The Zalkin Law Firm P.C. has filed a new lawsuit in New York on behalf of two childhood sexual abuse victims naming Jehovah’s Witness Governing Body members and other empowered and responsible individuals within the Watchtower organization as defendants. The Watchtower has a long history of defying court orders to produce pertinent documents and records.
Two former Jehovah’s Witnesses claim the church looked the other way when they were sexually abused as children for years — and now plan to sue under a landmark state law that takes effect this week. Lawyers for Heather Steele, 48, and John Michael Ewing, 47, alleged at a press conference Monday that the Witnesses and its eight-member leadership council even maintain a database of church sex offenders that it’s kept secret. The two alleged victims now plan to fight back with separate lawsuits that will be filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday when the Child Victims Act goes into effect.
We recently posted Watchtower’s appeal in response to the court’s judgment in favor of the plaintiff. The following post provides the Missoulian’s (the local newspaper) exceptional review and report of the local response to that filing. We rarely see such quality and thoroughness from small market news reporting, but Seaborn Larson continues to excel in this latest update.
If you’ve been visiting websites like WatchtowerDocuments.org that focus on child abuse and recent court cases, then you’ve already met Frederick McLean. In fact, his photo appeared briefly in Barbara’s recent YouTube video. Photos of him working on high-performance race cars have appeared on many ex-JW websites in recent years. Everyone wants that guy captured soon.
In mid-April (2019), Barbara released a YouTube video that tried to clarify the Watchtower’s changing “Two Witness Rule.” Almost immediately upon its release, dozens of current and former Jehovah’s Witnesses questioned the legitimacy of Barbara’s understanding of the May 2019 Watchtower magazine article that announced a change of policy relating to child sexual abuse.
Kristin Zambo, a reporter for the Rockford, Illinois Register Star, reported in late January 2019 that a county jail inmate filed a federal lawsuit to have the right to receive Watchtower literature and religious materials available to him on tablet computers. He filed the complaint in U.S. District Court naming just about everyone associated with the Winnebago County Jail as defendants.
The Sacramento Bee reported on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, that “A procession of sexual assault victims urged the California State Senate to pass a law requiring priests and other religious leaders to report child abuse, ending a legal exemption that allows them to keep information confidential if they learn it during confessions.”
From the Board of Directors of “Stop Child Abuse – Advocates for Reform and Safety (SCAARS)”: Concerning recent reports of the use of “stolen” database documents to expose hidden allegations of child sexual abuse, the following is our declaration: