Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 41 to 59 of 59

Thread: Chris Langham

  1. #41
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Southampton
    Posts
    6,709
    Rep Power
    13

    Re: Chris Langham

    In my earlier post I got myself in a tangle. A better way to say what I meant is:

    "- it would make sense, given that life expectancy has exceeded 25 for only a few thousand years"

  2. #42
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Southampton
    Posts
    6,709
    Rep Power
    13

    Re: Chris Langham

    The Magistrate's blog comments on the situation.

    I recommend the blog most highly, by the way; he's a thoughtful guy and it's very interesting to read about his thought processes.

  3. #43
    An Eclectic Toaster
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Glasgow
    Posts
    2,042
    Rep Power
    12

    Re: Chris Langham

    I think it became clear yesterday how Chris Langham could escape a harsh sentence.

    Seems if you're a senior Jehovah's Witness in Avon & Somerset, you can get off quite lightly (link - beware, you might have a blood boiling moment reading this one)...

  4. #44
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    I'm astonished that they gave his address in such detail.

    And it's quite close to my home too, lovely...

  5. #45
    Registered User Twirly's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    SE London
    Posts
    4,204
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    I'm astonished that they gave his address in such detail.
    Punishment - since the courts didn't do it?

  6. #46
    Papa Smurf
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Planet Scathe
    Posts
    12,528
    Blog Entries
    6
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    so 24 actual assaults over a 14 year period and because he has had some "therapy" he gets no jail only "three years of community rehabilitation." - mind you that may be worse than jail if he admits to the asbo neds what he's there for...but i doubt he will

  7. #47
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by Twirly View Post
    Punishment - since the courts didn't do it?
    Nah, it's probably just a mistake - none of the other media stories I've seen have mentioned it.

    It'll be interesting to see if the article gets modified to remove it though.

  8. #48
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe View Post
    so 24 actual assaults over a 14 year period and because he has had some "therapy" he gets no jail only "three years of community rehabilitation."
    It does seem strange on the face of it - but then I'm not keen on the whole idea of "character" affecting your sentence. If you've done the crime, you're a criminal. And if you've done it dozens of times, you're not exactly a first offender.

    There's always more to the story, of course, and it's easy to leap to snap judgements. But even his sister thinks he should be locked up.

  9. #49
    Registered User Twirly's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    SE London
    Posts
    4,204
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    It does seem strange on the face of it - but then I'm not keen on the whole idea of "character" affecting your sentence. If you've done the crime, you're a criminal. And if you've done it dozens of times, you're not exactly a first offender.

    There's always more to the story, of course, and it's easy to leap to snap judgements. But even his sister thinks he should be locked up.


    Agree with you totally there. It's the condemnation of the sister that I find interesting - no forgiveness there. Although again, we don't know the background.

  10. #50
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    3,756
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: Chris Langham

    I heard this story on the radio news yesterday, and it made me so angry
    This guy physically abused 24 youngsters, and gets off with a community therapy order. The police officers who dealt with this case must be pulling their hair out. The competence of the Judge in this case needs to be seriously looked into.

  11. #51
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by Dance Demon View Post
    I heard this story on the radio news yesterday, and it made me so angry
    This guy physically abused 24 youngsters, and gets off with a community therapy order. The police officers who dealt with this case must be pulling their hair out. The competence of the Judge in this case needs to be seriously looked into.
    They're considering an appeal apparently.

    It's easy to rush to judgement, especially in this case, but like it or not we have a judicial process, and that's got to be followed.

  12. #52
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Southampton
    Posts
    6,709
    Rep Power
    13

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    It's easy to rush to judgement, especially in this case, but like it or not we have a judicial process, and that's got to be followed.
    Exactamundo.

    Sexual assault is a spectrum from touching somebody fleetingly through their clothes right the way through to just short of rape. A history of sexual assaults is worrying but not necessarily an indication of severity.

    The police commentator seems not to realise that deterrence is not the be-all and end-all of sentencing. In any event, other people have received very long jail sentences and so it cannot be said that this one sentence cancels out all the 'deterrent' messages that have been sent out elsewhere.

    He's obviously pleaded guilty. That means a) great saving in police time; b) none of his victims has had to go through the process leading up to trial, let alone give evidence; c) great savings in court costs and time. Also, he's voluntarily started to undergo therapy.

    Against that none of this would have happened if he hadn't been busted by a victim, so that goes on the other side of the scales.

