media Council is to protect children and young people from harmful effects of the media and help them to become more aware media users. The Council is also responsible for setting age limits for films intended for public screenings to children under the age of fifteen.
The JW Protest
An educational protest took place on all three days of the convention in Malmö that drew attendee’s attention to the rights of children.
Protestors originating from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the United States, and Australia attended the Malmö convention promoting the theme #allreligionsmust.
The Protest Coordinator
According to the protest coordinator, Pär Jonas Skogstroll (aka YouTuber Goatlike Personality), a human rights activist for children's rights from Scandanavia:
Politicians don't know what it's like to grow up in a cult, but those of us who know must speak up for the children.
Children should not be exposed to horror propaganda, or be manipulated into sacrificing their ice cream money to the Watchtower Society.
We believe that Jehovah's Witnesses violate several articles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
#allreligionsmust
All religions must respect human rights.
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Russia - published on July 6, 2023
United States - published on July 9, 2023
This week we feature a JW News Fact Check with a difference.
Page 93 of the Jehovah’s Witnesses book, You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, depicts a group of young women bathing while being watched by a group of angels. These angels would later forsake their position in heaven, marry women on earth, and later become the Demons mentioned in the bible.
Unbeknownst to many Jehovah’s Witnesses the main featured bathing woman was a real person, the model Pascale Petit.
According to JW Facts:
Pascale Petit . . . appeared in Playboy November 1963 and the European sex comedy Frau Wirtin hat auch einen Grafen. The Live Forever book potentially infringed copyright, as the image is a copy of an image that appeared on the cover of the 23rd July 1960 Today magazine, and the 13th August 1961 German magazine Stern. [1]
[1] JW Facts
Let’s face it, there are a lot of actors, singers, musicians, artists, sports stars, and celebrities that are former or even current Jehovah’s Witnesses, or that were raised as children within the religion.
In focus: Coco Rocha
Coco Rocha, model, on being a Jehovah’s Witness and door-to-door preaching:
My faith is everything.
. . . The whole purpose is to inform people. Some people think we’re a pushy religion, but if you’re not interested, just say so. [1]
Jehovah's Witnesses and the Third Reich: Sectarian Politics under Persecution by M. James Penton
What was the real relationship between the Jehovah’s Witnesses, under the leadership of Joseph F. Rutherford, and the Third Reich under the leadership of Adolf Hitler?
Since the end of World War II, leaders of the Jehovah's Witness movement in Germany and elsewhere have steadfastly argued that Witnesses were united in their opposition to Nazism and did not collude with the Third Reich. Documents have been uncovered, however, that prove otherwise. Using materials from Witness archives, the U.S. State Department, Nazi files, and other sources, M. James Penton demonstrates that while many ordinary German Witnesses were brave in their opposition to Nazism, their leaders were quite prepared to support the Hitler government.
Penton begins his study with a close reading of the "Declaration of Facts" released by the Witnesses at a Berlin convention in June 1933. Witness leaders have called the document a protest against Nazi persecution, however closer examination shows it contained bitter attacks on Great Britain and the United States - jointly referred to as "the greatest and most oppressive empire on earth" - the League of Nations, big business, and above all, Jews, who are referred to as "the representatives of Satan the Devil." Later that year - when the Nazis would not accept Witness blandishments - that leader J.F. Rutherford called on Witnesses to seek martyrdom by carrying on a campaign of passive resistance. Many ultimately died in prisons and concentration camps, and postwar Witness leaders have attempted to use this fact to assert that Jehovah's Witnesses stood consistently against Nazism.
Based on extensive archival material and years of research, Penton separates fact from fiction during this dark period in history.
M. James Penton is a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Lethbridge. - publisher’s blurb
In this YouTube video from Borean Pickets M. James Penton speaks about the origins of the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
On Wednesday, February 22, 2023, it was announced at the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses that
“Brother Anthony Morris III is no longer serving as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Still no news on the reasons for the removal of Anthony Morris III from the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, or his whereabouts, although online speculation continues to abound.
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