It is the second such lawsuit filed recently against the Jehovah's Witnesses, officially known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. A similar suit was filed in Concord, N.H., last summer, but has not gone to trial."The overwhelming majority of victims never sue and when they do, most are settled quietly out of court with gag orders," said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, based in Kansas City, Mo. His organization was founded to help victims of Roman Catholic clergy, but recently has been lending support to members of other Christian denominations.
Unlike Catholic priests or most Protestant clergy, Jehovah's Witnesses elders are not officially licensed by the church, nor are they trained at any church-run seminary. Still, they are expected to uphold policies and practices that are instituted at the national level, Kosnoff said."They are following the dictates of the national organization," Kosnoff said. "It's those destructive and evil policies that fail to protect children and instead protect the predators."
Spokane attorney Richard Eymann, who is on a team of lawyers representing Rodriguez, said there is national interest in the case. "Organizations that allow their employees or agents to abuse young children -- even worse, try to cover up the conduct through intimidation of the victim -- should be brought to justice," Eymann said. Another member of the team representing Rodriguez is Jeffrey R. Anderson, a Minneapolis attorney who specializes in church-related sexual abuse cases. He has gotten several multimillion-dollar judgments against religious organizations.
The suit says Rodriguez's mother was sanctioned by the church for reporting her suspicions of Beliz's abuse. At the same time, elders of the Othello Spanish Congregation spoke on Beliz's behalf when he was sentenced to prison for the criminal conduct.That pattern, the suit says, shows the Jehovah's Witnesses' "long-standing policy and practice of minimizing, defending and tolerating abuse by congregation" elders.
When the sexual abuse occurred, Washington state had a law requiring the reporting of suspected child abuse to law enforcement authorities. "None of the elders of the Othello Spanish Congregation reported the suspected abuse of Rodriguez to any designated authority," the suit claims.
"Manuel Beliz has been dealt with," Kosnoff said. "Now we need to deal with the organization that allowed him to commit his crimes by giving him sanctuary."
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=012302&ID=s1089784
