A number of survivors of child sex abuse accuse the Jehovah’s Witness organization of failing to protect them and shielding their abusers. Some have taken legal action.

Jehovah’s Witness lawsuits overview

Since the 1990s, Jehovah’s Witnesses and their legal entities, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Societies, have been named as defendants in lawsuits alleging they covered up allegations of child sexual abuse. The group kept track of members accused of child sex abuse in a secret database, according to an investigation by The Atlantic.

Reportedly, the database held tens of thousands of names and addresses of individuals in its ranks that had been accused of sexually abusing children.

The total number of Jehovah’s Witness lawsuits alleging the organization covered up child sexual abuse is unknown, but many dozens have been filed, according to a report by Newsweek. A lawyer who has represented 24 current and former Jehovah’s Witnesses who say they were abused by church elders told reporters that these lawsuits are just the beginning.

“Any organization where you have adults in a custodial role, there’s a potential for abuse,” the lawyer told Newsweek. “But with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the scale is massive.”

Advocates say that the vast majority of church members included in the Jehovah’s Witness’ database have not been charged.

“Eighty percent of the people on that database have faced no legal charges,” the founder of Silent Lambs, an advocacy group for survivors of abuse within the organization, told Newsweek reporters.

Jehovah’s Witness abuse lawsuit claims org covered up abuse

A pair of lawsuits were filed in 2018 alleging the church covered up horrific instances of child sexual abuse. The lawsuits were filed under the New York Child Victims Act that allows survivors additional time to take their claims to court.

In one of these lawsuits, a woman alleged that she experienced nearly a decade of sexual abuse by a Jehovah’s Witness church elder, starting from when she was a toddler. According to Newsweek, she told her parents when she turned 10, but they took the information to other church elders, not the police. The woman says that the elders told her that the abuse was just in her mind and to pray for her abuser.

The plaintiff says that her parents eventually went to the police and her abuser spent several years in prison. However, once he was released, the Jehovah’s Witnesses sent him to another congregation that did not know about his abusive past.

Another lawsuit reportedly claims that a church elder abused a teenaged boy repeatedly. When the survivor told his parents, he says that they too brought the matter to the church elders. Instead of reporting the information to the police, the church elders allegedly “disfellowshipped” the survivor, as well as his abuser for homosexual activity. The practice of “disfellowship” is a severe form of excommunication in which the church and family members cut all ties.

According to survivors of child sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witness organization, the structure of the group and how it handles allegations of abuse results in cover-ups and victims being blamed for the abuse. To even be considered sexual abuse in the organization, there must be at least two witnesses, the victim and someone else, per the BBC. In addition, parents are often hesitant to report abuse of their children because of the potential for harsh repercussions. These factors make it very difficult for a child to consider reporting sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses, survivors told reporters.

Jehovah’s Witness $35 million lawsuit alleges church failed to report abuser

Two women filed a Jehovah’s Witness lawsuit in Montana alleging that church elders failed to report that a church member and one of the plaintiff’s stepfather was sexually abusing them, resulting in years more of abuse. The stepdaughter of the alleged abuser told church elders about the abuse in 1998, according to a report by NPR; however, due to the requirement that there be two witnesses, the church refused to believe her, alleged the lawsuit.

The man allegedly went on to sexually abuse her and other family members for six years, alleged the lawsuit. The survivors reportedly claimed that the Jehovah’s Witness organization covered up the abuse. Reportedly, a jury agreed and awarded the plaintiffs $35 million in actual and punitive damages. However, NPR reports that the case has since been appealed by the Jehovah’s Witnesses who claimed that they are shielded by laws protecting clergy members from reporting confessions.

Jehovah’s Witness settlement

A Jehovah’s witness sexual abuse cover up lawsuit settled after the plaintiff and the church agreed not to talk about the case or the amount of money given to the victim, reports Penn Live.

Indeed, many Jehovah’s Witness lawsuits have reportedly been settled with the organization. Many of those settlements remain undisclosed, although the Watchtower seems to be protecting access to the secret database of pedophiles, reports The Atlantic.

A number of states have recently made changes to their childhood sexual abuse laws, giving survivors more time to come forward and, in some cases, adding a lookback window for previously expired claims to be brought forward. States that have made such changes include California, New York, and New Jersey.

At least in part because of these new laws, more and more people are coming forward with their own allegations of Jehovah’s Witness sexual abuse, filed not only against the perpetrator but also the organization itself.

If you or someone you love has suffered from sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witness organization, even if that abuse took place years or even decades ago, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation.

Filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by child sexual abuse, but it can at least help provide some financial compensation, as well as help hold those responsible for your suffering accountable, including the perpetrator and any organization that allowed the abuse to occur through its actions or inactions.

Filing a lawsuit can be a daunting prospect, so Top Class Actions has laid the groundwork for you by connecting you with an experienced attorney. Consulting an attorney can help you determine if you have a claim, navigate the complexities of litigation, and maximize your potential compensation.