Since the topic is on dubs and child abuse and the reporting of same, or lack thereof, I want add just one"experience" that supports the validity of some of these stories - in case there are readers who doubt such things take place in the JW world.
There was man in a nearby congo who was a convicted child molester; his victims were young boys. Many years (about 15 as I recall) had gone by since was convicted and served a handful of years in prison and had received counseling. He later became a JW thru the efforts of his dub relatives, who took him under their wing. He made "spiritual" progress (as dubs measure such) and after some years became a ministerial servant, a position her held for 7 or 8 years. He pioneered. Then he was appointed an elder. This claused some controversy among a small circle of people who knew about his background, but anyone who criticized was admonished that the Society had approved the appointment and this meant God had found the fellow repentant and that was the end of the matter.
A single mother in our book study had two boys, 8 and 9. One evening she asked to talk to me. She was interested in this elder, whom she'd met at a circuit assembly, and had been out for coffee with him a couple of times. She felt there was a potential relationship there. Then he asked her if he could take her two boys with him on overnight camping trip and she had agreed. But before the trip took place, a sister she knew in the other congo called her and told her about the elder's past and suggested she not let the boys go. She was conflicted, so she talked to me about it.
I told her I'd look into it and called one of his elders, who who knew me well enough that he confirmed the story about child abuse. He said the body had told no one about his past, but "we do keep an eye on him." He did not know about the camping trip and was concerned and said he'd talk with him. I said I'd talk to the sister and advise against letting them go. He warned me not to reveal the reason, but I said she already knew the reason.
When I called her back, she asked me what she should do. I told her the rumor she had heard appeared to be founded and that it was not a good idea to let the boys go with him, that even if he'd been treated for whatever sickness caused the incident in the first place, recidivism is rampant among molesters. She was concerned about hurting his feelings and initially argued that, since he was an elder, it must be all right to trust him. I strongly advised her to put her kid's safety first and to call and say she had changed her mind, that the boys were too young to go camping without her along and that she couldn't go, but thanks anyway, and not go into detail about why. Later she told me she did call him and he was very upset. She got defensive and told him the reason. He was furious about that. But she told me the angry exchange eliminated any lingering regrets she might have had about cancelling.
Some weeks later at a circuit assembly he approached me and dressed me down for "revealing a confidence." I told him the circumstances outweighed whatever confidentiality he thought might exist, and told him he should have known better than to put himself in temptation's way. He threatened to "take action" against me but I never heard any more about it. I did call the elder in his congo and relayed the circumstances to him; he told me that he had called the guy and also advised him to cancel any plans to take the two boys camping.
The man continued to serve. That was 20 years ago and I am long gone from the congo and the area in which this occurred, so I don't know what his dub "status" is anymore. But I can tell you unequivocably that the official Watchtower practice and policy as recently as at least the early 1990s was to keep a lid on these matters so as not to "bring reproach."
