http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses'_handling_of_child_sex_abuse
As with other religious organizations, Jehovah's Witnesses have been obliged in recent years to develop child protection policies to deal with cases of child sexual abuse in their congregations. Jehovah's Witnesses strongly denounce all kinds of sexual abuse, and according to a 2009 study there were no more documented cases of sexual abuse among Jehovah's Witnesses than among society in general. [1] The Watch Tower Societystates that incidence of this crime among Jehovah’s Witnesses is rare. [2]
Details of the Society's child abuse policies have been published in Jehovah's Witnesses' publications, although more specific guidelines are only made available to elders, or on request. Press releases issued by the Watch Tower Society's Office of Public Information confirm that if a person accused of molestation repeatedly denies the charges of his victim, and there is no other witness to the incident, "the elders cannot take action within the congregation at that time", but would report to authorities if required by local laws. [3] [4]
Critics have accused Jehovah's Witnesses of employing organizational policies that make the reporting of sexual abuse difficult for members. [5] [6] [7] [8] Some victims of sexual abuse have asserted that they were ordered by certain local elders to maintain silence so as to avoid embarrassment to both the accused and the organization. [5] [6] [7] [8] Jehovah's Witnesses maintain that they have no policy of silence, and that elders are directed to report abuse to authorities when there is evidence of abuse, and when required to by law. In 1997, Jehovah's Witnesses' Office of Public Information published their policy for elders to report allegations of child abuse to the authorities where required by law to do so, even if there was only one witness. [9] Individuals known to have sexually abused a child are generally prohibited from holding any position of responsibility inside the organization. [10] Unless considered by the congregation elders to demonstrate repentance, such a person is typically disfellowshipped. [11]
In June 2012, the Superior Court of Alameda, California, ordered the Watch Tower Society to pay $21 million in punitive damages, in addition to compensatory damages, after finding that the Society's policy to not disclose child abuse history of a member to parents in the congregation or to report abuse to authorities contributed to the sexual abuse of a nine-year-old girl. [12] [13] Her attorney claimed at the time that it was the "largest jury verdict for a single victim in a religious child abuse case in the country". [12] The plaintiff claimed in her lawsuit that the national leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses formed a policy in 1989 that instructed elders to keep child sex abuse accusations within the group secret to avoid lawsuits. [13] A subsequent motion in September 2012 resulted in a reduction of the punitive damages to $8.61 million. [14] The Watch Tower Society appealed the revised ruling, and the case is ongoing. [15]......
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Lawsuits [ edit ]
In a press release dated November 21, 2007, Jehovah's Witnesses' Office of Public Information stated: [54]
In the United States, over 80,000 elders currently serve in over 12,300 congregations … During the last 100 years, only eleven elders have been sued for child abuse in thirteen lawsuits filed in the United States; In seven of these lawsuits against the elders, accusations against the Watchtower Society itself were dismissed by the courts.
In 2004, a Canadian court awarded CAD$5000 to a plaintiff for the negligence of an elder who failed to follow the official policy of the church. However, the court dismissed charges against the Watch Tower Society, and directed the plaintiff to pay the Watch Tower Society's legal fees amounting to CAD$142,000. [55]
In 2007 during a ground-breaking trial motion in the Napa, California court against the Watchtower Society, victims' lawyers convinced the court that 'ecclesiastical privilege' does not supersede the legal obligation of clergy to report child sex abuse to secular authorities. The Watchtower Society paid an undisclosed amount without admitting wrongdoing in an out-of-court settlement with 16 unnamed victims of alleged sexual abuse within the religion. [56] According to court documents obtained by NBC News, one plaintiff was awarded over US$780,000. [57]
Newspapers have reported that subpoenaed elders decline to testify against accused penitents, citing the confidentiality of penitent-clergy privilege. [58] However elders did not object to testifying once a specific matter of penitent-clergy privilege had been adjudicated. [59]
In June 2012, a California court ordered the Watch Tower Society to pay more than US$20 million in compensation and punitive damages to a woman who, as a child, was allegedly abused by a member. The court found that congregation elders, following the policies of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, contributed to the abuse. In the post-trial motion, the Watch Tower Society's attorney stated in a court memorandum that no United States court has previously found its conduct or policy regarding sex abuse to be unlawful, claiming that the Watch Tower Society's reprehensibility is "very low" if any. [60] The court stated that the elders as agents of the Watch Tower Society failed to disclose to other parents regarding the confession of the molester who inappropriately touched his step daughter, adding that the reprehensibility is of "medium range". Based on the ratio between the compensatory and punitive damages, the court subsequently reduced the Watch Tower Society's total liability to US$10 million, [61] Lawyers for the Society appealed the ruling, calling the decision "unprecedented" and denying responsibility for abuse. [62] [63] [64] [65] [66]
I think this wiki need some updating and editing.
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