Settled in under 144,000 minutes. Or 98 days, 141,120 minutes to be exact.
https://knox.villagesoup.com/2022/02/01/dismissal-filed-in-lawsuit-alleging-abuse-by-church-elder/
'Dismissal filed in lawsuit alleging abuse by church elder
Allegations also said other elders threatened to sue family of victim if they referred abuse complaint to law enforcement.
ROCKLAND — A notice of dismissal has been filed in a lawsuit lodged last year, alleging a local woman was repeatedly sexually assaulted as a child by an elder at the Rockland Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Rockport, and other elders discouraged the family from going to police.
The notice of dismissal was filed Jan. 14 in the Knox County court by attorney Michael Bigos of Lewiston who represents the woman. Terms of any settlement were not included in the court file.
A telephone message and email were made to Bigos on Monday morning, Jan. 31. No response has been received. An email was also sent Monday morning to Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. which was one of the defendants in the lawsuit. There also has been no response from that organization.
The woman alleged in the lawsuit — filed in October 2021 — she was molested multiple occasions between 1993 and 1996 when she was 11 to 13 years old. The victim disclosed to her mother about the abuse in 1996 and the mother immediately informed the other elders of the congregation, the lawsuit stated.
Instead of investigating the allegations or removing the elder from his position, the elders threatened a lawsuit against the victim’s family if they went public. The pressure led the family not to report the abuse to law enforcement, according to the lawsuit.
Shortly after the woman reported the abuse, the congregation disfellowshipped her, with the elder who said she abused her serving on the judicial committee that took the action.
AdvertisementThe newspaper is not identifying the woman because she is alleged to be the victim of sexual assault.
The allegations in the lawsuit follow numerous media reports nationwide about Watchtower having compiled a lengthy list of suspected child sexual predators within congregations. A March 2019 article in the Atlantic stated “in March 1997, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the nonprofit organization that oversees the Jehovah’s Witnesses, sent a letter to each of its 10,883 U.S. congregations, and to many more congregations worldwide. The organization was concerned about the legal risk posed by possible child molesters within its ranks. The letter laid out instructions on how to deal with a known predator: Write a detailed report answering 12 questions—Was this a onetime occurrence, or did the accused have a history of child molestation? How is the accused viewed within the community? Does anyone else know about the abuse?—and mail it to Watchtower’s headquarters in a special blue envelope. Keep a copy of the report in your congregation’s confidential file, the instructions continued, and do not share it with anyone.”
The public information desk for Watchtower issued a statement in October 2021 to the Courier-Gazette in response to a request for comment on the lawsuit filed in Knox County.
“Out of respect for the judicial process and the privacy of those involved, we do not comment on the details of pending litigation. For more information on the scriptural position of Jehovah’s Witnesses, please visit jw.org,” according to the statement.
In October, Bigos issued his own statement.
“Our client is a survivor of horrible abuse. She was threatened with church disfellowship and adverse consequences in her afterlife if she brought a claim or asked for help outside of the church. Now she realizes that she was not alone. She sought help from medical providers and trauma-informed advocates and is now ready to come forward. She wants to hold her abuser accountable and make her community safer by preventing this from ever happening again. This is not her fault. She is not alone,” Bigos said in his Oct. 7 statement.
AdvertisementBigos said in October the Washington man who molested the young woman remained an elder and was the registered agent for the congregation.
According to the lawsuit, at age 17 the victim wanted to rejoin the Jehovah’s Witnesses along her with then-boyfriend, but was told she would need to recant her abuse allegation.
The lawsuit stated it was well-known in the congregation during the time of the abuse the elder was treating her differently than other girls in the congregation. The elder would regularly have her spend the night at his residence in Washington after bible studies at his home. The elder also provided one-on-one bible study to the girl despite a policy that did not permit elders to be alone with minor girls.
The lawsuit also alleges Watchtower issued policies to elders, and among these recommendations were to report allegations of child molestation to Watchtower, rather than law enforcement. The elders should also not warn the congregation of threats posed by an accused child abuser, and the elders should not cooperate when confronted with a search warrant, but instead contact Watchtower.
Watchtower had supervision over the elder accused of the molestation at the Rockland Congregation, the lawsuit stated.'