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	Jehovah's Witnesses Settle Sex Abuse Cases Change Is Urged in Reporting Policy Associated Press, carried in The Courier-Journal [United States] May 20, 2007 http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070520/NEWS01/705200487/1008/NEWS01 A victims' rights group has released documents that show the Jehovah's Witnesses recently settled civil suits with 16 people who claimed they were sexually abused by church elders or that church officials failed to act on abuse allegations. Settlements were reached in late February and early March, according to court records obtained by the group silentlambs and posted on its Web site. Fourteen of the cases were filed in California; the others were in Oregon and Texas. Details about the settlement terms could not be disclosed under confidentiality agreements negotiated between the parties, said Stephen Owens, a plaintiffs' attorney involved in the California cases. Other cases are pending, according to silentlambs, which couldn't say how many. A Courier-Journal investigation in 2001 found court cases around the country in which church policies were blamed for allowing child molesters to go unreported. The investigation followed the resignation of a Kentucky elder who protested the church's handling of sexual abuse. Victims' advocates said the church's confidential disciplinary process allowed members with past offenses to stay in the congregation and left other members unaware of the risk. The Jehovah's Witnesses, whose headquarters are in Brooklyn, N.Y., issued a statement May 10 saying they were pleased to resolve the lawsuits. "Our loving heavenly Father makes it clear in his Word, the Bible, that he abhors child abuse," the statement said. "As an organization, we will continually strive to educate families and congregations with sound Scriptural teachings that they can use to protect their children from child molesters. And we will continue to do our utmost to protect children from this horrible crime and sin." William Bowen of Paducah, Ky., silentlambs' founder, was the Jehovah's Witnesses elder who quit the denomination after he said it took no action against a molester. He said news of the settlements "was a real vindication" of his work. He said that while the amounts of the settlements are unknown, "the church has finally had to take money out of their pocket and pay people for how they hurt them." He said this is the largest group of settlements he's aware of to date. Bowen's group has criticized the Jehovah's Witnesses' policy on abuse. If the accused denies the charge, two credible witnesses are required to establish guilt due to literal application of such Bible verses as Deuteronomy 19:15 ("only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained"). If two witnesses are lacking, the accused is deemed innocent, charges remain confidential and — silentlambs says — parents who warn others are subject to disfellowshipping for slander. Disfellowshipping means a total cutoff of relationships by family members, friends and business associates who are Jehovah's Witnesses. There are about 1 million Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States. Bowen also said Jehovah's Witnesses have a longstanding policy of not reporting molesters to police. He claims the denomination has a secret database of accused abusers. "They keep putting innocent kids and unsuspecting families at risk of horrible crimes because they value their secrecy and reputations more than they value children's safety," Bowen said. Since establishing silentlambs in 2001, Bowen said about 7,000 people who claim they were abused have contacted his group. Angelique Taylor, 42, a silentlambs member from St. Louis, said she was molested by a Jehovah's Witnesses elder when she was about 12. Taylor said she told her father, who also was an elder, and he said she was making a big deal out of nothing. "I want every elder, every Jehovah's Witness, whenever they suspect any abuse, they go to the police and tell them about the problems," Taylor said recently. "The devastation of sex abuse is unbelievable."
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