Looking at the fact that the WTB&TS in Australia admitted in the Royal Commission that 1006 cases of alleged child sex abuse allegations were conducted by a judicial committee of 3 Elders in each case over a period of 65 years , which would mean at the very least 3018 Elders had knowledge of these allegations and not one of them contacted child protection authorities or the police that a crime had been committed .
Sometimes more than one congregation would be involved in these J.C. `s . , that`s why I say at least 3018 Elders would be aware of these crimes.
If a crime is committed by someone and you know about it and don`t report it are you not complicit in the crime ?
Aren`t you guilty of aiding and abetting a crime ? by remaining silent about it ?
Shouldn`t these ones then be prosecuted for their failure to act on the child`s behalf ? The Clergy confessional clause does not apply to J.W.`s on two accounts , 1. They claim they have no Clergy class and 2. Multiple people are made aware of the proceedings , and not a confidential discussion between one Minister and a confessor.
The J.W. congregation is not made aware of a potential sex abuser in their midst , nor is the general public protected from a potential sex abuser calling at their door in their house to house ministry .
It is not the role of any Elder`s in a congregation to determine these things it is a matter for the law ,the police or child protection services., who were denied this opportunity to discharge their duties.
Jehovah`s Witnesses are not alone in failing in this regard , the common denominator seems to be "protect the image of the organization" and cover this up...
The law must be changed to make it a criminal offence to fail to report such allegations to the relevant authority .
smiddy