Chapter 17
UNDER PRESSURE
Paedophiles in the Flock
In recent years, Jehovah's Witnesses have struggled with an onslaught of adverse global publicity regarding paedophiles in their organization. It must be said that Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Society actively condemn paedophilia and child abuse. Some of the accused are elders, but most are ordinary congregation members. Jehovah's Witnesses are not the only religion to be affected by the infiltration of paedophiles. Most of the victims are female rather than male, unlike reported offences in the Roman Catholic Church:
The victims who have stepped forward are mostly girls and young women, and many accusations involve incest.
The New York Times 11 August 2002
Investigation into this has uncovered the reasons why certain paedophiles have chosen to infiltrate Jehovah's Witnesses, rather than alternative religious groups. One factor is, that reluctance to bring reproach on the organization bearing Jehovah's name, has caused the Watchtower Society to keep these matters in house and deal with them privately:
Loyalty to Jehovah God will also keep us from doing anything that would bring reproach upon his name and Kingdom. For example, two Christians once got into such difficulty with each other that they improperly resorted to a worldly law court. Certainly, the course of loyalty to Jehovah God is to suffer personal loss rather than bring reproach upon Jehovah and his organization.
The Watchtower 15 March 1996 - page 15
For many years the Society has enforced a two witness rule to establish guilt. This scriptural rule meant that two witnesses must testify against a perpetrator regarding a specific incident, before action could be taken. With most incidents of child abuse there are rarely two witnesses. This has meant that even when several children made an accusation against the same brother, over different incidents, the elders were unable to act unless the accused confessed. Although elders were aware of child abusers in their congregation, they were not permitted to act or notify the police. The action that elders should take was explained in 1995:
If the elders are approached by a member of the congregation who is experiencing flashbacks or repressed memories of child abuse, two of them are usually assigned to help. These elders should kindly encourage the afflicted one to focus for the time being on coping with the emotional distress. The names of any remembered abusers should be kept in strict confidence…
What if the sufferer decides that he wants to make an accusation?
Then the two elders can advise him that, in line with the principle at Matthew 18:15 , he should personally approach the accused about the matter. If the accuser is not emotionally able to do this face-to-face, it can be done by telephone or perhaps by writing a letter. In this way the one accused is given the opportunity to go on record before Jehovah with his answer to the accusation. He may even be able to present evidence that he could not have committed the abuse. Or perhaps the one accused will confess, and reconciliation may be achieved… What a blessing that would be! If there is a confession, the two elders can handle matters further in accordance with Scriptural principles. If the accusation is denied, the elders should explain to the accuser that nothing more can be done in a judicial way. And the congregation will continue to view the one accused as an innocent person. The Bible says that there must be two or three witnesses before judicial action can be taken
Even if more than one person remembers abuse by the same individual, the nature of these recalls is just too uncertain to base judicial decisions on them without other supporting evidence. This does not mean that such memories are viewed as false (or that they are viewed as true). But Bible principles must be followed in establishing a matter judicially. What if the one accused though denying the wrong doing is really guilty? Does he get away with it, as it were? Certainly not! The question of his guilt or Innocence can be safely left in Jehovah’s hands.
The Watchtower 1 November 1995 - pages 28-9
A change of policy
Two years later the Society changed their policy to permit ‘the witness rule’ of accepting a single witness from two separate occasions. Photographic evidence had always been accepted:
Thus, although they investigate every allegation, the elders are not authorized by the Scriptures to take congregational action unless there is a confession or there are two credible witnesses. However, if two persons are witnesses to separate incidents of the same kind of wrongdoing, their testimony can be deemed sufficient to take action. I Timothy 5:19, 24, 25
Letter to Elders - 24 May 2002. To all congregations in the USA.
More recently in 2010 the Society stated:
Even though a Christian has been accused of wrongdoing serious enough to require judicial action, a judicial committee should not be formed unless the wrongdoing has been established. What kind of evidence is acceptable? ... There must be two or three eyewitnesses, not just people repeating hearsay; no action can taken if there only one witness.
Elders Manual, Shepherd the Flock of God 2010 - pages 71, 72
Another contributing rule was ‘the three year rule’ which allowed for known paedophiles to serve as elders, provided they had not committed any known offences for at least three years. In 1997 this position was also changed. Paedophiles were no longer allowed to serve as elders, ministerial servants or pioneers. For the protection of our children, a man known to have been a child molester does not qualify for a responsible position in the congregation. Moreover, he cannot be a pioneer or serve in any other special, full-time service.
The Watchtower 1 January 1997 - page 29
Taking a big step forward, the Society also confirmed that it was permissible to report an offence to the secular authorities after first consulting them. This had until then been discouraged to avoid bring reproach on the organization bearing Jehovah’s name:
If, after contacting the Society, it is determined that the elders should report a matter such as child abuse to the authorities, it would not be considered to be a breach of confidentiality to make such a report. Elders should always contact the Society before providing any information on confidential matters to secular authorities.
The Watchtower 1 January 1997
The stance regarding encouraging victims of abuse to remain silent was also changed:
Child abuse is a crime. Never suggest to anyone that they should not report an allegation of child abuse to the police or other authorities. If you are asked, make it clear that whether to report the matter to the authorities or not is a personal decision for each individual to make and that there are no congregation sanctions for either decision. Elders will not criticize anyone who reports such an allegation to the authorities. If the victim wishes to make a report, it is his or her absolute right to do so
Shepherd the Flock of God - pages 131,132
The Watchtower Society is now being held accountable for the actions of its members, and has already paid millions of dollars in out of court settlements. Worldwide media coverage and legal cases brought by those who have had the courage to come forward, have contributed towards these changes in policy. The foremost organization that has campaigned, reported and influenced these policy changes is silentlambs.com. If this subject is of particular importance to you then I suggest you visit this site.
There has been much criticism of the Watchtower Society's handling of this matter. This is an emotive subject which causes feelings to run high. The feelings of many understandable upset people have been publicly vented. It is appreciated that these changes have come too late to be of help to some victims. It is possible that the Society's reluctance to act more decisively has been partly caused by denial that such shocking things could happen inside their own organization. There has been genuine improvement in their policies regarding child abuse. They are now more transparent in the way cases are handled and keen to comply with the secular laws regarding paedophilia. Jehovah's Witnesses have always insisted on high moral standards in sexual matters and acted to maintain those standards. It is to their credit that they have accepted they have a problem, and acted to make their organization a less attractive environment for paedophiles.
Take from the book Can Jehovah’s Witnesses SURVIVE? By Trevor Willis 2012. Amazon Download available.
