Local/Regional ยป News Item Wednesday, August 8, 2001
Jehovah's Witnesses shield sexual abusers, suit claims
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By Peter Smith
The Courier-Journal
The Jehovah's Witnesses church has shielded sexual predators from the law and humiliated their victims, according to a lawsuit expected to be filed today that challenges the church's policy on sexual molestation.
Filed on behalf of an adult daughter and stepdaughter of Paul Berry, a Jehovah's Witness convicted last year of sexual assault, the lawsuit will name as defendants Berry, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York -- the religion's national organization -- and Berry's Wilton, N.H., congregation.
''The victim/accuser is routinely encouraged and required not to report suspected abuse by a (member) to the authorities . . . as it would bring reproach on God and the organization,'' the lawsuit, to be filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H., alleges.
The lawsuit also alleges that church policies, practices and procedures -- enforced by elders -- have the effect of ''blaming, humiliating and disciplining victims'' instead of sexual predators.
The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages, but the plaintiffs also want the church to change its policies.
''I hope that it gets enough coverage that people know that the Jehovah's Witnesses made a huge mistake,'' said Heather Berry of Charlestown, N.H., who, along with her stepsister, Holly Berry, of Berkeley, Calif., agreed to speak publicly.
Church spokesman David Semonian defended the organization's policies.
''We do believe our principles and policies involved in the issue are very sound,'' he said, adding that church elders would never stop a member from going to the police.
''As elders, we're dealing with the sin,'' he said yesterday. ''The authorities are dealing with the crime, so we're not going to get in the way of that.''
The Courier-Journal reported in February that critics say the Jehovah's Witnesses' secretive disciplinary proceedings have allowed pedophiles to go unreported and put the public at risk -- charges that church leaders emphatically deny.
Jehovah's Witnesses leaders say they report allegations of child sexual abuse in states where the law requires it. In other states, they say they can better handle such allegations themselves and try not to violate what they say are confidential discussions between church members and their elders -- lay persons who lead local congregations.
But attorney Jeffrey Anderson, who will file the Berrys' suit, alleged the Jehovah's Witnesses have a ''rigid patriarchal hierarchy that seems to believe it can operate above the law.
''This church is free to believe whatever they want, but this is about doing harm to children (and) giving sanctuary to pedophiles,'' said Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., whose firm has successfully sued the Roman Catholic Church and other religious organizations in cases of clergy sexual abuse nationwide.
William Bowen, a former Kentucky Jehovah's Witnesses elder, said the case ''is simply about making Jehovah's Witnesses understand they have the same rules as everyone else.'' Bowen resigned Dec. 31 as leader of the Draffenville, Ky., congregation and is now campaigning to change church policies on sexual abuse.
Jehovah's Witnesses, known for their door-to-door evangelism, have nearly 1 million American members and 6 million worldwide. The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based movement claims to teach the true version of Christianity.
In internal disciplinary hearings, church officials say they use a biblical burden of proof that considers the accused innocent unless he or she admits guilt or is accused by at least two witnesses.
The lawsuit argues that because sexual abuse usually happens in secret, ''victims often cannot offer the required proof.''
Semonian said elders investigate all allegations, even if there is only one witness.
Berry was convicted in July 2000 of repeatedly molesting his stepdaughter, Holly, from the time she was 4 through age 10. Among his offenses, Berry suspended her from hooks in a barn and strapped her to a tree during episodes of sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 56 years in prison.
Berry also faced charges that he molested Heather Berry, but prosecutors did not try that case because he already received such a severe sentence. Heather did give a victim's impact statement at her father's sentencing.
Twenty-nine elders and members of Berry's Wilton congregation proclaimed his innocence at his sentencing Oct. 31. Some said they would trust their children with him.
But Sara Poisson, Berry's former wife and an ex-Jehovah's Witness, said she had told elders that her husband was beating their children and possibly molesting one of them. Elders told her ''be a better wife'' and ''pray more,'' she said.
There is no evidence the elders ever reported the suspected abuse, despite New Hampshire law requiring them to do so.
Roy King, an elder in the Wilton congregation, declined to comment, saying elders need to talk with church lawyers about the case.
Jehovah's Witnesses officials say members are free to go to police if they choose.
The lawsuit, however, said members would only do so on the guidance of their elders, who are considered ''appointed by Holy Spirit'' and ''specially endowed with wisdom and understanding.''
The lawsuit was served on Watchtower and Wilton congregation officials in recent days and was expected to be served on Berry yesterday. New Hampshire law requires defendants to be served with a lawsuit before it is filed with the court.
A Courier-Journal investigation earlier this year found other court challenges to Jehovah's Witnesses' handling of abuse cases.
For example, a Houston family settled a lawsuit in 1999 with the church over claims that elders failed to alert authorities after learning that a teen-age boy was molesting his younger sister. The teen has since been convicted.
In an Augusta, Maine, case, pretrial testimony indicated that elders secretly disciplined a molester but did not warn his congregation about him. The molester later abused an elder's stepson. The church, while not challenging any allegations in the victim's lawsuit, was cleared of legal liability in 1999 by the state's highest court.