Amarillo TX JW Abuse Case Continues

by blondie 8 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

  • blondie
    blondie

    http://www.moorenews.com/MOORENEWS/myarticles.asp?P=542558&S=505&PubID=8838

    Wednesday, June 11, 2003
    Top Story
    Elder charged with sexual abuse
    Lauri Zachry
    Staff Writer

    An Amarillo woman has filed a civil lawsuit against the national organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York and Jehovah’s Witnesses in Dumas and Amarillo. The woman claims a church elder sexually abused her for several years and church leaders did nothing to curtail the abuse.


    The suit was filed in the 251st District Court in Amarillo Tuesday by Amy B. against the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Kingdom Support Services, Watchtower Enterprises, Watchtower Foundation, Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Religious Order of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Dumas Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Amarillo-Southwest Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Larry Kelley.

    According to the suit, the Jehovah’s Witnesses appointed Kelley to the position as elder of the Dumas congregation before 1988.
    The suit said the Dumas congregation gave Kelley “the specific assignment of instructing and supervising children in the congregation.” He coordinated a children’s puppet show to “instruct and attract Jehovah’s Witness children.”

    The suit said the Watchtower group encouraged the families of the Dumas congregation to send their children to the Kelley’s home for “instruction and supervision.”


    The suit said Kelley used his position as an elder “with supervisory responsibility over children to sexually abuse them.” The suit said this happened while Kelley served in Dumas. It said Watchtower authorities did not report the abuse to the authorities or warn other members of the organization about the alleged abuse.
    The suit said he kept being placed in positions of authority and control over children in the congregation.

    Watchtower then transferred Kelley to the Amarillo-Southwest congregation and he became a ministerial servant. He was responsible for the children of the congregation.

    Amy B., the plaintiff in this suit who is now 23 years old, attended the Amarillo-Southwest congregation when she was 8 years old. The suit said this is when the alleged sexual abuse began for her. The suit said the plaintiff was allegedly abused from 1988-1992.
    Kelley was convicted of indecency with a child and sexual contact. The suit didn’t say whether or not it was against the plaintiff in the current civil suit.

    The suit said Kelley mainly allegedly molested young girls. According to the court documents, “by their conduct, the Watchtower defendants aided, abetted and ratified the abuse.”
    The documents said the Watchtower defendants have prohibited the victim and or the accuser from warning others or speaking about the matter to anyone under penalty of discipline.

    The suit claims for five years the organizations knew about the alleged abuse within the congregation and failed to act.
    The suit claims the defendants were negligent in failing to protect the plaintiff from abuse and seeks unspecified damages for medical expenses, counseling and psychological treatment and other damages.

    Marco Moreno, associate legal counsel with the Watchtower legal department, said the organization has just conducted an initial investigation. He said they believe neither Watchtower nor any of the congregation elders are responsible for her suffering.
    “Our hearts go out to the plaintiff, Amy B., for any anguish that she has suffered. However, at the time of the alleged abuse, the accused was not a congregation elder and he did not hold any other position of responsibility or authority with any congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Moreno said.

    The Dumas congregation and the Amarillo-Southwest congregation were not available for comment at press time.
    © 2001 Moore News All Rights Reserved.
  • Mulan
    Mulan

    There are a couple of glaring problems with this article, and the dubs will jump right on them too.

    gave Kelley “the specific assignment of instructing and supervising children in the congregation.” He coordinated a children’s puppet show to “instruct and attract Jehovah’s Witness children.”
    Watchtower then transferred Kelley to the Amarillo-Southwest congregation and he became a ministerial servant. He was responsible for the children of the congregation.

    Ridiculous. It nearly invalidates the whole article. I hope those comments are not in the court documents, or this case will be laughed out of court.

  • Nanoprobe
    Nanoprobe






















    Searching the Sex Offender Database

    Sex Offender Record Details
    NOTICE: DPS cannot guarantee the records you obtain through this site relate to the person about whom you are seeking information. Searches based on names, dates of birth and other alphanumeric identifiers are not always accurate. The only way to positively link someone to a criminal record is through fingerprint verification.

