Correcting claims of using legal action to silence former members

Recent reports by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age falsely imply that the Brethren’s charity, the Rapid Relief Team or RRT, is suing a person, because she made allegations of abuse against a church member. This is categorically untrue.  

In the interest of transparency and truth, we have published a full statement below on this matter.  

Media Statement

Last week The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age published the article “Brethren charity sues woman allegedly abused by an elder”.

This article made, or otherwise repeated, deeply disturbing claims made by Cheryl Bawtinheimer (née Hope), who left the Church many years ago and now hosts an anti-Brethren podcast.

It also referenced a video that purports to show Ms Bawtinheimer’s husband recording a conversation with a person who she has accused of abuse. The article also claims that a legal action over copyright was an attempt to silence Ms Bawtinheimer.

In response to these claims, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church can confirm the following:

1. The first time that the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church was aware of Ms Bawtinheimer’s allegations was when she spoke on the Blackballed podcast in July 2022.  In this podcast Ms Bawtinheimer stated that she had made a Police report and reported the allegations to the police. This is the correct authority to investigate the matter. As we understand it, they have not proceeded to lay any charges, but it is for them to comment on next steps, if any.
2. Concurrently, when the allegations were first made in 2022 the PBCC looked into the matter, even though we are a Church and have no legal powers or authority. Numerous members were spoken to, but had no recollection of any of the events or denied outright what was being claimed. Should any information have been forthcoming that corroborated the matter, this would have been referred to the Police, but there was not.
3. Church members in that locality were told that the church would cooperate with any police investigation of this matter and proactively provide any information they had to the proper authorities, and that they should do the same. This message has been repeated since 2022.
4. Despite what is implied by the article and headline, the PBCC has not sued Ms Bawtinheimer and the legal action is not related to her allegations of abuse. The legal action has been taken by the Rapid Relief Team, and is relating to a copyright breach. They have written extensively to Ms Bawtinheimer, including recently with an offer that if she was prepared to remove or edit the videos where the RRT Logo appears, and agree to not use the Logo in videos without RRT’s permission going forward, RRT will write to the Court and let them know that the issue has been resolved, without her having to pay costs.
5. Questions to the PBCC from the SMH and Age did not refer to the footage used in the video. The footage was released simultaneously with the journalist’s deadline, seemingly as part of a co-ordinated campaign between Michael Bachelard and Ms Bawtinheimer’s podcast. In the past, Mr Bachelard has published claims made on that podcast untested. He has also appeared as a guest on her podcast.
6. The first time that the PBCC or RRT had seen the fuller version of footage published in Get A Life episode 160, was when that episode was published. We note that Ms Bawtinheimer said she has provided the police with the video, which is good. Any person should provide the police with any evidence they have regarding any legal matter, particularly any allegations of sexual abuse or other crimes.
7. Like any organisation, the Rapid Relief Team protects its image and brand from misuse. The team has only sought to have its logo removed from the podcasts in which it appears, as this is in breach of copyright law and YouTube’s standards. It is not an attempt to silence anyone. This is evidenced by the fact that the team has not complained about the same content on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, where the logo is not visible.
8. Local Church members and the RRT have both again written to Ms Bawtinheimer and requested the opportunity to meet with her, a support person and / or a neutral third party, to carefully listen to her and offer any possible support.

The church abhors violence and sexual abuse, and would always fully cooperate with Police and other authorities. As for criticism aimed at the Church, it simply needs to not breach the law.