CHILD ABUSE AMONG JWs
EXPOSED on the WORLDWIDE WEB
(Investigator #202, 2022 January)
A STORM OF CRITICISM
The Encylopaedia Britannica 2002 Year in Review
(2003) reported: "Five people were expelled from the Jehovah's
Witnesses in the United States after they accused leaders of covering
up the sexual abuse of children by members." (p. 302)
The
expelled included research assistant Barbara Anderson who afterwards
founded the "Watchtower Documents" website; and Jim Bowen, former
elder, who created the "Silent Lambs" website and says 6000 JWs abuse
victims have contacted him. Also in 2002 came news of a secret
data-base of 22,000 alleged child molesters held at the JWs American
headquarters!
Google Search brings up hundreds of pages that report child-abuse within JWs of which a sample of 59 is listed below.
Reports
of child-abuse in the sect escalated in the late 20th century when the
leaders' techniques to suppress abuse victims from going public began
to fail. One technique that helped to silence victims was lurid
descriptions of Armageddon and constant reminders that Armageddon is
imminent. This suppressed free speech by threatening God's vengeance
not only upon all nations but also on JWs who showed disloyalty to the
JW Organization. Armageddon became less intimidating because the event
repeatedly failed — the two latest deadlines were the 20th century and
the generation that lived in 1914. Critics even began to call the sect
a "pedophiles paradise".
Television
and YouTube documentaries examining child abuse among JWs proliferated,
as have newspaper and court reports. Two documentaries recently seen on
Australian TV are:
• Bearing Witness: Exposing the secretive world of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Four Corners, 14 September, 2021
• Crusaders: Ex Jehovah's Witnesses Speak Out, October 13, 2021
In
2015 Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child
Sexual Abuse announced a public investigation into the safeguards that
JWs and their Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (WBTS) in Australia
have in place.
JWs
lawyers, and publications of the sect, declare that JWs "abhor" child
abuse, view it as a "heinous crime", and publish counsel on how to
protect children. The Royal Commission, however, consulted 5000
documents subpoenaed from the Australian headquarters and identified
1800 victims of child abuse and 1006 perpetrators since 1950, and found
that no incident, allegation, or perpetrator had been reported to the
police.
The
elders also never informed the congregations about any allegations,
leaving parents and kids unprepared. About 579 of the accused had
confessed; of these 401 were disfellowshipped [excommunicated] but 230
were reinstated after professing "repentance". Many then reoffended; 78
were reinstated more than once.
It's
probable that 1800 victims is not the real total — just the ones who
told the elders. There could be others where parents or victims said
nothing out of shame; inability to prove it; or feared confrontation or
excommunication.
JWs
investigative procedures consisted of elders privately questioning
children in the presence of the accused. Elders followed a "two
witnesses rule" by which guilt could not be established unless the
accused confessed or another witness (i.e. observer) to the abuse
supported the child's testimony. Failing to get at least two mutually
supporting testimonies, the elders might keep the accused under
observation and tell the child's parents to not slander the accused by
gossip, and that to involve the police would bring "reproach on
Jehovah's organization". Parents could also be reminded that Armageddon
is imminent and God would then rectify everything. "Wait on Jehovah,"
was counsel commonly given.
JWs, however, misunderstand the New Testament's two-witnesses rule. It was argued in Investigator
#183 that the rule does not apply to crime but to lesser disputes. If
serious crime occurs among Christians they should notify the
authorities, these being, according to the Bible, "the servant of God
to execute wrath on the wrongdoer". (Romans 13:4) The authorities have
resources and methods to investigate crime that are far more effective
than anything elders can do, and can inflict legal punishments which
elders can't.
If
an adult is raped in a JWs congregation or if the premises suffers
arson, the elders would notify the police, even if lacking two
observers to the crime. But in the past, child-abuse was not reported.
The
JWs Governing Body decides on doctrine, policies, and rules for running
congregations, and insist on unity across more than 200 countries.
Therefore, the mismanagement of child-abuse among JWs could be
worldwide.
The Royal Commission's recommendations on how JWs should improve their child-protection are published as Case
Study 29 The response of Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society of Australia Ltd to allegations of child sexual abuse.