    KELLEY,LARRY KEITH

    DPS Number

    DOB Risk Level Sex Race 04670049 11/28/1938 NOT AVAILABLE MALE White Height Weight Eye Color Hair Color Shoe Size 510 175 BLU GRY 9.5

    Sex Offender Photo

    Photo(s)

    No Photo Available

    Alias Names

    Name

    KELLEY,LARRY

    Sex Offender Registration Record

    Date

    Agency 11/17/1997 TX1880100 AMARILLO PD

    Sex Offender Verification Record

    Date

    Agency 05/09/2003 tx1880100 AMARILLO PD

    Current Address

    Current Address

    Street 3113 SW 11th
    Apartment B
    City Amarillo
    County POTTER
    State TX
    Zip Code 79102

    Offense Data

    Sex Offender Offense

    Offense 36010001 Indecency w/child Sexual Contact
    General Offense Code
    Counts 1
    Victim's Sex Female
    Victim's Age 4.0
    Disposition Date 08/26/1992
    Time 10Y
    Status PROBATION

    Offense Data

    Sex Offender Offense

    Offense 36010001 Indecency w/child Sexual Contact
    General Offense Code
    Counts 1
    Victim's Sex Female
    Victim's Age 12.0
    Disposition Date 12/22/1992
    Time 10Y
    Status PROBATION

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    WEB3 {ts '2003-06-11 09:34:17'}

  • blondie
    blondie

    Maybe we should e-mail the reporter for clarification.

    Blondie

  • SixofNine
    SixofNine
    gave Kelley “the specific assignment of instructing and supervising children in the congregation.” He coordinated a children’s puppet show to “instruct and attract Jehovah’s Witness children.”
    Watchtower then transferred Kelley to the Amarillo-Southwest congregation and he became a ministerial servant. He was responsible for the children of the congregation.

    I wouldn't worry too much about those statements. They may not be JW speak, or even ex-JW speak, but it doesn't mean these assertions can't be proven in a court of law using facts specific to this case, and documented JW organisational structure.

  • Shutterbug
    Shutterbug

    We currently live some 50 miles from Amarillo and some 60 miles from Dumas. I have been in contact with a young lady in Dumas who knew Larry Kelly and trying to make sense of what she said to me in the email and what was said in the paper is not possible. The dates are not jiving. I have been trying to contact another ex witness in Amarillo to try and make sense of all of this but he is apparently out of town right now. Will update you on this as soon as I know anything. Bug

  • blondie
    blondie

    In the news again:

    Witnesses, ex-elder file court papers By JIM McBRIDE
    [email protected]

    Publication Date: 07/17/03

    The national Jehovah's Witnesses organization and a former elder in the Dumas congregation have filed court documents denying claims in a lawsuit filed by a woman who said she was sexually abused for several years and that church officials failed to halt the abuse.

    The negligence suit, filed earlier this year in 251st District Court, was filed by Amy B. against Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Larry Kelley and several other organizations, including the Dumas Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Amarillo-Southwest Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

    According to the suit:

  • The Jehovah's Witnesses organization appointed Kelley as elder of the Dumas congregation sometime before 1988. Kelley, who had a puppet show to instruct the congregation's children, used his position as elder to sexually abuse children.

  • While Kelley was a Dumas elder, church officials learned he was sexually abusing children of the congregation, but they did not report the alleged abuse to authorities or warn other members of the church organization.

  • Kelley used his leadership post to abuse other children at an Amarillo church, including the 23-year-old plaintiff, who was 8 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. In 1992, Kelley was convicted of indecency with a child/sexual contact.

    In his response to the suit, Kelley filed a court brief claiming that he committed indecency with a child in Dumas, but that the offense was with a girl from Amarillo.

    Kelley said he went to the elders of the Dumas congregation the next day and confessed what he had done. In court documents, Kelley states that he completed 10 years in a sex offender program and has finished 10 years of shock probation.

    "I don't intend to minimize my offense, however, plaintiff implies that abuse took place from 1988 through 1992 when, in fact, there were only two instances of sexual contact," Kelley's brief says.

