A registered sex-offender became a ministerial servant; he’s now in prison for assaulting child

by Tahoe 11 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

  • Tahoe
    Tahoe

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/a-registered-sex-offender-became-a-ministerial-servant-for-jehovah-s-witnesses-in-springfield-he-s-now-in-prison-for-assaulting-child/ar-AA1h4vJG

    A Level 3 sex offender who moved to Springfield and secured a role with the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization is now in prison. Jay Aaron Smith, 62, was sentenced recently in Hampden Superior Court to 15 years in prison for several counts of indecent assault and battery on a child. Aaron abused a 13-year-old at his home for months in 2020 and 2021.

    The Jehovah’s Witnesses deny that Smith, convicted late last month of child sexual abuse, was a church elder, the title used by the Hampden District Attorney’s Office to describe his role with the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Springfield.

    But the DA’s office says it stands by its statement.

    And both the office and the Springfield Police Department say the church did not report the abuse that Smith inflicted on the victim. According to a court document, a family member went to the organization seeking action regarding the abuse.

    The victim reported to police that Smith told her no one would believe her if she were to tell what he’d done.

    Smith was already a state-registered Level 3 sex offender, the highest category, when the abuse happened because of a rape conviction decades before in Georgia, according to the DA’s office.

    A spokesperson for the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ U.S. branch in Wallkill, New York, said Smith has never been an elder, but did serve for less than a year as “ministerial servant,” an assistant to an elder.

    “We are deeply saddened by these horrible events,” the religious organization said in a statement in response to questions about the case from The Republican and MassLive. “It should be noted that the allegations had nothing to do with any congregation activity.”

    The church reached out to the DA’s office asking that it correct a press release about Smith it published on social media stating his leadership position, according to the office’s spokesperson, Jim Leydon.

    Leydon said the office will not be issuing a correction.

    “Based upon evidence collected through the course of the investigation, we are comfortable with our assertion of his place of prominence within the hall,” Leydon said.

    Role of elders

    In the Jehovah’s Witnesses community, elders are volunteer leaders and “spiritually mature men who take the lead in the congregation and shepherd,” according to its website.

    When asked if there are background checks the church conducts to qualify someone with a criminal history to serve as an elder, the church spokesperson reiterated that Smith was not an elder, and pointed to the Bible for eligibility.

    “The Bible sets forth the requirements for volunteer elders,” the spokesperson said in a statement. Several Bible passages are cited on the Jehovah’s Witnesses website under qualifications for the elder role.

    A victim’s family member “attempted to find resolution within her church,” a court document in the case says.

    When the congregation found out about the abuse allegation against Smith, “it promptly reported the matter to the authorities,” a Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesperson said.

    However, the Springfield Police Department did not get a report from the church, according to spokesperson Ryan Walsh.

    The victim and a parent reported the abuse to Springfield police in February 2021, according to a report filed in court. When authorities investigated, the church had not filed a 51A report, a report of alleged child abuse or neglect, according to the DA’s office. Clergy members are mandated reporters in Massachusetts.

    The Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesperson said its policy in responding to abuse allegations is to first comply with reporting laws, and that it reported allegations against Smith to the state Department of Children and Families in February 2021. The spokesperson said the church believed that DCF reported the abuse to police.

    Around the world, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been criticized for mishandling allegations of child sexual abuse.

    Apologies for the repost.

  • Beth Sarim
    Beth Sarim

    Great post.

    On a side note,,if you caught GG4GB live feed on youtube this evening

    And his brother was co-hosting with him.

    They touched largely on what is happening in the state of Pennsylvania.

    How not only are the elders at risk of being strung-up legally in the courts,,,,but their wives could be too. For obstruction of justice. Yes. Thats right. They could lose their homes, vehicles and everything they own.

    And the best investment to make right now,,would be to hire a lawyer.

  • Phizzy
    Phizzy

    The Org. itself is responsible for this, they refuse to take on the Moral Duty to do a Criminal Records check, and then appoint known offenders !

    Small Clubs and Associations here in the U.K, and of course the larger ones, do this. No one is appointed to a position of Authority and therefore power, who has any kind of Criminal Record.

    If the Org's claim that they " do not allow members to be alone with someone...... blah...blah.... it is the parents responsibility ..blah ...blah..." was something that worked they could continue to hide behind that nonsense, but NO IT DOES NOT WORK ! or these things would not keep happening.

