Notifications and Updates

Read our position on stolen documents in the “Resources / Docs” page from the Menu above.

Welcome to SCAARS, Inc (a Florida Non-Profit Corp.)

SCAARS is a non-profit corporation which seeks to improve the laws pertaining to civil abuses, including child abuse, mandatory reporting, the applicable statutes of limitations, as well as court outcomes in the judicial process. SCAARS is expanding its scope. It will now be concerned with monitoring and promoting changes to…Continue reading “Welcome to SCAARS, Inc (a Florida Non-Profit Corp.)”

Joe Anderson’s Letter

16 Oct 20183 May 2019

-- By Roger Bentley (Letter: Joe Anderson) -- After Joe Anderson resigned as an elder in the Manchester, Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s), he wrote a resignation letter, dated June…

Child Protection in America

13 Oct 20183 May 2019

-- By Barbara Anderson -- Sad to say that for centuries in the U.S.A. animals were better protected from abuse than children. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty…

Should Confessions to Clergy Be Exempted from Mandatory Reporting of Child Sex Abuse?

8 Oct 20183 May 2019

-- by Michael Walter Finkbeiner -- The history of confession, along with the penance and absolution it achieves in the mind of the believer, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition.…

Victims Speak Out

Recommendations for mental health healing for adult survivors of child sex abuse

27 Feb 202028 Feb 2020

Submitted to the Royal Commission into the State of Victoria (Australia) Mental Health System by a founder of SaySorry.org, Lara Kaput. Consider Religious Harm as a contributor to Victoria’s adverse…

Victims Speak Out

ChildUSA.org identifies five religious organizations whose practices contribute to a culture of secrecy regarding child sex abuse

26 Feb 202026 Feb 2020

Marci Hamilton and ChildUSA.org have released a new paper, to be published as a chapter in the Sage Handbook of Domestic Violence, identifying five religious organizations whose practices contribute to…

Victims Speak Out

Victoria Australia eliminates clergy reporting exceptions

Sumeyya is a state political reporter for The Age. Mandatory reporting laws for religious institutions come into effect Laws requiring clergy to report child abuse to authorities — even if…

Investigations…

Grand jury investigators are ‘dead serious’ about revealing sexual-abuse cover-ups among Jehovah’s Witnesses

14 Feb 202019 Feb 2020

Former Jehovah’s Witnesses who have testified before a state grand jury say investigators are seeking to shatter the wall of secrecy around the religion’s leaders and their response to sex…

Court overturns $35 million sex abuse verdict against Jehovah’s Witnesses

10 Jan 202027 Jan 2020

In the ruling, justices cited a state law that says religious leaders do not have to report confidential child abuse allegations to authorities. BILLINGS, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court…

MT court reverses $35M Jehovah’s Witness case

8 Jan 202027 Jan 2020

The Jehovah's Witnesses of Thompson Falls, as well as its national headquarters, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, failed to protect one of its members from child sexual abuse, a…

Catholic Church…

A bill in the Utah State Legislature removes ‘priest-penitent’ privilege when it comes to child abuse

7 Jan 202027 Jan 2020

SALT LAKE CITY -- A bill made public ahead of the 2020 legislative session would remove the "priest-penitent" privilege when it comes to reporting abuse cases. House Bill 90, sponsored…

Montana victims alleging sex abuse in the Boy Scouts join national wave of suits

8 Nov 201918 Nov 2019

Amid a flurry of lawsuits filed across the nation against the Boy Scouts of America alleging sexual abuse of young Scouts, a national group of attorneys is gearing up to…

Investigations…

‘I Want to Be Heard’: Adult Sex-Abuse Victims Demand New Rights [NYT]

25 Oct 20191 Nov 2019

For more info click on link

The limits of religious freedom: America must come to grips with when faith groups limit personal liberty

19 Oct 20191 Nov 2019

When Pastor Robert Jeffress, a member of President Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board and the White House Faith Initiative, recently dismissed climate activist Greta Thunberg by saying that rainbows are evidence…

Long-ignored sex abuse claims leave Pennsylvania lawmakers grappling with fairness for alleged victims, institutions

9 Oct 201918 Oct 2019

Pennsylvania lawmakers may follow in other states' footsteps and allow sexual assault victims to sue their abusers years after the assault happened and remove the statute of limitations on prosecutions.…

The grooming of children for sexual abuse in religious settings: Unique characteristics and select case studies

4 Oct 201918 Oct 2019

Abstract This article examines the sexual grooming of children and their caregivers in a wide variety of religious settings. We argue that unique aspects of religion facilitate institutional and interpersonal…

Catholic Church…

The Catholic Church and Boy Scouts are lobbying against child abuse statutes. This is their playbook

2 Oct 201918 Oct 2019

Pennsylvania state Rep. Tom Murt slid into a pew at his childhood church, seeking a break from politics and the stress of work. Instead, Murt got an earful. In his sermon, the…

Catholic Church…

NY Diocese Files for Bankruptcy in Light of Misconduct Suits

19 Sep 201918 Oct 2019

Rochester is the state's first to seek court protection. It may not be the last (BUFFALO, N.Y.) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester was the first in New York…