Tonight, there are no major new developments in the case of allegations of sexual abuse against Mervin Budram from Jubilee Ministries. As we told you last night, the DPP is aware of two complaints of indecent assault - and she was scheduled to meet with the complainants today to discuss the way forward.
As for Jubilee Ministries which Budram was a prominent part of - that group broke its silence yesterday when it published a release. It stated that their independent investigation led to the discovery of additional exposures which pushed them to remove Budram from all leadership and ministry roles. This was widely interpreted as additional evidence of abuse connected to Budram and his doings while he was an active church member.
Well, the Jubilee Ministries sent out another update today to clarify what that meant. We received a message which reads "Jubilee Ministries seeks to clarify a sentence in our Press Release which the media misinterpreted to mean that there were additional victims or incriminating evidence that the ministry kept secret. This is categorically NOT the case. The statement which read "Our Investigation led to additional exposures" meant that several SPIRITUAL principles and Christian values our members are obligated to observe and hold dear had also been breached and warranted disqualification. We have nothing to hide. We continue to remain open and transparent under these very difficult circumstances, even as we respect the privacy of all directly involved." End quote.
The scolding release says that the media's flawed interpretation of the release is also one of the reasons why victims are reluctant to speak out. To that, we'll just say "no comment".
