The Brooklyn headquarters of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has issued an official press release on their public relations website in response to NBC’s prime time news coverage (click here for video) of Barbara Anderson’s efforts to expose the true extent of pedophilia within the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the culpability of the Watchtower’s leadership.

While loyalists to the organization as well as the uninformed press may take the Watchtower’s brief response at face value, there are, nonetheless, a number of cleverly-worded statements that warrant scrutiny, which is the intent of this commentary.

The very opening words of the press release are a cynical denial of the fundamental principles of Christianity: “For the sake of the victims in these cases, we are pleased that a settlement has been reached. Our hearts go out to all those who suffer as a result of child abuse. Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide are united in their abhorrence of this sin and crime.”

In the first century the apostle Paul expressed his own disappointment that some Christians in the Corinthian congregation were dragging each other to court before unbelieving judges. Paul was astonished that the Corinthian Christians could not find capable men among the older men of the congregation who were qualified to serve as judges in the petty disputes among the brothers. (Not to imply that child abuse is a trivial matter) Because it brought such reproach upon Christ as the head of the congregation, Paul advised Christians that it would be better just to allow themselves to be wronged rather then to drag their brother before unbelieving judges.

On the congregation level Jehovah’s Witnesses generally live by those words, but apparently the Watchtower Society views itself as above the apostle’s counsel. Rather then pleading the case of the abused, as God’s law requires of the judges of his people, the Watchtower has done everything in its power to deny, suppress and crush the legal claims of sexually abused children. Is it really a victory for the Watchtower that the victims had no recourse but to seek legal redress through the courts rather then through the congregation?

On one level it appears as if Bethel has followed the counsel of Christ found in the record of the Sermon on the Mount, where he said: “Be about settling matters quickly with the one complaining against you at law, while you are with him on the way there, that somehow the complainant may not turn you over to the judge, and the judge to the court attendant, and you get thrown into prison.  I say to you for a fact, you will certainly not come out from there until you have paid over the last coin of very little value.”

However, the recently settled cases were of long-standing duration and were only settled when once high-powered attorneys became involved. So, these matters were hardly settled quickly, as Jesus advised. No doubt the Watchtower is “pleased that a settlement has been reached” because that means that the legal team was able to prevent these several cases from going to court, where they would have found it much harder to keep the silent lambs gagged and ran the risk, as Jesus noted, of losing much more if made to stand before a judge. But, obviously, had Bethel put the welfare of the children first from the beginning these lawsuits would have never been pursued.

And if their “hearts go out to all those who suffer as a result of child abuse” as they claim, why is it that the Watchtower has never publicized the plight of the victims? The Awake frequently publishes human interest stories about the lives and trials of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses, why, though, hasn’t the Society ever published the heart-rending story of an abuse victim – perhaps someone who was victimized by a trusted congregational elder? According to abuse experts the most healing and empowering prescription for abuse victims is to speak out. Yet the Watchtower has done everything in their power to suppress the voices of the abused (and anyone else who dares to speak out),  from using threats of disfellowshipping for slander, to massive payouts with gag orders tied to the settlements, as in these recent cases. (See commentary: A Conspiracy of Silence Continues)

It should also be noted that “Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide are not united in their abhorrence of this sin and crime,” as the Society’s press release claims. Let us not forget that the abusers were – one and all – Jehovah’s Witnesses at the time they committed their vile crimes. While individuals among the leadership may indeed abhor the sin of pedophilia they abhor bad publicity even more, and so are not at all inclined to straightforwardly and aggressively address the problem of pedophilia within the organization.

The press release next states:  “We do not condone or protect child molesters. Our elders expel unrepentant sinners who commit this crime.”

It is true that congregations occasionally disfellowship those who are judged by a judicial committee to be “unrepentant.” However, contrary to the impression the Watchtower’s statement is intended to create the reality is quite different. Consider this simple fact: If it were really true that child molesters were not protected why, then, has the Watchtower been forced to pay multi-million dollar damages to the victims of child predators? Even though the lawyers for the Society have admitted no fault an out-of-court settlement is just that – a tacit admission of responsibility. Are we supposed to believe that after years of stone-walling and trying to have such cases dismissed on frivolous legalisms that the Watchtower is now pleased to hand over millions to the victims it has until now denied? As the professed earthly mouthpiece of Jehovah, at the very least it would be appropriate for the Watchtower to admit they have been guilty of indifference toward the sufferers.  

While the statement is true that “our elders expel unrepentant sinners,” the problem lies in the fact that the Watchtower requires two eyewitnesses before a judicial committee may even be convened. Without an outright admission of guilt on the part of the accused, and in the absence of a collaborating eyewitness to the secret crimes of child molesters, no action is taken. Under such circumstances the alleged crime may or may not be reported to the police, depending on the decision made by the Watchtower’s Legal Department. (Link to 1997 Watchtower instructions to all bodies of elders) How much better it would be, though, if the Watchtower allowed the police to do their own investigation in all cases that come before them. After all, they are trained professionals and no doubt are able to do a more thorough investigation then the congregation elders.

But even if the perpetrator is disfellowshipped the congregation is not informed of the exact nature of the crime. And often the disfellowshipped pedophile can be reinstated back into the congregation after a few months and yet the members of the congregation may have no idea that there is a pedophile in their midst. Such secrecy certainly works in favor of child predators.

Several of the victims in the recent settlement were abused by one Fredrick (Ricky) McLean, who is presently still at large and listed as armed and dangerous on the U.S. Marshall’s Most Wanted list. McLean molested multiple victims over a 20 year period; moving from congregation to congregation in Southern California, where he was appointed and reappointed as a ministerial servant (deacon) in several congregations. Even though the Watchtower has a strict policy in place that requires congregations to forward the records and the previous congregation’s recommendation, and any special information regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses that move into a new congregation, apparently that procedure was not followed or if it was the elders in the new congregations where the predator moved did not act on the information. In that instance the system certainly served to protect McLean so that he might continue to practice his vile crimes against children. However, a call to the police might have made all the difference.

As for the Watchtower’s statement that they do not condone child molesters that is not entirely true either. On several occasions Jehovah’s Witnesses have actually testified in court as “character witnesses” in behalf of convicted rapists and child molesters. Silentlambs archives contain court records that reveal that congregation members actually stood up in court and defended the convicted Paul Berry, as well as the rapist and murderer – Curtis Thompson. Mind you, in the case of Paul Berry the court had already found him guilty of committing the most unspeakable crimes against his step-daughters, and yet during the sentencing phase, no doubt at the urging of the Society’s lawyers, congregation members praised the convicted monster as a fine upstanding man. Thankfully, the judge was not persuaded and Paul Berry was sentenced to over 40 years in prison.

The press release further states: “Congregation elders comply with child abuse reporting laws. We do not silence victims. Our members have an absolute right to report this horrible crime to the authorities.”

The Watchtower’s cleverly-crafted statement above appears factually true on the surface, but in reality is nothing more than lawyer’s legerdemain. The fact is, in the not-too-distant-past the unspoken, yet prevailing attitude and practice of the elders, was that any internal scandals must not be aired in public – including crimes against children. Reporting such crimes to the police was subtly if not overtly discouraged on the grounds that it would bring reproach on the name of Jehovah. But in the past decade Bethel’s lawyers have revised their policy somewhat so that now elders are advised to call the Watchtower’s Legal Department. Apparently they then determine if the laws in that particular locale require that clergy report crimes against children, and if so then Bethel’s lawyers advise the elders to call the police. If a local jurisdiction does not require it, then the authorities are not notified. So, the above statement is factually true – “congregation elders comply with child abuse reporting laws” – but that has not always been the case.

And if elders do happen to report child abuse to authorities typically they do not make the results of their own confidential judicial investigation available to the police. In essence, the Watchtower reports crimes against children only to comply with the law and that is the extent of their cooperation. Barbara Anderson recently publicized 5,000 pages of court documents that the Watchtower would prefer never come to light. In the introductory page of the Watchtower Documents website Mrs. Anderson revealed that the Watchtower’s lawyers would sometimes instruct elders to make an anonymous phone call to police from a pay phone to report a crime. That way the police could not re-contact the informant using caller ID and the elders could at least comply with the letter of the law without actually cooperating with the police to convict a pedophile. So, again, can it honestly be said that the Watchtower does not protect pedophiles?

The Watchtower’s next statement is probably the most misleading statement of the entire press release. It says: “In the United States, over 80,000 elders currently serve in over 12,300 congregations. During the last 100 years, only eleven elders have been sued for child abuse in thirteen lawsuits filed in the United States. In seven of these lawsuits against the elders, accusations against the Watchtower Society itself were dismissed by the courts. Of course, one victim is one victim too many. However, the incidence of this crime among Jehovah’s Witnesses is rare.”

Here the Watchtower restricts the parameters of the pedophile issue in a number of clever ways in order to mislead the press. Notice, please, how the statement above misleadingly confines the number of pedophiles among Jehovah’s Witnesses to the number of elders that have been sued over the past century. The unwary reader might be left with the impression that there have only been a half dozen child abuse cases. Nothing could be further from the truth.

For one thing, the majority of crimes committed against the children of Jehovah’s Witnesses are not perpetrated by congregational elders. While many elders and ministerial servants have used their office to gain the trust of unsuspecting victims, many of the pedophiles who prey upon innocent children – perhaps the majority – have not been appointed servants. And not to be overlooked is the fact that some elders might be sued, not because they personally abused a child, but because they were negligent in handing the case. (For an approximation of the number of incidents of pedophilia that have been published in the mainstream press in the past year go to the e-watchman News blog.)

