morpheus: The floodgates have not opened by any rational measurment or logical standard. There are over a million pubs in the usa. 20 cases is .002 percent of total publishers. I would agree that even one case is too many but its also sensationalized to call 20 a floodgate. if "watchtower" thought there were only 20 potential cases lurking they would laugh themselves to sleep at night.
Maybe the reporters are taking into consideration the statistics that reveal that less than 10 percent of child abuse cases get reported. If you combine that figure with the restrictive policies on reporting that the WTS practices, it is not unreasonable to think that the percentage figure of un-reporting is much lower within the JW community and would result in a lower figure than 10 percent.
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1863650,00.html
Those 20 cases that are mentioned are only the pimple on the top of a huge, pus leaking boil that sits ready to be popped.
Child abuse/rape is systemic within the JW community.