Tuesday, August 7, 2001
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New Hampshire women to file suit against Jehovah’s Witnesses
By HARRY R. WEBER
Associated Press Writer
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — In a challenge to the Jehovah’s Witnesses belief in shunning secular authority, two young New Hampshire women have accused the order of concealing their sexual abuse allegations.
A suit expected to be filed Wednesday in Hillsborough County Superior Court names as defendants the abuser, the Wilton congregation where they belonged and the religious order’s governing body in New York City. It seeks unspecified damages.
"The organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses has specifically developed policies, practices and procedures which dictate that the elders are the appropriate authorities to whom abuse by (members) is to be reported," the suit states.
"The victim and/or accuser is routinely encouraged and required not to report suspected abuse by a (member) to the authorities outside of the organization ... as it would bring reproach on God and the organization."
Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul, Minn., lawyer who is the plaintiffs’ lead counsel, said such allegations have been made against the Jehovah’s Witnesses in 20 states. The order has about 5.5 million members worldwide.
"What’s more shocking is this is a practice that is employed throughout the church," Anderson said. "They have a practice of giving a sanctuary to known pedophiles."
In a statement from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, which oversees Jehovah’s Witness congregations nationwide, the group said it does not condone sexual abuse.
"Jehovah’s Witnesses condemn child molestation, and they do not tolerate such activity within their membership," the group said. "If there is sufficient evidence that someone has exploited children in this way, he may be disfellowshipped."
The group said it does not interfere in victims’ rights to report incidents of sexual abuse to police.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught the faith is the authority and the only way to salvation. They are to bring all problems to their religious leaders first.
Members refuse to bear arms, salute the flag or participate in secular government. They also refuse to accept blood transfusions.
The New Hampshire suit involves the case of Paul Berry, who was charged with molesting two girls during a six-year period in the 1980s when one was as young as 3 years old. Berry was convicted of molesting one of the girls and sentenced to 56 years in prison.
The girls now are 22 and 19.
Anderson’s office said the girls waited until the completion of the criminal case before pursuing their civil suit.
The abuser and the girls belonged to a Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Wilton, a town of 3,300 in southern New Hampshire.
The suit said the girls’ mother repeatedly told Jehovah’s Witness elders of the abuse. The elders in turn told the mother to keep the issue within the organization and that she should "be a better wife" and that she should "pray more about the situation," the suit said.
"Plaintiff’s mother was a devout Jehovah’s Witness and was taught to respect the word of the elders as the word of Jehovah or God and follow the directions, guidance, policies and practices of the organization," the suit stated.
The beliefs of the order have had consequences at other Jehovah’s Witness congregations throughout the country.
Late last year, William Bowen resigned as an elder at a western Kentucky congregation to protest how the denomination handles accusations of child molestation.
Bowen said a Jehovah’s Witnesses policy requiring two people to witness wrongdoing before it is acknowledged by leaders makes it nearly impossible to prove child molestation occurs.
In New Jersey, a couple left the order after their 12-year-old daughter told them she was being molested by her grandfather, who also was a member of the faith. The daughter won a multimillion-dollar lawsuit last year against the grandfather’s insurance company.