New York Post - 13.08.2019

New York Post, Tuesday, August 13, 2019

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13

Two former Jehovah’s Witnesses
plan to sue the organization, claim-
ing they were abused as children
— among the first of a wave of law-
suits expected when a landmark
state law takes effect this week.
Lawyers for John Michael Ewing
(top inset), 47, and Heather Steele
(bottom inset), 48, said Monday
they will file separate lawsuits in
Brooklyn Supreme Court on
Wednesday, when the Child Vic-
tims Act goes into effect.
“These people were abused by
emissaries of
God, of the
church,” law-
yer Michael
Barasch said at
a press confer-
ence. “There
was an ele-
ment of trust.
And these
abusers, these
rapists abused
that level of
trust.”
Ewing
claims that a
Jehovah’s
Witness elder
molested him
for four years,
starting when
he was 14.
Steele claims a separate elder
started molesting her in the 1970s.
The new law, signed by Gov.
Cuomo in February, extends the
statute of limitations for both
criminal charges and civil liability
in cases of child sex abuse.
Currently, victims of sex abuse
are barred from filing claims after
they turn 23, but the new law ex-
tends the age to 28 in criminal
cases and allows them to file for
civil damages until age 55.
Once the law takes effect, victims
will have a one-year window to sue
regardless of how long ago the of-
fense occurred — a stipulation that
has sparked an advertising flurry by
law firms specializing in the cases.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses de-
clined to comment.
Gabrielle Fonrouge, Alex Taylor
and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

Jehovah

pair plan

sex suits

DISGUST: Water attacks on

NYPD cops are an example of

deteriorating respect for police,

AG William Barr (inset) said.

Instagram

basest evil. Even in a healthy

society, violence, lawlessness,

and predation lie just below

the surface. In the final analy-

sis, what stands between chaos

and carnage on the one hand,

and the civilized and tranquil

society we all yearn for, is the

thin blue line of law enforce-

ment. You are the ones man-

ning the ramparts — day in,

and day out,” the nation’s top

law-enforcement official said.

“The anti-police narrative is

fanning disrespect for the law.

In recent years, we have wit-

nessed increasing toleration

of the notion that it is some-

how OK to resist the police.”

Contributing to the any-

thing-goes atmosphere, the AG

added, were statements from

de Blasio and others criticizing

officers’ actions, as well local

prosecutors who failed to get

tough on criminals.

“Despite the fact that the

majority of the American peo-

ple do support the police, un-

fortunately, over the past few

years, there has been an in-

creasingly vocal minority that

regularly attacks the police

and advances a narrative that

it is the police that are the bad

guys rather than the crimi-

nals,” he said.

“Whenever there is a con-

frontation involving the use of

force by police, they automati-

cally start screaming for the

officers’ scalps, regardless of

the facts.”

Barr joined President

Trump and NYPD union offi-

cials in criticizing the recent

spate of water attacks on the

Big Apple’s police officers.

By BOB FREDERICKS

Attorney General Bill Barr

on Monday pilloried the

“prancing punks” who doused

NYPD cops with water — and

decried an “anti-police narra-

tive” promoted by liberal pols

such as Mayor de Blasio.

“We were all nauseated by

the spectacle of prancing

punks pelting New York po-

lice officers with water and

plastic buckets,” Barr said at

the Fraternal Order of Police

national conference in New

Orleans.

“Unfortunately, these were

not isolated events. From 2014

through 2017, there has been a

20 percent increase in assaults

against police, up to about

60,000 per year.”

At least four water attacks

on cops took place in Brook-

lyn, Harlem and The Bronx

during the July heat wave.

One cop was even struck on

the head with an empty

bucket while making an unre-

lated arrest.

The NYPD later busted

three men — including a re-

puted Crips gang member on

probation — although two

were accused of dousing a ci-

vilian woman, and said 10 ad-

ditional suspects were being

sought.

Barr, in a speech that

staunchly backed the nation’s

law-enforcement community

in the face of widespread crit-

icism and charges of abuse,

asserted that the “thin blue

line” of cops was all that sepa-

rated good and evil in

American society.

“Human beings are capable

of great good, but also of the

Man and teenage girl blown away by Bronx gunman

Two people were killed in
a Bronx shooting, police
said Monday.
Kevin Dillard, 21, and Ar-
nelle Branch, 17, were
gunned down on White
Plains Road near Adee Ave-

nue in Allerton at around

11:42 p.m. Sunday, authori-

ties said.

Dillard was struck in the

neck and Branch was shot

in the stomach, according

to authorities.

The gunplay in the 47th

Precinct erupted after a dis-

pute, but the motive for the

shooting is unknown, cops

said.

Both victims were taken

to Jacobi Hospital, where

they died, according to au-

thorities.

The gunman was still at

large as of Monday after-

noon.

The violence comes as

city officials are struggling

to tamp down on shootings,

which were up 5 percent

during the first seven

months of the year com-

pared to the same period in

2018.

The Bronx’s 42nd and

46th precincts, which are

adjacent to the 47th, were

among the top five in shoot-

ing increases, according to

authorities.

Joe Tacopino

and Craig McCarthy