sorry, no link......
Copyright 2002 Guardian Newspapers Limited
The Guardian (London)
June 1, 2002
HEADLINE: The week on the web
BODY:
Who is listening? The scandal over the Roman Catholic Church's protection of its paedophile priests
finally broke into the open this year, after more than 15 years as a half-covered, half-ignored news
story. Now a website called Silent Lambs is struggling to bring a similar story to public attention.
Two years ago William Bowen resigned as an elder of the Jehovah's Witnesses after he
discovered that they too were protecting paedophiles within the congregation. "The bottom line," he
wrote at his site, "is that after much effort to try to change Watchtower policy from within I found I
could no longer 'wait on Jehovah'. I do not believe Jehovah wants or would allow one child to be
hurt, much less the many that have suffered and been molested as a result of Watchtower policy."
The website he set up has been absolutely inundated with heartbreaking accounts of systematic
abuse by congregation members, and at least one story has led to a lawsuit against the Jehovah's
Witness congregation for intentionally harbouring child molesters. And the response from the press?
Pretty much nil. Perhaps our lack of knowledge about the Jehovah's Witnesses makes this one too
hard to deal with. The Witnesses themselves have given an oblique response on their website by
welcoming visitors with the motto Protect your Children! This leads to two old Watchtower articles
about how to protect children from abuse, complete with plenty of biblical references. Odd reading,
really, given the reasons for the posting.