This article was in the Amarillo Newspaper today (July 29,2003). Please note the paragraph highlited in red. Any regular reader of this board can see the holes in this statement by Mr. Brumley. Bug
http://amarillonet.com/stories/072903/usn_coverupby.shtml
Lawsuits allege cover-up by Jehovah's Witnesses
The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - A national flurry of lawsuits, many by the same or affiliated law firms, accuse Jehovah's Witnesses officials of covering up sexual abuse, sometimes by congregation leaders the suits claim used their positions of authority to abuse children.
The most recent series of lawsuits was filed last week in three California counties. The law firms involved are holding public meetings this week in Sacramento, Red Bluff, Clearlake and Napa in a search for more victims and witnesses.
Church general counsel Philip Brumley said the church's own investigation of previous lawsuits found church elders did nothing wrong as they tried to protect the victims, comply with sexual abuse reporting laws, and adhere to Biblical admonitions against accepting accusations by a single witness.
Brumley said 10 lawsuits were filed prior to the California suits. William H. Bowen, who was disfellowshipped - excommunicated - after he set up a critical Web site and hot line for abuse victims, estimated 15 to 17 suits are pending, not counting the California cases.
"It is a widespread problem and nothing's been done about it to protect these children, to protect future children," alleged Bill Brelsford, one of the Sacramento attorneys who filed four lawsuits Thursday, in Napa, Yolo and Tehama counties.
Bowen said he has posted more than 1,000 abuse stories on his Web site, and fielded more than 6,000 complaints since 2001. The church puts its membership at 6 million worldwide, including 1 million in the United States.
"I have literally the last couple months been bombarded with this stuff," Bowen said.
The perpetrators in the California complaints were convicted, but the suits allege church officials didn't do enough to stop the molesters before they were caught.