    I hope another huge Law Suit goes their way over this. Maybe, just maybe, then they would then live up to their Moral Responsibility to make sure the vulnerable members are protected.

  • notsurewheretogo
    notsurewheretogo

    And they say Holy Spirit appoints men...the amount of child abusers who are abusing then get appointed suggests no such thing.

  • Vidiot
    Vidiot

    When a breakaway, contrarian religious group is told it should be doing something, it’s almost guaran-fucking-teed to do the opposite.

    If “The World” zigs, the WTS wants to zag… the tendency is practically baked into the Org’s DNA at this point.

  • hoser
    hoser

    They lied about not reporting as well.

    They told the media they reported but in fact didn’t.

    Do jws think the police are stupid?

  • EasyPrompt
    EasyPrompt

    "The Org. itself is responsible for this, they refuse to take on the Moral Duty to do a Criminal Records check, and then appoint known offenders !

    Small Clubs and Associations here in the U.K, and of course the larger ones, do this. No one is appointed to a position of Authority and therefore power, who has any kind of Criminal Record."


    What's really crazy is that you don't even have to get a paid Criminal Record check done in the US to find out if someone has a record of being arrested for sexual abuse. All you have to do is search on the sex offender website for a particular state or the public arrest/imprisonment record and you can find out if there is anyone in the area who has a record. (The info below on Jay Aaron Smith was easily accessible for free online.)




    https://services.gdc.ga.gov/GDC/OffenderQuery/jsp/OffQryRedirector.jsp


    https://state.sor.gbi.ga.gov/sort_public/OffenderDetails.aspx


    During the COVID lockdown in order to compile ministry lists for letter-writing/phone-witnessing, elders taught the congregation members how to research where people live by means of using the tax records and other free online search methods. The elders/branch/Bethel know how to do research. They could have researched where this guy was from and if he had a record. Likely, they didn't need to research it, because they probably already knew and just didn't care, just like it says in their elder/branch books - as long as most people nearby don't know, it doesn't matter to them what the guy did, even though the government made clear the guy is a Level 3 offender which means he is extremely likely to offend again. Bethel basically says a sexual predator is only considered a "predator" if Bethel says they are a "predator".


    https://files.accessjw.org/s/DC9wK9kZ7DSNJNQ


    Guess they didn't consider Jay Aaron Smith predator enough to be considered a predator. Guess they don't consider rape and sodomy that bad. Guess they don't mind putting the flock at risk of getting raped and sodomized by someone who even the secular authorities recognized is most likely going to do it again. That's why they appointed him. (It wasn't holy spirit that appointed him, that's for sure.) Birds of a feather flock together.


    "It is like a mustard grain that a man took and planted in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of heaven nested in its branches." (Luke 13:18)


    Nasty WTBT$. Just one branch in the leaven/religion-tree. The nasty birds won't play there much longer - their tree's about to be cut down.


    "And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: “She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, and she has become a dwelling place of demons and a place where every unclean spirit and every unclean and hated bird lurks." (Revelation 18:2)

  • jhine
    jhine

    In the Church of England there are lots of rolls , paid and volunteer, that require a DBS check . DBS is the Disclosure and Disbarring Service.

    Anyone on the Parochial Church Council has to be checked, the Church Warden and Lay Readers, Vicar and lots of other rolls necessitate a check .

    Some people also need to do safeguarding courses . I have had to pass three courses in my roll as Parish DBS Checker.

    How does the Watchtower, here in the UK at least, get away with not taking the same precautions?

    Jan from Tam

  • Diogenesister
    Diogenesister
    Jan The Church of England there are lots of rolls , paid and volunteer, that require a DBS check . DBS is the Disclosure and Disbarring Service.

    Yes, back when my boys were younger and in the scouts, as a volunteer parent-helpers we had to have a DBS check despite always being supervised by scout leaders or a minister and never alone with the children.

  • Vidiot
    Vidiot
    hoser - They lied about not reporting as well... They told the media they reported but in fact didn’t… Do jws think the police are stupid?”

    They said they reported it to the “authorities”.

    They didn’t say which authorities, how they define the word “authorities”, or if the authorities they reported it to were even valid.

    So, technically, they didn’t lie per se… they simply attempted to tell “the truth” in a way that would cover their asses and lead the folks questioning them to come to a mistaken conclusion.

    Yes, it’s deceptive, corrupt, and shitty…

    …but it’s not technically a lie.

    Oliver North would have been so fucking impressed. 😏

    And, also, yeah, they might think the cops are stupid.

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit