Both should be up on my website tonight. Send to any press you may have contact with.
For immediate release:
Tuesday, January 22
Contact:
Laura Barrett 314-645-5915 w 314-443-5915 cell
Jeff Anderson (attorney) 651-227-9990, 612-817-8665
Timothy Kosnoff (attorney) 425-637-3070
David Clohessy 314-869-7436 ext. 2426, 314-903-3498 pager
Sexual Abuse Suit Filed Against
Jehovah's Witness Leaders
Denomination's New York Headquarters
Called "Negligent"
Case May Receive National TV Attention
Child molesters in the Brooklyn-based Jehovah's Witness church are "routinely given sanctuary, protection, sympathy and support" from church officials according to a new civil sexual abuse lawsuit filed today in
Washington state. The leadership of the one million member
denomination was charged with negligence in the suit.
A Sacramento woman is seeking damages from a Jehovah's Witness leader who repeatedly raped her during childhood and from the New York-based denomination.
Erica Rodriguez, 23 years old, is suing Manuel Beliz, the Othello Washington Spanish Jehovah's Witness congregation, and the church's official national governing body. Last August, Beliz was convicted of raping and molesting Rodriguez and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Rodriguez says that Beliz abused her approximately once a week from the time she was four until she was 11, when her family moved to California.
The case is significant because it is one of a relatively small number filed against the Jehovah's Witnesses' national headquarters.
"The criminal case was to protect other kids from a dangerous molester," said Rodriguez. "This case is to protect many more kids from a dangerous denomination." She contends that "perhaps thousands" of youngsters are victimized because official Jehovah Witness policies enable known molesters to avoid detection and criminal prosecution.
During the three-day criminal trial last year, Rodriguez testified that she reported the abuse to two Jehovah's Witness elders in Sacramento, Carlos Chicas and Milton Malendez. The men pressured Rodriguez to keep quiet, threatened to "disfellowship" or excommunicate her, and promised "we will take care of it," the lawsuit indicates. Chicas contacted Othello elder John White but no action was taken.
After hearing Rodriguez' allegations, the Othello congregation protected Beliz as an elder within the church and shunned her family, Rodriguez said.
Eventually, Rodriguez contacted the Sacramento police and Beliz was questioned and later prosecuted.
"This pattern of forbidding abuse victims to contact police or 'outsiders' is standard operating procedure all Jehovah's Witnesses must follow, by direction of the national organization in New York," said Rodriguez' attorney, Timothy Kosnoff of Bellevue, Washington.
By failing to contact civil authorities, the Jehovah's Witness elders violated Washington's mandatory child abuse reporting law, Kosnoff said.
Rodriguez is also represented by Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul, Minnesota, who has filed more than 400 cases of sexual abuse cases against clergy across the nation. Last summer, Anderson filed a civil suit against Jehovah's Witness leaders in New Hampshire for failing to report two women's abuse allegations to civil authorities.
"The Jehovah Witness church and the Watchtower Society must protect kids and not molesters," said Rodriguez. "A lot of pain and suffering could be prevented if they would forget about the church's image, take sexual abuse seriously and start reaching out to the victims."
Rodriguez believes Beliz molested other girls too and hopes her suit "will encourage them to seek justice and begin healing as I have."
Two juries found Beliz guilty of victimizing Rodriguez. His first conviction was overturned when the deputy prosecutor admitted trying to exclude younger women during jury selection. An appellate court then ordered a re-trial.
At both trials, dozens of Othello Jehovah's Witnesses and Beliz' family members spoke or wrote to the judge urging a lenient sentence. At the second trial, fifteen current and former Jehovah's Witnesses from across the country came to support Rodriguez and express their disapproval of the church's hierarchy.
Rodriguez' backers were led by church elder William Bowen of Calvert City, Kentucky, who quit his job last year to lobby for improvements in Witness policies towards abuse victims. Bowen heads "Silent Lambs," the only national support group for men and women abused by Jehovah's Witness officials (www.silentlambs.org, 1-800-WTABUSE).
"It took a lot of courage for Erica to overcome her trauma and speak out," said Bowen. "She should be praised for helping to save other children. Instead, her church has vilified her. Witnesses have treated other victims in the same way, and this 'shooting the messenger' has to stop."