  13. #53
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Shnikov View Post
    Against that none of this would have happened if he hadn't been busted by a victim, so that goes on the other side of the scales.
    Yeah - if the guy had voluntarily come forward and confessed, if he knew he had a problem and wanted to deal with it, that'd be different - you can see a stronger justification there.

    Whereas "confession" when you're about to be caught seems like plea-bargaining to me, plain and simple.

  14. #54
    An Eclectic Toaster
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Glasgow
    Posts
    2,042
    Rep Power
    12

    Re: Chris Langham

    I'm thinking that the BBC report made a significant effort to point out that Porter is a Jehovah's Witness. There are specific issues surrounding JW and child abuse, about which there was a Panorama episode a few years back. Basically, the church's peculiar interpretation of some Biblical passages makes reporting abuse extremely difficult.

    I doubt we've heard the last about this story, from that angle.

  15. #55
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by Stuart M View Post
    I'm thinking that the BBC report made a significant effort to point out that Porter is a Jehovah's Witness. There are specific issues surrounding JW and child abuse, about which there was a Panorama episode a few years back. Basically, the church's peculiar interpretation of some Biblical passages makes reporting abuse extremely difficult. .
    Well, maybe, but compared to the institutionalised covering-up of abuse practiced by the Catholic Church, JW look like a beacon of openness and purity.

  16. #56
    An Eclectic Toaster
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Glasgow
    Posts
    2,042
    Rep Power
    12

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    Well, maybe, but compared to the institutionalised covering-up of abuse practiced by the Catholic Church, JW look like a beacon of openness and purity.
    Sure, the Catholic Church covers plenty up, but the cover-up mechanism is not actually structural within its doctrine, to the same degree. Proportionate to the size of the religion (about 17 million JWs, about 1.1 billion Catholics), I'd say the problem is at comparable levels, if not worse within JW. By the very nature of the issue it's difficult to say, of course, but I'd dispute your assertion.

    Anyway, going off-topic a bit into what will probably become another religion-bashing session. I'll drop it now.

  17. #57
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by Stuart M View Post
    Sure, the Catholic Church covers plenty up, but the cover-up mechanism is not actually structural within its doctrine,
    Actually, it is - have a look here:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/h...en_english.pdf

    (The original letter is in Latin)

    Section 11 is the relevant part - basically it says "keep it quiet".

    Also see here:
    BBC NEWS | Programmes | Panorama | Sex crimes and the Vatican: Transcript

    To quote:
    Father TOM DOYLE
    Canon Lawyer
    Crimen sollicitationis is indicative of a world-wide policy of absolute secrecy and control of all cases of sexual abuse by the clergy. But what you really have here is an explicit written policy to cover up cases of child sexual abuse by the clergy, to punish those who would call attention to these crimes by churchmen. You've got a written policy that says the Vatican will control these situations, and you also have, I think, clear written evidence of the fact that all they're concerned about is containing and controlling the problem. Nowhere in any of these documents does it say anything about helping the victims. The only thing it does is say that they can impose fear on the victims, and punish the victims, for discussing or disclosing what had happened to them.
    Now, fair enough, that's just one view - but it's at least some evidence of an intituionalised cover-up policy.

    Quote Originally Posted by Stuart M View Post
    to the same degree. Proportionate to the size of the religion (about 17 million JWs, about 1.1 billion Catholics), I'd say the problem is at comparable levels, if not worse within JW. By the very nature of the issue it's difficult to say, of course, but I'd dispute your assertion.
    Possibly - I dunno about prevalence of abuse itself, I was talking about the cover-up side of things.

    Quote Originally Posted by Stuart M View Post
    Anyway, going off-topic a bit into what will probably become another religion-bashing session. I'll drop it now.
    Too late

  18. #58
    Papa Smurf
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Planet Scathe
    Posts
    12,528
    Blog Entries
    6
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    so...er...nice weather we're having.....

  19. #59
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Chris Langham

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe View Post
    so...er...nice weather we're having.....
    Move along, nothing to see here.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Chris Bliss juggling video clip
    By DavidB in forum Chit Chat
    Replies: 47
    Last Post: 14th-June-2007, 02:43 PM
  2. Chris from Scotland
    By paul stevo in forum Let's talk about dance
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 12th-September-2006, 05:17 PM
  3. Happy Birthday Chris A!
    By Lou in forum Happy Birthday!
    Replies: 40
    Last Post: 17th-November-2005, 02:17 PM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •