Front page of Asbury Park Press Tuesday, May 14.
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Molestation case leads to church fight
Published in the Asbury Park Press 5/14/02
By JASON METHOD
STAFF WRITER
A Belmar couple say they face excommunication from a local Jehovah's Witnesses congregation for publicly complaining about how child sexual abuse cases are handled within the church.
Corinne Holloway (center) believes the Jehovah's Witnesses are wrong for holding a disciplinary hearing against her parents, Barbara and Carl Pandelo.
Carl and Barbara Pandelo, who have criticized the church in published reports for allowing their daughter's molester -- her grandfather -- back into membership, said they are awaiting a decision on excommunication from the Jehovah's Witnesses of Bradley Beach.
"They're defaming our name," said Barbara Pandelo, 53. "They make it sound like we did something wrong."
A letter from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the denomination's legal corporation, informed the Pandelos they were to appear May 6 at the local Kingdom Hall for a church judicial hearing on charges of apostasy, or abandonment of faith. The couple delivered letters of protest but didn't stay for the hearing.
The letter did not say why the charges were being brought. "The judicial committee would like to try and help Mr. and Mrs. Pandelo if they have sincere doubts," the letter said.
Leaders at the local church could not be reached for comment.
The Pandelos say they and two others who are also upset by handling of molestation cases -- William H. Bowen of Kentucky and Barbara Anderson of Tennessee -- were each given similar letters by their local congregations after they granted interviews to an NBC-TV news magazine show.
"Headquarters wants everyone to believe it's a coincidence, that people are being brought in for being sinful," said Carl Pandelo, 51, a wholesale health food salesman. "I have a hard time believing that."
A Jehovah's Witnesses national spokesman, David Semonian, cited confidentiality rules and said the church could not discuss the Pandelos' case. "The proceedings may focus on sins unrelated to any public comments on sexual abuse," he said.
Semonian said the church does not have specific rules against talking to the media, but churches could take action against those who disrupt the unity of the church.
The Pandelos say their daughter, Corinne, was molested by her grandfather, a Jehovah's Witnesses elder in Passaic County, from the time she was a toddler until age 12 when, in 1988, she reported the assaults to her parents.
According to The Associated Press, the grandfather, Clement Pandelo of Paramus, pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of criminal sexual conduct. Court documents reveal Clement Pandelo admitted to having fondled girls for 40 years.
Clement Pandelo was placed on five years' probation in the plea agreement. He could not be reached for comment. The Belmar Pandelos said they agreed to the deal because they didn't want their daughter to have to go through a trial, and because of pressure from the church.
Barbara Pandelo said the couple sued Clement Pandelo and won a multimillion-dollar judgment.
The Pandelos said they became angry at the Jehovah's Witnesses church when, during the civil trial, the elders of the Passaic County church declined to testify on their behalf about what they knew of the offenses.
"We witnessed elders covering up," Carl Pandelo said. "It was such a broken trust. I could not bring myself to go back in there. I could not step foot into a Kingdom Hall."
Clement Pandelo was excommunicated from the church, but he was later allowed to return. Semonian confirmed that he is a member of the Hawthorne congregation.
Semonian said he did not know about the Pandelo case. He said anyone convicted of child molestation cannot hold a position of authority in the church and cannot perform church work alone.
The Pandelos said they do not attend a church of any denomination at all now and are disenchanted with organized religion.
Corinne Pandelo Holloway, now 25, lives in Spring Lake Heights and works at the Atlantic Club in Wall. She said she has been attending therapy for years.
She said she is also disenchanted with the church over the way it has handled the situation.
"It's a really sad situation, and heartbreaking," she said. "My parents aren't bad people. All they've really done is try to pro-tect me."
