Jehovah's Witnesses and Child Sexual Abuse

I didn’t intend to write on this subject. But, it’s time to talk about something very serious. One of the main reasons I left Jehovah’s Witnesses was their abhorrent policies on child sexual abuse.

When child sexual abuse occurs within the religion, it isn’t always reported to the authorities. Many times, the crime is handled by local elders under the direction of a Legal Department at Jehovah’s Witnesses’ headquarters. The Legal Department frequently instructs the elders to avoid contacting the police. Their policy is that they are under no obligation to call the authorities if it isn’t mandated by law. Even in states where it is mandated, they still avoid calling the police.

This means that many pedophiles within the religion have never been held legally accountable for their crimes. It also means that when Jehovah’s Witnesses go to people’s homes, they might be sending a child molester to your door. These monsters have access to children and the authorities know nothing about them.

As atrocious as this practice is, it gets worse. In 2012, a court case in San Diego revealed just how twisted the religion’s policies are. The judge ordered the JW organization to turn over an internal, historical database of pedophiles that had been reported to them over the years. The Jehovah’s Witnesses HQ refused the court order multiple times. The judge had no alternative but to find them in contempt of court and fine them thousands of dollars every day they didn’t comply with the order. Jehovah’s Witness leadership allowed that fine to reach into millions of dollars rather than turn over a list of known child molesters. 

Although they somehow avoided paying that fine, their decision told me all I needed to know. I could no longer be part of a religion willing to hide the names of child abusers. What possible reason could there be for not turning over the names of known criminals? Shielding criminals from the authorities never helps the victims. There is no excuse for this.

However, I read today that the Montana Supreme Court doesn’t find this concerning at all. In 2018, a lower court in Montana had ruled against Jehovah’s Witnesses because they did not report a case of child sexual abuse to the authorities. The judgment against them was $35 million. 

Today it was reported that the Montana Supreme Court allowed Jehovah’s Witnesses to use the magic umbrella of religion to escape this judgment. A quote from the cited news article shows how the Supreme Court views the JW policy on reporting child sexual abuse:

"The Supreme Court declined to look into whether the Jehovah's Witnesses tenets and doctrines are valid, or whether church officials adhered to their own standards in this case, saying in the opinion that it's not within the court's power to do so regarding a religious institution.” (https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/court-reverses-35m-verdict-jehovahs-witnesses-68159631)

The Supreme Court reversed the ruling and the organization was not held accountable for hiding this crime.

Many in the ExJW community are shocked and disappointed by this ruling. I saw the initial $35 million fine as a landmark, precedent-setting case. I hoped this was a sign that attention would finally be given to this horrible situation. Now, I don’t know what to think.

Would any organization be allowed to deny a United States court access to a list of pedophiles if it wasn’t a religion? Would any organization be allowed to shield sexual offenders from authorities if it wasn’t a religion? Would any organization be exempted from mandatory reporting laws if it wasn’t a religion? 

There is a lot of outrage in the media over the crimes of Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein. Where is the outrage over a religious organization that behaves the same way? How can the label of “religion" be allowed to overrule what is moral?

It is disheartening to hear about this court decision. It’s hard not to feel hopeless about the situation. 

If you are as concerned and frustrated as I am, please raise some awareness of this issue. Whether it’s a social media post, a tweet, or an email to officials, anything you do will help. Eventually, this message will reach the right ears and something will be done about it.

I hope that someone with a big platform becomes aware of this situation and uses their voice to draw attention to this horror. Until then, I hope that a multitude of smaller voices crying out for justice will carry enough weight.

#childsexualabuse