    In court briefs, Marvin Jones, an attorney representing the out-of-state Jehovah's Witnesses groups, denied all claims in the woman's lawsuit and asked the judge to dismiss claims against three out-of state defendants.

    Click here to return to story:
    http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/071703/new_witnesses.shtml

    © The Amarillo Globe-News Online

  • Gopher
    Gopher

    Didn't a recent "Watchtower" issue say that the congregation will NOT PROTECT child abusers from prosecution?

    They don't care about the victims. They only care about covering their butts.

  • blondie
    blondie

    Another installment

    http://www.moorenews.com/MOORENEWS/myarticles.asp?P=549879&S=505&PubID=9007

    Wednesday, July 23, 2003
    Top Story
    Defendant responds to sexual abuse allegations
    Lauri Zachry
    Staff Writer
    The national Jehovah’s Witnesses organization and Larry Kelley, a former elder in the Dumas and Amarillo congregation of the church, have filed court documents denying allegations of sexual abuse which were filed by a former member of the Amarillo Congregation.
    Amy B., the plaintiff, filed a negligence suit in the 251st District Court at the beginning of June against Kelley, the Watchtower and Bible Tract Society of New York, the Dumas congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Amarillo-Southwest congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
    The first papers of the suit said the Jehovah’s Witnesses appointed Kelley to the position of elder of the Dumas congregation before 1988.
    The suit said the Dumas congregation gave Kelley “the specific assignment of instructing and supervising children in the congregation.” He coordinated a children’s puppet show to “instruct and attract Jehovah’s Witness children.”
    The suit said the Watchtower group encouraged the families of the Dumas congregation to send their children to the Kelley’s home for “instruction and supervision.”
    The suit said Kelley used his position as an elder “with supervisory responsibility over children to sexually abuse them.” The suit said this happened while Kelley served in Dumas.
    Watchtower then transferred Kelley to the Amarillo-Southwest congregation and he became a ministerial servant.
    He was responsible for the children of the congregation.
    Amy B. attended the Amarillo-Southwest congregation when she was eight years old and is now 23 years old.
    The suit said this is when the alleged sexual abuse began for her. The suit said the plaintiff was allegedly abused from 1988-1992. In 1992, Kelley was convicted of indecency with a child and sexual contact. The suit alleges Kelley molested mainly young girls.
    Kelley filed his answer to the plaintiff’s, Amy B., original petition.
    The brief states when he committed his only indecency with a child offense in Dumas it was not with a young girl from the Dumas congregation, but it was with a girl who lived in Amarillo.
    Kelley said in the brief “I felt such disgust for my behavior that I went to the elders of the Dumas congregation the next day and confessed what I had done.”
    Kelley said in the Dumas congregation he served as an elder, but was never given the specific assignment of instructing and supervising children in the congregation.
    The brief said “the only time children would come to our home was with their parents for an organized home Bible study or in a social setting.”
    The brief said he was removed immediately from all positions of authority and was forbidden to make any comment at any meeting. He said he was then instructed to go to his wife and to the girl’s parents and tell them what he had done.
    The original suit said the Watchtower defendants have prohibited the victim from warning the others or speaking about the matter to anyone under penalty of discipline. The suit also claims for five years the organizations knew about the alleged abuse within the congregation and failed to act.
    In Kelley’s brief, he said he wasn’t transferred by the Watchtower defendants, but he moved to Amarillo for business reasons
    In 1992, Kelley spent several months incarcerated and completed 10 years of therapy in an approved sex offenders and victims program. He also completed 10 years of “shock probation.”
    “I don’t intend to minimize my offense, but plaintiff implies abuse took place from 1988 through 1992. There were only two instances of sexual misconduct,” Kelley’s brief said.
    According to other court briefs, Marvin Jones, an attorney representing the out-of-state Jehovah’s Witnesses groups, denied all claims in the woman’s lawsuit and asked the judge to dismiss claims against three out-of-state defendants.
    © 2001 Moore News All Rights Reserved.

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