http://www.google.com/#bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&fp=87586161f4bd1a9b&q=child+molestation+jehovah+witness
52,800 hits Speaks for itself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses'_handling_of_child_sex_abuse
According to Witness spokesman J. R. Brown, Jehovah's Witnesses are not required to report crimes to elders before calling civil authorities. Victims and their families are free to call police, he said, although some don't choose to. [43] However, this position has yet to be stated clearly in the Society's literature. Furthermore, critics [weasel words] argue that Jehovah's Witnesses often approach elders first through fear of facing repercussions for 'taking their brother to court', based on their interpretation of 1 Corinthians 6:1–7. [citation needed]
A circular sent to elders in the United States stated: "In those states where such is required, oftentimes the parent, the guardian, or the accused person himself can do the reporting. In this way the confidentiality protected by ecclesiastical privilege is not violated." [44] The Watch Tower Society maintains its existing policy, without an explicit requirement for elders to report all child abuse cases where such is not required by law. [37] [38] In one case, elders urged a perpetrator himself to go to police. [45] However, in their official guidelines, elders are instructed to "leave matters in Jehovah's hands" if an abuser denies the accusations and there is no second witness available. [41] [46]
Sex offender database [ edit source | edit beta ]
The headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Watch Tower Society, requires all congregations to submit details of child abuse allegations and maintains a database on all cases of child abuse reported to them. A spokesperson for the Watch Tower Society stated in May 2002, "Apart from being legally needed, they have been very helpful to us in our efforts to protect the flock from harm. Christian parents can rightly feel secure in the knowledge that such efforts are made to screen out possible child abusers from appointment to responsible positions within the congregation." [47] The database is not shared with authorities, and inquiries regarding the contents of the database are not addressed. Critics [weasel words] argue that its very existence represents an effort to shield pedophiles from the authorities. [citation needed] In July 2012 the hacktivist group Anonymous threatened to hack into the database and make its contents public, but they have yet to produce any evidence of having done so. [citation needed]
Support groups [ edit source | edit beta ]
In December 2011, a group of former Jehovah's Witnesses in Indiana began a support and information service reaching out to help those who were abused as children by members of Jehovah's Witnesses. The group initiated an information campaign calling for enforcement of "No Trespassing" signs and holding Jehovah's Witnesses accountable for trespass, as a result of child abuse allegations made in Indiana. [48]
Lawsuits [ edit source | edit beta ]
In a press release dated November 21, 2007, Jehovah's Witnesses' Office of Public Information stated: [49]
In the United States, over 80,000 elders currently serve in over 12,300 congregations … During the last 100 years, only eleven elders have been sued for child abuse in thirteen lawsuits filed in the United States; In seven of these lawsuits against the elders, accusations against the Watchtower Society itself were dismissed by the courts.
In 2004, a Canadian court awarded CAD$5000 to a plaintiff for the negligence of an elder who failed to follow the official policy of the church. However, the court dismissed charges against the Watch Tower Society, and directed the plaintiff to pay the Watch Tower Society's legal fees amounting to CAD$142,000. [50]
In 2007 during a ground-breaking trial motion in the Napa, California court against the Watchtower Society, victims' lawyers convinced the court that 'ecclesiastical privilege' does not supersede the legal obligation of clergy to report child sex abuse to secular authorities. The Watchtower Society paid an undisclosed amount without admitting wrongdoing in an out-of-court settlement with 16 unnamed victims of alleged sexual abuse within the religion. [51] According to court documents obtained by NBC News, one plaintiff was awarded over US$780,000. [52]
Newspapers have reported that subpoenaed elders decline to testify against accused penitents, citing the confidentiality of penitent-clergy privilege. [53] However elders did not object to testifying once a specific matter of penitent-clergy privilege had been adjudicated. [54]
In June 2012, a California court ordered the Watch Tower Society to pay more than US$20 million in compensation and punitive damages to a woman who, as a child, was allegedly abused by a member. The court found that congregation elders, following the policies of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, contributed to the abuse. In the post-trial motion, the Watch Tower Society's attorney stated in a court memorandum that no United States court has previously found its conduct or policy regarding sex abuse to be unlawful, claiming that the Watch Tower Society's reprehensibility is "very low" if any. [55] The court reduced the Watch Tower Society's total liability to US$10 million, stating that the elders as agents of the Watch Tower Society failed to disclose to other parents regarding the confession of the molester who inappropriately touched his step daughter, adding that the reprehensibility is of "medium range". [56] Lawyers for the Society appealed the ruling, calling the decision "unprecedented" and denying responsibility for abuse. [57] [58] [59] [60] [61]