GOOD OLD BOYS LOOK OUT FOR ONE ANOTHER
While at a new Kingdom Hall we were starting to get to know various new people, we noticed Bro. Y, whom we had met earlier. He was holding his little daughter and came up to us and talked. As we conversed the subject somehow migrated into the topic of child molestation. I made some rather strong comments about child molesters and my disgust at how they seem to get by with their crimes. Bro. Y's eyes filled with tears and he just stood silent as I talked. I knew then that this topic bothered him, and assumed that maybe in some way a molester harmed him or his children. I changed the topic to avoid further hurt for him.
A year or so later, Bro. Y's oldest daughter left home and moved in with a 'worldly' family. We learned that she had some emotional problems and the high school counselors brought in some expert to help her out. She was advised to leave home. Later it was announced at the Kingdom Hall that she was disfellowshipped. I believe that she was about 16 or 17. Shortly after that a special Service Meeting talk dealt with apostasy. We learned that she was attending a local “church” with the family she lived with. I thought it odd that such a young lady would be a charged with apostasy.
A few months later Bro. Y's wife was disfellowshipped. She had not attended meetings for years. I do not recall the special talk that would have been associated with Sis. Y's disfellowshipping, but word got out that she was divorcing her husband, Bro. Y.
Many more months passed, and I learned that Bro. Y was privately reproved. A special Service Meeting talk was given on molestation. The general congregation was not told who the molester was. And no one seem to have a clue as to who it could be. Worse yet no one felt obligated to know who it is.
Not long after this I learned that the Elders had informed their own children to stay away from Bro. Y because of the potential of molestation. I immediately called one of the Elders, and he confirmed that Bro. Y received congregational discipline, but he hedged at to the nature of the offense. I related how I learned that the Elders informed their children. He finally confided to me that Bro. Y has some problems with this issue, but did not say to what extent. [This subject also came up during a ‘Shepherding call on me, and the Elders confirmed who the molester was, and begged me not to go to the authorities.]
I asked if he or one of the Elders was planning to go to the authorities. I would have, but by this time I had resigned my position, and felt that the Elders should report the matter. The Elder begged me to mind my own business, and said that talking to the authorities would only make a difficult situation worse. He said that my reporting this crime would cause serious harm to Bro. Y. I complied temporarily.
Sometime later I learned of a young family that was moving. The reason given was that one of their children was molested by Bro. Y, and they decided it best to move and not talk about it. I also learned the name of another young JW girl who was most knowledgeable about this and also a victim of Bro. Y.
So, I contacted the authorities. I was referred to a detective in the county Sheriff's office. He took notes and names of potential witnesses and victims. He advised me that I would not be called as a witness because I was not a witness to the crime or a victim.
The only related event I had actually directly witnessed was Bro. Y out in the parking lot walking his younger daughter during the meeting. He had her on his lap and his hand up her dress. The detective said that was not good enough because I could not see what his hand was doing up her dress.
The detective tried talking with the victims and families and other witnesses. Nothing came of it because the JWs would not talk. He told me he was very frustrated with the JWs because they are the worst group for getting information from when it comes to telling on one of their own. Indeed, the Good Old Boys were looking out for their own. [I also suspect, and the detective agreed, that the victims and their families were coached by the Elders into not talking, hedging, and possibly lying.]
I told him of the Elder's admission that Bro. Y was disciplined by the JW congregation for molestation. He said that was nice, but still could not be used in court because it is hearsay. He said that if they can get an Elder to come forth, or obtain solid evidence that they could make a charge with, then he can use what I told him to help identify the Elders involved in the discipline and where they can get the congregation Judicial file. He did say that in our state, clergy, doctors, lawyers, and counselors can be jailed on a misdemeanor charge for failure to report a molester. [This happened in early 1990s, but the state modified their criminal procedures in 1999 and restored Clergy-Penitent privilege.]
I also learned from the detective that child services in our state had a file on Bro. Y, but it was inaccessible to police because of a plea bargain arrangement with Bro. Y. I later learned that the congregation file and this issue with Bro. Y went back many years. Bro. Y always received some “mild” discipline that allowed him to stay in the congregation. The Elders liked him and were trying to “help him” with this sin. He was seen as a most helpful brother and performed a lot of favors for various JWs, including the Elders.
The last I learned is that he lives with his youngest daughter and some other family member. I tried calling Bro. Y to talk with him directly, but he would not receive my calls even though he was home. His wife divorced him because of the molestation issue and his oldest daughter moved out because of it. As mentioned above, his oldest daughter was disfellowshipped for apostasy. His wife was disfellowshipped as well. [But I was never sure of the exact charge.]
I told the Elders that as long as Bro. Y continues to have access at the Kingdom Hall as a member of the congregation, then my family nor I can attend there. They also know that I went to the authorities, and this was about the beginning of the end for me. Shortly after I made my threat to talk with the police, the wheels of judicial action started to turn against me.
To conclude, I stated on H20 as a note to Judicial #4 (b) that I would try to get the name of the molester who was convicted. I checked with his state. They will not release the information unless I appear in person in the jurisdiction where he lives and present why my family or I feels threatened by him. Since I no longer live in that state, I cannot get the information.
There is a Web Site that has information on molesters. It stated that the average child molester sexually molests an average of 117 children in their sexual careers. [Since that time, I have talked with an attorney on matters pertaining to molestation among JWs. He noted that the figures are actually much higher, and said that molesters will victimize about 300+ children in their careers.] Think about that every time a molester does not get reported ... think about how many children each molester will affect. Look at your congregations and ask yourself, how many children are there?
[There are about 6,000 JW congregations in the USA. IN my years as a JW, I have personally known five (5) JW molesters from nine (9) congregations I was associated with. If my experience is any kind of sample representation, then out of 6,000 JW congregations, there may be as many as 3,000 molesters. Cut that number in half to be conservative, or to 1,500 JW molesters. Assume that they only victimize 20 children, instead of the 177 the web showed, or the 300+ the attorney talked about, and you still have a potential 30,000 victims. That is the size of a small city, and in JUST the USA alone. Think about it!] – Amazing