Today's civil suit, filed in federal court in Washington's Eastern District, seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Beliz is now incarcerated at the Washington penal institution in Walla Walla.
There are approximately one million Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States and six million across the world.
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David Clohessy
Director of Community Services
Riverview Gardens Schools
1370 Northumberland Drive
St. Louis, MO 63137-1413
[email protected] * Visit our award-winning website: http://www.rgsd.org
(314) 869-2505, ext. 2426 (work) * (314) 869-6354 (fax)
(314) 645-5915 (home) * (314) 645-2017 (home fax)
Press release number two:
silentlambs, inc.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE
For Immediate Release January 23, 2001
More Sexual Abuse Suits Against Jehovah's Witnesses Will Follow, Predicts Ex-Church Elder
Denomination on "The Edge Of A Crisis," Says Long Time Witness
New Support Group for Molestation Victims Forms
A civil sexual abuse lawsuit filed yesterday in Washington State
against the Brooklyn, NY-based Jehovah's Witnesses’ organization is
"just the tip of the iceberg," according to the leader of a new
nationwide support group for church members who have been abused by
Jehovah’s Witness members and officials. Dozens more victims of abusive
church leaders may file similar suits, he predicts.
"Our denomination is now where the Catholic Church was 20 years ago-
right on the edge of a crisis," said William H. Bowen of Calvert City,
Kentucky. A former church elder in his local congregation and a
Jehovah's Witness for 43 years, Bowen now heads "silentlambs, inc" the
only national non-profit self-help group for men and women molested by
Jehovah's Witnesses. (www.silentlambs.org, 1-877-WTABUSE) He resigned
as Presiding Overseer last year and went public with the issue to push
the denomination's leaders to respond more sympathetically to abuse
victims and turn over alleged molesters to the criminal justice system.
"In just a few months, with a shoestring budget and a volunteer staff,
our group has been contacted by nearly 1000 Witnesses and former
Witnesses who have been raped or molested by church members," Bowen
claimed. The alleged victims range in age from 2 to 15, and are located
from Maine to California across the USA and several foreign countries.
Repressive and insular church policies, a rigid hierarchy and a strong
emphasis on obeying church authorities combine to "trap victims in a
cult of silence," Bowen believes. “Members of other faith groups who
are abused are more apt to speak up and consult attorneys or turn to
police,” he feels.
"Both formally and informally, Witnesses are taught to take all
matters, especially controversial matters, to church leaders, and to
avoid bringing shame on the church," said Barbara Anderson, another
leader in the silentlambs organization. Anderson served for 10 years at
“Bethel” the Brooklyn, New York headquarters of the denomination. Like
Bowen, she became disillusioned after being assigned as a researcher on
how church leaders handled abuse accusations.
But that "cult of silence" is slowly changing, she believes. "More and
more Witnesses are realizing that exposing sexual crimes is God's will.
They realize that getting rid of molesters is healthy for the church.."
Witnesses are "encouraged, even inspired by the example of victims in
Catholic and Protestant denominations who have sued their perpetrators
in recent years with increasing success,” she said.
"We find that the more conservative and controlling a church group is,
the harder it is for someone who has been victimized to come forward,"
said attorney Timothy Kosnoff of Bellevue Washington. Kosnoff has
handled multiple abuse claims against church personnel.
"That's why having a support group is so helpful, and that's why
getting the police or a therapist or any outside professional involved
is critical," he said.
While the headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses maintain extensive
internal files on accused molesters within the church, they refuse to
make public this information, and, in many cases, do not report the
crime. As a result, no solid figures exist on the number of Jehovah's
Witnesses who have been accused of sexual molestation.
"Whatever that number is, you can be sure it's going to start growing
quickly and dramatically, when victims discover the church can no
longer bully victims into silence," said Bowen.
The denomination has one million members in the United States and six
million around the world.
If you would like to receive more information on this topic, see lead attorneys:
Jeff Anderson 651-227-9990, 612-817-8665 ST Paul, MN.
Timothy Kosnoff 425-837-9692 Seattle, WA.
Or contact William H. Bowen at: 270-527-5350 Fax: 270-527-5351