The Australian Royal Commission really hammered them on that point. Even if their discussions with the accused were to be kept confidential, it would have mattered little if they had encouraged families to contact the authorities. But, of the over 1,000 cases in the branch office records (in Australia), not a single one was reported to police. 1,006 predators who abused at least 1,800 children over a 50-year period, and not one of them was turned in.
The elders in question did not even have to do anything more than advise the families to go to the cops. Or perhaps just get out of the way and let them report the crime. But they did the opposite in the cases that were investigated by the commission. They discouraged it, not wanting to 'drag Jehovah's name through the mud.' Now, that name has a lot more mud on it. The whole issue of clergy-penitent privilege is a red herring. They could have protected children. They chose not to.