JW ELDER SENTENCED!
Pedophiles At Your Door
Silentlambs reported the capture of JW elder Micheal Norris a few months ago. After a long legal battle and an effort to protect the victim, the courts delivered the sentence below to the now convicted sex offender. In California it appears the passing of time and bad health are reasons to give pedophiles easy sentences and a slap on the wrist. The crime of destroying the life and innocence of a child is no matter to ignore or be taken lightly. Apparently the California Justice system proved otherwise. Norris feigning bad health and wearing a neck brace, was given a three year sentence and required to register as a sex offender for life. Is that throwing the book at him? For molesting a six year old child over a period of three years while being a leader in the church? Perhaps the parents of the child and the victim herself might be asked to best answer that question. At Silentlambs we feel while this is something, it could have been a lot more.
The question remains will Norris be an elder again before long? You see, according to Jehovah’s Witness policy two eye witnesses have to prove the wrongdoing. In this case Norris while pleading guilty by a plea bargain never admitted guilt to the congregation. So even though he was convicted by the court and will be serving time in jail, he can remain innocent in the view of the congregation and will retain the full support of all his brothers and sisters. Upon release he will be required to call on the homes of the area in which he lives and offer families home bible studies that have no knowledge he is a sexual predator. In addition, he will not be escorted by anyone to the door as he by Watchtower policy is an innocent man and anyone in the congregation that says otherwise can be disfellowshipped (excommunicated) for slander.
Brother Norris is protected by the “Pedophile Paradise” while the public at large will be put at risk. The California public may wish to keep a copy of the picture below tacked close to their front door because in 2.8 years a smiling man offering you free Bible magazines and wishing to study with your children could be calling at your door. After all it is his religious right protected by the “First Amendment” to access your children and study the Bible with them while not informing you of his proclivities.
We wish to express appreciation for the courage of the victim and her family for supporting her and taking the brave step of pressing charges to see this man will at least be identified as a sexual predator. The greatest gift you can give is protecting the life of a child you will never meet. This family, at great heart aches and expense took the steps to do just that. They will be added to the to the list as recipients of the ”Silentlambs Courage Award” that is given to those “with courage above and beyond the call of duty in the interests of protecting children”.
Carpinteria Man Sentenced to Three Years for Molesting Granddaughter
Michael Norris Will Also Have to Register as a Sex Offender
Friday, February 28, 2014
By Lyz Hoffman
Michael Norris, a 69-year-old man who pleaded guilty last month to molesting his granddaughter in Carpinteria, was sentenced Thursday to three years in state prison per a plea agreement that will require him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Deputy District Attorney Benjamin Ladinig, who handled the case, said the deal stemmed from the fact that Norris could have received only probation, given his age, his poor health — he wore a neck brace in court on Thursday — and his lack of a criminal history.
The District Attorney’s Office, with input from the victim’s parents, also wished to spare her from a trial, Ladinig said. The girl, who was between six and eight years old at the time of the incidents and is now 15, is a “straight-A student” who is doing well “with her studies and her life right now,” Ladinig added.
Ladinig said that the girl told her father in 2012 about what Norris had done years prior. The Sheriff’s Office investigated the allegations and issued an arrest warrant in late 2012 for Norris, who had moved to Costa Rica many years earlier. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Norris agreed to surrender once he learned of the warrant. He was arrested when his flight from Costa Rica landed in Los Angeles in February 2013.
Norris initially faced charges of child molestation, continuous sexual abuse of a child, exhibiting pornographic material to a child, and attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child, the last of which Ladinig said presented some accuracy issues. Norris initially pleaded not guilty to the charges but agreed to the deal in January. Once he is released from prison — he will be required to serve 85 percent of his sentence — he will be subject to “strict monitoring” as part of his sex offender registration, Ladinig said.
Robert Landheer, Norris’s attorney, issued a statement after the sentencing, saying that a year’s worth of investigations lead to a “very fair” outcome. “Mr. Norris is an elderly man suffering from numerous health problems, who voluntarily surrendered himself and returned from Costa Rica to deal with the charges he was facing,” Landheer said. “Considering his age and his cooperation, we feel that the sentencing Mr. Norris received was the best all around for himself and for his family.”