AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
July 28, 2015
Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter
A former senior member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who repeatedly molested a teenage girl was stood down as a church elder only to be later reinstated, a royal commission has heard.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told that former church elder Bill Neill admitted to voyeurism in a meeting in which his accuser was forced to face him.
Former circuit overseer Doug Jackson, who was in charge of the investigation, told the commission he did not regard Mr Neill’s conduct as criminal at the time, nor did he inform the police.
The commission heard Mr Jackson wrote a letter to the branch officer of the Jehovah’s Witness Church in Australia noting that Mr Neill, now deceased, had received “strong counselling” for his “uncleanness”.
The letter recommended Mr Neill be reinstated as an elder once the incident had blown over.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.