New news item!!!! This is from today! Feb 15th 2016
The top leadership of the Jehovah’s Witness worldwide organization
could face criminal charges in a cover-up of alleged child sexual abuse.

Ronald Lawrence
The District 18 District Attorney’s
Office in the State of Oklahoma filed a motion on Jan. 28, 2014 in the
case of accused molester Ronald Lawrence that alleges
the top leadership of the Jehovah’s Witness Church knew about claims of
child rape and molestation and deliberately concealed them.
“The actions of the church, their banishment of Lawrence on one or
more occasion and the directives of the governing body toward the
victims and their family members regarding these crimes were actions of
concealment and further actions preventing the victims from reporting
the crimes to law enforcement,” the motion states.
In November 2013, Ronald Lawrence a former church elder was charged
in Pittsburg County Oklahoma District Court with 19 felony counts,
including 11 of molestation, seven of forcible sodomy, and one of rape
by instrumentation against two preteen girls and one 5-year-old boy.
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses is accused of giving
directives to congregation elders to conceal the accusations. The
Governing Body is made up of eight senior male members of the church,
and provides leadership and direction to the roughly 8 million Jehovah’s
Witnesses worldwide.
“As a group we applaud this action
by the District Attorney’s office and hope that justice is served and
the victims are finally given the help that they need,” stated Richard
Kelly, a former Jehovah’s Witness who is now the managing director of
the organization, Advocates for Awareness of Watchtower Abuses or AAWA.
“The top leadership of this religious group has made a concerted effort
to conceal child molestation within the organization. It is heartening
to see that they will be held accountable.”
Cases similar to this have been filed in recent years including the
notable Candace Conti suit in California which the Jehovah’s Witness
organization lost. However, to the AAWA’s knowledge, this is the first
time that the top leaders of a religious organization have been named in
such a case.
About the Author
Ronald Lawrence child molestation case reveals cover-up by Jehovah Witness Church