In
a video produced by JWs headquarters, Governing Body member Stephen
Lett referred to "false stories that are designed to separate us from
Jehovah's organization." He said: "As an example, think about the
apostate-driven lies and dishonesties that Jehovah's organization is
permissive toward pedophiles. I mean, that is ridiculous, isn't it?"
The
JWs Governing Body get away with such unqualified denial because their
followers are indoctrinated to shun outside research and independent
thought. They regard the "Organization" as virtually infallible, and
other sources as unreliable, devious, Satanic.
Jesus
called his followers "a light to the world". In the case of JWs and
child abuse, however, the world (as represented by courts, journalists,
investigators, law-makers, the Worldwide Web, and the Royal Commission)
is a light to JWs:
A SAMPLE OF WEB-PAGES
Summaries are supplied with some of the URLs, but if you want to share the information consult the actual webpage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses'_handling_of_child_sex_abuse
https://watchtowerdocuments.org
Website
of Barbara Anderson who worked in the JWs New York headquarters for 10
years. On her "Discoveries of Barbara Anderson" page she shows that:
"The scope and complexities of the entire child sexual abuse situation
within the organization were enormous."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silentlambs
https://silentlambs.org
https://jwwatch.org/
https://jwwatch.org/child-abuse-2/jehovahs-witness-elders-fined-for-failure-to-report-child-abuse-watchtower-settles-with-delaware
https://watchtowerdocuments.org/jehovahs-witnesses-settle-abuse-cases-associated-press/
https://uk-database.net/2012/06/09/george-cockerill-hull/
A JWs pedophile whose career of rape went for forty years.
www.cambstimes.co.uk/news/wisbech-sex-attacker-jailed-after-jehovahs-witnesses-cover-up-assaults-4821240
This
2010 report begins: "JEHOVAH Witnesses covered up a Wisbech sex
attacker's series of assaults on a young girl for 25 years."
https://dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3759504/Jehovah-s-Witness-paedophile-discovered-working-children-church-run-father-law.htm
https://nltimes.nl/2018/05/02/nearly-300-reports-sexual-abuse-among-dutch-jehovahs-witnesses
https://lawandreligionuk.com/2020/02/14/jehovahs-witnesses-and-the-two-witness-rule-a-comment-on-bxb/
https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/bearing-witness:-exposing-the-secretive-world-of/13541542
https://www.inquirer.com/news/jehovahs-witnesses-sex-abuse-crusaders-documentary-20210728.html
http://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnesses-child-sexual-abuse-investigators-allegations-united-kingdom-837351
http://www.theweek.co.uk/92180/jehovah-s-witnesses-face-possible-child-sex-abuse-inquiry
https://www.shine.com.au/service/abuse-law/jehovahs-witnesses-historical-abuse-claims
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/20/jehovahs-witnesses-claim-told-not-report-child-sex-abuse-organisation/
http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20180531/fortuna-woman-ex-jehovahs-witness-shares-story-of-sexual-abuse
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/court-reverses-35m-verdict-jehovahs-witnesses-68159631
https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jehovahs-witnesses-not-negligent-in-35-million-child-abuse-case-court-rules
This
lawsuit had two plaintiffs, a woman raped numerous times as a girl by
her stepfather, and a male relative abused by the same man. The elders
did not report to the police but convened a committee and banished the
offender from the congregation for a year. The woman sued in the
district court in 2016 for damages from their failure to report:
In
its reversal, the Montana Supreme Court wrote that Montana's mandatory
child abuse reporting statute states that "a member of the clergy or a
priest is not required to make a report under this section if the
communication is required to be confidential by canon law, church
doctrine, or established church practice" and "Jehovah's Witnesses have
an established process for receiving and investigating reports of child
abuse within their congregations; that they consider this process
confidential..."
https://www.oxygen.com/the-witnesses/crime-news/how-policies-of-the-jehovahs-witnesses-keep-child-sexual-abuse-from-police
This
story gives more detail behind the Montana Supreme Court Decision. The
justices in a 7-0 decision wrote that the JWs elders were exempt from
Montana's child abuse reporting laws, "because their church doctrine,
canon, or practice required that clergy keep reports of child abuse
confidential."
