waiting
Thank you for that post. As a former elder and P.O. I can really relate to what this brother is saying in his letter.
Just to clear up one point that the brother makes a couple of times:
The only way a person within the organization can be guilty of child molestation is by confession, conviction by a court of law, or by the mouth of two witnesses who were there for the same event.
These directives make the Watchtower organization a pedophile paradise, where children can be freely molested, as long as there is not substantial evidence or two witnesses to the same event,
The Judicial Committee will accept the testimony of two witnesses even if it’s for two separate occasions of the same offense. Of course the brother makes a very good point in pointing out that there is seldom a witness to the foul deed, at least one that would testify.
if my child were to accuse a Jehovah’s Witness of molestation, all he/she would have to do is deny it… the first step the church should take is to notify the local authorities who will investigate whether the accusation has merit. Then if found guilty in a court of law, the pedophile will be publicly identified and punished. This protects the innocent and could help give closure to the victim.
I agree with that thought. I don’t think that a man or woman should be convicted or removed from positions of authority on the accusation of one person be it a child or an adult. However, due to the nature of child molestation I believe that in all cases where a child comes up and accuses an adult of this heinous crime that the authorities who are trained in these matters should be called in.
This next part is another nightmarish possibility:
In addition, if the molester admits to molestation, repents in private to church elders, the victim or family of the victim is not encouraged to report the molestation to the police, and, if not reported, then church authorities demand the victim remain silent. Hence the pedophile can repeat the offense because no one is aware of his past.
Suppose the offender is identified as such by an outright confession on his part or perhaps a couple of people blunder into the room while he is raping a child. Then what? Suppose that he convinces the Judicial Committee that he is repentant? His crime would never be mentioned to the congregation or to the authorities. Other children would be put at risk. Even if he is publicly reproved, the nature of his crime is not announced.
Happily I have never had to deal with such a case. I don’t know how widespread it is within the congregations but I know that statistic wise it has to happen. The sad thing about this affair is that the reason for the silence is to perpetuate this self-image they have of themselves as the perfect little society that is ruled by God himself.
-Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it-