Chain of correspondence with Society regarding pedophilia

by cedars 43 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  cedars

  Hi everyone

  I have been given permission by Barbara Anderson to relay some interesting correspondence related to the Society's negiligent approach to child abuse. It should be said at the outset that these letters are anonymous, and the only thing that can be said with certainty is that they are letters addressing the subject of child abuse that were likely sent some time between 1997 and 2004.

  With names and dates having been removed, it is impossible to verify the events described in these letters, although IF TRUE, they betray a shocking arrogance and apathy on the part of the Society. They also describe pedophiles running virtually unchecked in certain congregations with little or no safeguards for their victims. Parents are said to be intimidated into keeping the names of the abusers of their children confidential, and the impression is given of pedophiles being allowed to abuse repeatedly with hardly any sanction - with some even reporting hours from their jail cell.

  Here is a link to the letters: http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/documents/Child_Abuse_in_Canada.pdf

  These letters were first disclosed to Barbara in 2004 and are only now being made public following the sad death of the author of the initial correspondence, as well as his wife. I am led to believe that the author continued to be a devout Witness and regular pioneer right up to his passing, as did his wife. I am also led to believe that the same author was told by a detective investigating the cases of child abuse and the suspicious deaths of informants that the Witness organization in North America appeared at the time to be "infiltrated" by pedophiles. This was obviously a number of years ago.

  Both Barbara and I believe that some improvements have been made respecting the way cases of child abuse are handled, but there are still glaringly obvious "loopholes" in Society policy that allow the potential for committed and devious pedophiles to go about their perverted practices without sanction. Most notably, there is the fact that the "two witness" rule still takes overwhelming precedent in deliberating cases of pedophilia. If a pedophile says he "didn't do it", and he wasn't witnessed by someone other than his victim, he gets off "scott free". The Society MUST bring about urgent reform in this area, as such a callous and negligent approach places untold millions of children in harm's way.

  I will be writing a lengthy blog article on the issue of child abuse in the near future, but in the mean time, I would like to thank Barbara for making this information available.

  Cedars
• 

  wha happened?

  Were these letters sent to the society? Or are these letters addressed to a different website?
• 

  life is to short

  Thank you so much Cedars for posting this.

  I truly appreciate you doing this.

  LITS
• 

  wha happened?

  nevermind, I went to the link.
• 

  cedars

  Evidently, they were addressed to both the legal department and the "presidents office". Replies are then received from the Writing Department and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada.

  As I said, it's impossible to verify the correspondence - but if authentic, it is disturbing.

  Cedars
• 

  mP

  one mus remember that pedophilia is not actually banned in the bible. pedophilia was never a crime in many ormost ancient cultures. greeks and romans elites all kept boys and were very much into man boy love or pedastry. any argument cannot say aduktry or illegal sex is banned in the bible, because paedastry was not bammed by the romans. in fact nearly every cesar in the first century had a boy toy. look it up in wikipedia if you want.

  if one remembers these facts and the fact that rape was okay providing she didnt belong too another man, then its no surpriae pedophila was alos ok.

  deu 22:28+

  man rapes virgin, punishment must buy her from father.
• 

  Lady Lee

  wow Not much of a response from Bethel
• 

  steve2

  I was astonished to see the letter writing appeared to stop at the author's allegation that (presumably) fellow Jehovah's witnesses not only tampered with his motor vehicle(s), but the tampering resulted in the deaths of three people.

  Is this the first time this information is being revealed on a public forum?

  Was this ever reported to the police?

  What evidence, if any, emerged about the death threats (e.g., letters? phone calls?) and the motor vehicle accidents. As it stands, the allegations seem extraordinary - I am not stating that these events did not happen - but, if true, I wonder how the unnamed author could have possibly remained either in the congregation or alive.

  Can any other poster shed light on this?
• 

  Bangalore

  Thanks Cedars and Barbara.

  Bangalore
• 

  irondork

  WTS: We are sending a copy of your letter dated ********* to the elders and are asking them for their comments.

  Is this their way of informing the elder body who the trouble makers are and informing the trouble maker that he is now being exposed? For an organization that is steeped in secrecy, how else can a statement like this be interpreted?

  If inquiries needed to be made of the elders regarding the contents of these letters, would it not have made sense to discuss only the contents of the letters? What possible benefit to the situation is there by exposing the identity of the person raising these concerns if not to purposely draw attention to and cause problems for the author?

  The author of these letters must have felt the same way because in his followup letter he states, "I am reporting these matters in confidence to your Brooklyn offices and therefore, I humbly request that you do not betray my confidence."

  Come on! A two year-old could see through this.