About
forty USA states require clergy to report child abuse, but about 30 of
these states have a "clergy-penitent privilege" that allows religious
leaders to withhold information received through "confidential,
spiritual communication". Attorneys for JWs argued that JWs regard
child sexual abuse reports to be confidential spiritual communications
(like a priest hearing confession).
When
elders hear of child abuse in their congregation they contact the
parent organization, the WBTS, to find out whether their state requires
them to inform the police. If not then it's handled within the
congregation.
https://saysorry.org/2018/08/18/jw-protest-london/
Report
about a protest by 100 people from 15 countries outside the grounds of
a JW convention. The purpose of the protest was to highlight the
persistence of child sexual abuse among JWs. Protesters distributed a
ten-point resolution which urged JWs to consider the findings of
Australia's Royal Commission and requested the Governing Body to put
into practice the Commission's recommendations.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/jehovahs-witnesses-child-sexual-abuse-811927/
https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/11/30/the-jehovahs-witnesses-are-about-to-lose-their-tax-exempt-status-in-australia/
https://watchtowerdocuments.org/jws-changing-child-sexual-abuse- policies-and-practices/
https://nypost.com/2019/08/12/former-jehovahs-witnesses-recount-years-of-sex-abuse-ahead-of-landmark-case/
https://revealnews.org/article/pennsylvania-opens-grand-jury-investigation-into-jehovahs-witnesses-cover-up-of-child-sex-abuse/
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/10/22/child-abuse-institutional-care/
JWs
in Australia are revealed as the only national organization to declare
they will not join the national redress scheme but would handle
individual claims for redress in-house.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7151844/jehovahs-witnesses-to-join-redress-scheme/
JWs
agreed to join Australia's National Redress Scheme after the Federal
Government threatened to revoke the charity status of organizations
that didn't join.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51006771
Twenty
former JWs are suing over historical sexual abuse they say they
suffered. A former elder who had disowned his daughter, who had been
abused and later spoke out publicly, went through the same trauma — he
was abused as a child and in 2019 left the sect and now speaks out. A
solicitor representing some of the 20 former members, said they decided
to seek compensation because they had asked for an apology but instead
got denials to what happened.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-10/jehovahs-witness-abuse-exposed/11561776
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/the-witnesses-oxygen-doc-jehovah-witness-allegation-sexual-abuse
https://www.inquirer.com/
On
this home page type "Jehovahs Witnesses" in the search box and get
articles such as "silent history of abuse" and "Jehovah's Witnesses
official says to destroy records because 'Satan's coming after us'".
https://www.inquirer.com/news/inq/jehovahs-witnesses-silent-history-child-sex-abuse-20180425
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6200541525835776/two-witness-rule-stop-using-working-on-jws?page=3
https://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnesses-child-sex-abuse-lawsuit-1454001
www.revealnews.org/jehovahs-witnesses-use-1st-amendment-to-hide-child-sex-abuse-claims
https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2020/07/jehovahs-witnesses-restructure-mustnt-impede-abuse-payouts-says-nss
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/03/the-secret-jehovahs-witness-database-of-child-molesters/584311/
Mark
O'Donnell left JWs in 2013 and leaks papers that document child abuse.
We also learn how the JW Organization's database of sex offenders got
started:
In
March 1997, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society ... sent a letter to
each of its 10,883 U.S. congregations, and to many more congregations
worldwide. The organization was concerned about the legal risk posed by
possible child molesters within its ranks. The letter laid out
instructions on how to deal with a known predator: Write a detailed
report answering 12 questions... Keep a copy of the report in your
congregation's confidential file... and do not share it with anyone.
Thus did the Jehovah's Witnesses build what might be the world's largest database of undocumented child molesters...