Secondly, the number of lawsuits leveled against incompetent elders and the Watchtower Society is hardly an accurate gauge of the true extent of pedophilia within the organization. The number of lawsuits is but the proverbial tip of the iceberg compared to the actual number of children that have been molested and raped. Surely, it is recognized that most victims of these types of crimes are reluctant to subject themselves to the ordeal of a lawsuit. But, as a more accurate indication of the extent of the problem of pedophilia in the few years it has been online the Silentlambs website has been contacted by over 5,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been abused by Jehovah’s Witnesses. The law office of Norris and Love has been contacted by over 2,000 victims seeking counsel. Several years ago Bethel insiders revealed that the Watchtower maintains a database of over 23,000 accused pedophiles from the United States, Canada and Europe.

It should be evident to honest-reasoning individuals that the Watchtower’s misdirectional statement of there only being a handful of successful lawsuits against elders in the United States in the past 100 years does not begin to convey the true extent of the problem and the incalculable suffering of the thousands of victims. What it does reveal, however, is that the Watchtower Society is disposed to spin the facts and conceal the truth, as they have shamelessly displayed by this recent press release, which, ironically, is what the victims of child abuse and their advocates have been saying all along.

Perhaps the most disingenuous aspect of the Watchtower’s press release is their citing a recently published Awake Magazine (available here in PDF) with the caption “Keep Your Children Safe” emblazoned on the cover, which is offered to the press as proof that the organization is on top of the pedophile problem.  But the Awake cover is just that – a cover.

Although the Watchtower’s main website publishes select articles taken from the Awake and Watchtower magazines, the Society has chosen not to make these particular articles available to the press to peruse. Why might that be? No doubt it is because the “Keep Your Children Safe” articles do not really address the problem of pedophilia among Jehovah’s Witnesses. The articles merely treat the problem in a general sort of way – making no mention of the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses are menaced from within by thousands of pedophiles.  The obvious reason the Watchtower’s public relations website displays the cover of the Awake is to give the media the impression that the problem is dealt with in a substantive way relative to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Sadly, it is not.

For example, on page four the article cites statistics compiled by the UN to show that pedophilia is “a global problem.” But the global scourge of child sex abuse is not the issue that prompted the Watchtower’s press release, is it? No. The issue at hand is pedophilia among Jehovah’s Witnesses – perpetrated by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Awake goes on to caution unsuspecting parents to be on guard against entrusting their children to over-eager baby-sitters, neighbors, teachers, health-care workers, coaches and relatives. Parents are advised to be involved in their children’s activities as a protection. That is sound advice. Glaring in its omission, though, there is no mention of the fact that respected elders and ministerial servants may well be child predators too. After all, none of the victims in the recent settlement were abused by neighbors or teachers or health-care workers, or coaches. They were all victimized by men who were Jehovah’s Witnesses in good standing in the organization.

On page five is a picture of a man giving a piano lesson to a boy with the child’s mother looking on nearby. But if the Governing Body were truly concerned with helping parents to protect their children from falling prey to predators wouldn’t the responsible thing be to specifically warn parents not to naively entrust their children to respected brothers in the congregation? Why use an unrealistic setting of a child receiving piano lessons when the reality is that some children of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been abused by their Bible study teachers, field service conductors and even while out in service? So, why not, say, publish a picture of a mother supervising while an elder or pioneer conducts a Bible Study with their child? Wouldn’t that be more realistic?

Jehovah’s Witnesses likely do not realize that such dangers lurk within our supposed “spiritual paradise.” But there are many child predators, as the many thousands of their victims can testify. And who else knows better then Bethel the true extent of pedophilia in the organization? It is they who are in a position to best enlighten parents to the dangers that exist. It is their responsibility to sound the alarm.

The sad truth is – the “Keep Your Children Safe” Awake is a sham. It is mere window dressing intended to give the appearance to the press and outsiders that Jehovah’s Witness parents and their children are being well-informed by the leadership of the organization, while continuing to avoid directly addressing the actual problem.

In view of the fact that it may take six months or longer from the time a decision is made to publish a certain topic until it comes to press, it is most likely that the “Keep Your Children Safe” articles are the result of a boardroom decision made in the aftermath of the recent settlement in early 2007 and timed to appear now as a useful public relations ploy so as to allay criticism that the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has been negligent.

In reality the article actually demonstrates that they are negligent!  By their failure to specifically address the insidious dangers posed by sexual predators within the organization, the Watchtower Society continues to conceal the true scope of pedophilia within its midst and by doing so they are guilty of not only deceiving the media and Jehovah’s Witnesses, but indirectly Bethel continues to provide sanctuary for child predators.