OBSERVATION of an article found in the March 1, 2008 Watchtower about Olga Campbell, Merton's wife. I
The text which I copied below I took from pgs. 39 and 40 of the commentary found in "Secrets of Pedophilia in an American Religion" CD which pages I originally copied from the court documents.
I find it fascinating that this article appeared in the WT (not Awake!) about Olga along with her and Merton's photo. (Also, note the complimentary statements about Merton.) It's like Watchtower leaders are saying, "Merton is ok in every way with us," even though he was guilty of reappointing James Henderson, a known molester, as an elder at least five times over a period of thirty years although Henderson's predatory habits were reported to Campbell many times.
22. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., had actual knowledge that James Henderson was a sexual predator since at least 1964. Yet, for the better part of three decades, they appointed and re-appointed him to the positions of elder and ministerial servant. They also permitted him to move from congregation to congregation, committing acts of sexual perversion and abuse, acts which were reported, again and again, to various Jehovah's Witnesses entities.
23. On July 13, 1964, the Clearlake Highlands Congregation wrote the Service Department of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., describing an incident in which Henderson had sodomized another congregation member who had passed out from intoxication. The letter quoted Henderson, who had occupied appointed positions in the congregation since 1962, as telling the victim that he had "done it only once before."
24. The letter, which actually sought counsel about whether to disfellowship Henderson's victim for having an extramarital, heterosexual affair, was received by Merton Victor Campbell, the service department "desk man" in charge of California. As a desk man, Campbell was responsible for providing advice to congregations, including, occasionally, direction as to whether a member should be disfellowshipped. He also had been delegated the authority to appoint elders and ministerial servants. He was a managing agent of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
25. Campbell recognized that Henderson was a danger to others in the congregation. Nevertheless, eight years later, Campbell, acting as an agent and managing agent of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. and the Governing Body, appointed Henderson to the positions of congregation servant, then elder and field overseer in the Ukiah, California Congregation.
26. Since at least the mid-1960s, congregations have sent letters of introduction, as described above, when a member moves to a new congregation, and those letter were supposed to describe any accusations of serious offenses, such as child sexual abuse. Thus, according to the policies of the WATCHTOWER DEFENDANTS, the Ukiah Congregation would have been advised about Henderson's past.
27. From Ukiah, Henderson moved to Yuba City where he was again appointed elder. He was removed from that position in about 1974 after he confessed to a judicial committee that he had "done some perverted things with two young men." Even his wife was not told the reason he was reproved. The Jehovah's Witnesses' practice was, and remains, that members can be disciplined secretly and even their spouses are not told the reason. However, according to the policies of the WATCHTOWER DEFENDANTS, the service department would have received a report.
28. Henderson moved on to another congregation and, if the Watchtower Defendants' policies were followed, a letter of introduction followed him. At some point during the 1970s, Henderson was again reproved and removed from his position of elder or ministerial servant by a congregation in the Marysville, California area for sexual abuse. Another report would have been made to headquarters.
29. On January 21, 1981, The Upper Lake Congregation wrote a letter of introduction for Henderson to the Red Bluff Congregation stating, among other things, that Upper Lake had considered appointing him to be a ministerial servant. It mentioned nothing about his criminal past.
30. On November 23,1988, Henderson, by then an elder in Red Bluff North, was appointed to be Red Bluff City Overseer. At about the same time, an elder or ministerial servant from the Red Bluff South Congregation received and ignored a report that Henderson had molested a young boy at Henderson' place of employment.
31. On October 20, 1992, a young man called an elder at the Red Bluff congregation and told him that he had been molested by Henderson. He also told the elder that Henderson had signed a confession admitting to abusing him and others. He offered to meet with the elder and give him a copy of the confession. The elder rejected the offer and told him not to contact him again.
32. After another Henderson victim went to the police in 1994, Henderson confessed to elder Bodie Lyon that he had committed child sexual abuse. Once again, the WATCHTOWER DEFENDANTS attempted to deal with Henderson with a slap on the wrist reproval - until information about other victims, including Plaintiff, was brought to their attention and, more importantly, the attention of the Red Bluff police. Finally, Henderson was disfellowshipped.
33. Thus, at least five times, between 1963 and 1993, when Henderson's abuse of Tim Ward began, the WATCHTOWER DEFENDANTS received reports that Henderson had committed a sexual crime.
34. Beginning in 1993, thirty years after the WATCHTOWER DEFENDANTS first had actual, incontrovertible knowledge that James Henderson was a dangerous sexual predator, they negligently allowed him unsupervised access to Plaintiff, Tim W. Predictably, he exploited the confidence and respectability that his status as elder and city overseer conferred and began to prey upon Tim W. The abuse continued until 1994.
35. By repeatedly appointing Henderson to serve as an elder and permitting him to remain in that position, the WATCHTOWER DEFENDANTS put him in a position of trust and confidence vis-a-vis his congregation. The WATCHTOWER DEFENDANTS knew that congregation members would view him as being worthy of their trust and that they would feel comfortable entrusting him with their children's safety. Likewise, the children in the congregation were taught that they could trust elders and ministerial servants such as Henderson.
36. The WATCHTOWER DEFENDANTS intentionally concealed a material fact from Plaintiff Tim W. and his mother. They withheld the knowledge that Henderson had been, for at least three decades, a sexual predator whose conduct they tolerated and covered up and thus aided and abetted. The WATCHTOWER DEFENDANTS concealed this information because they valued secrecy above the rights and safety of children in the congregation. They thus concealed this material fact with the intention of depriving Tim W. and others of their legal right to be safe.