In
2002 a former elder claimed that 23,720 abusers are listed in the
database. Lawyer, Irwin Zalkin, raised the issue of the database in a
2016 court case and: "the judge ordered Watchtower to pay a fine of
$4,000 a day until it handed over the documents."
https://news.sky.com/story/there-was-no-reprimand-nothing-changed-survivors-criticise-jehovahs-witness-elders-for-failing-to-act-over-child-sexual-abuse-claims-12396672
https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/4523242/i-was-dead-to-them-how-lara-escaped-the-jehovahs-witnesses-cult/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/10/former-jehovahs-witness-elders-call-for-mandatory-reporting-of-child-sexual-abuse
https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/supreme-court-tells-jehovahs-witness-charity-cannot-stop-inquiry/governance/article/1405567
The supreme court put an end to the WBTS's efforts to block an investigation into how JWs handle child abuse allegations.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2020/02/08/jehovahs-witnesses-under-investigation-pennsylvania-attorney-generals-office/2425260001/
https://aoadvocates.com/jehovahs-witnesses-new
AO
Advocates are lawyers in London and USA who deal with child abuse and
are "Jehovah's Witnesses Specialists". In a 2015 civil case against JWs
in the UK they secured a payout of £275,000 for their client for
sexual abuse she suffered as a child.
https://kelsolawyers.com/au/institutions/jehovahs-witnesses/
A
description of how JWs handle child abuse: "The way Jehovah's Witnesses
deal with allegations of child sexual abuse is appalling."
https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/jehovahs-witness-leadership-condemn-former-member-accused-of-child-molestation
https://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2021/03/25/jehovahs-witnesses-congregation-vicariously-liable/
"Vicarious
liability" is when an organization is liable for the misuse of power
and authority it has conferred on others. In the crime of sexual abuse
can the trustees of a JWs congregation, or the Watchtower Society, be
held liable for sexual abuse committed by an elder and/or if elders
conceal the crime? The court's role is to examine each case to
determine whether there was "sufficient connection" or "causative link"
between the power/status/authority conferred and the crime committed.
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20210527/trial-scheduled-for-jehovahs-witnesses-elders-accused-of-failing-to-report-sexual-abuse
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/08/jehovahs-witness-sexual-abuse-report-can-stay-online-judge-rules/
An
investigation by University researchers on behalf of the justice
minister examined 751 reports of how JWs handled sexual abuse. The JWs
Dutch branch tried to stop publication but judges ruled the information
is in the public interest.
https://www.robinskaplan.com/resources/legal-updates/the-robins-justice-report/2021/winter/establishing-duty-in-child-sex-abuse-cases-against-the-jehovah-witnesses
https://www.rosenfeldinjurylawyers.com/jehovahs-witness-sex-abuse
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/jehovahs-witness-child-abuse-sex-18717755
https://topclassactions.com/?s=jehovahs+witness+abuse
Five articles about JWs abuse on this site.
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/widespread-child-abuse-and-cover-among-jehovahs-witnesses
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-13/jehovah-witnesses-child-abuse-four-corners-investigations/100444320
https://www.childabuseroyalcommissionresponse.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-12/jehovahs_witnesses_annual_report_2018.pdf
The
JWs response to the findings of the Royal Commission, claiming
that JWs have a "Scripturally Based Position On Child
Protection", and "abhor" child abuse, and do not shield
perpetrators. It says, "Parents have the primary responsibility to
protect and teach their children", and goes into the assistance the
JWs' Organization gives, such as the two-witness rule, videos and
magazine articles.
https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-07/case_study_29_-_findings_report_-_jehovahs_witnesses.pdf
The Royal Commission's analysis of JWs' protective measures, finding them inadequate. For example:
Although
the Jehovah's Witness organisation instructs elders to comply with
mandatory reporting laws where relevant, there was no evidence before
the Royal Commission that the organisation has any general policy
requiring or advising elders to report child sexual abuse to the
authorities when not required to do so by law, even in cases involving
a child complainant. (p. 61)
Regardless
of the biblical origins of the two-witness rule, the Jehovah's Witness
organisation's retention of and continued application of the rule to a
complaint of child sexual abuse is wrong. It fails to reflect the
learning of the many people who have been involved in examining the
behaviour of abusers and the circumstances of survivors. It shows a
failure by the organisation to recognise that the rule will more often
than not operate in favour of a perpetrator of child sexual abuse, who
will not only avoid sanction but will also remain in the congregation
and the community with their rights intact and with the capacity to
interact with their victim. (p. 65)
The
Jehovah's Witness organisation's practice of shunning members who
disassociate from the organisation has the very real potential of
putting a survivor in the untenable position of having to choose
between constant re-traumatisation at having to share a community with
their abuser and losing that entire community altogether. (p. 71)
(BS)