Watchtower Faces $2 Million Plus Tab for Hiding Child Sex Abuse

[Trey Bundy :  November 16, 2017]
The Jehovah’s Witnesses’refusal to hand over internal documents detailing alleged child sexual abuse just got more expensive.

A California appeals court last week upheld an order for the religion to pay $4,000 for each day it does not turn over the documents. The tab now stands at $2 million.

The ruling stems from a case in San Diego, where Osbaldo Padron sued the Jehovah’s Witnesses for failing to warn congregants that a child abuser was in their midst.

Padron, a former Jehovah’s Witness, was sexually abused as a child by an adult member of his congregation named Gonzalo Campos. Campos confessed to sexually abusing seven children.

During that time, leaders at the Jehovah’s Witnesses world headquarters in New York – known as the Watchtower – knew that Campos had abused children, according to court documents. Yet they continued to promote him to higher positions of responsibility in his congregation and took no action to prevent further abuse, the documents show.

Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting reviewed multiple cases involving Campos as part of a larger investigation into the Watchtower’s institutional cover-up of child sex abuse in its congregations.

According to internal Watchtower documents, the organization has instructed congregation leaders, called elders, to keep child abuse secret from law enforcement as a matter of policy since at least 1989.

In 1997, the Watchtower sent a letter to all local elders across the U.S., instructing them to send to a written report about anyone currently or formerly serving in a position of responsibility known to have sexually abused a child.

Three years ago, Padron sought those documents in court as part of his lawsuit, hoping to show a pattern that extended beyond his own case. The documents also would provide a roadmap to what are likely thousands of known or accused child molesters in congregations across the country.

The Watchtower argued repeatedly that fulfilling Padron’s request would violate the privacy rights of people named in the documents, confidentiality privileges between elders and congregants, and the organization’s religious protections under the First Amendment. The court dismissed those arguments. But the Watchtower has refused to fully turn over the documents.

In June, Judge Richard Strauss imposed sanctions of $4,000 a day until the organization complied. The Watchtower appealed.

In upholding Strauss’ order last week, the appellate judges called the Watchtower a “recalcitrant litigant who refuses to follow valid orders and merely reiterates losing arguments.”

Should the Watchtower again refuse to comply with the court’s order, the judges wrote, Strauss would be justified in kicking the Jehovah’s Witnesses out of court and ruling in favor of Padron.

“Indeed, we find Watchtower’s conduct so egregious that if it continues to defy the March 25, 2016 order, terminating sanctions appear to be warranted and necessary,” the judges wrote.

[Link to original post published November 16, 2017 on Reveal News]

Jehovah’s Witnesses’ tab for child sex abuse secrecy: $2M and counting

By  / November 16, 2017


Leave a Reply 8

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Debbie sexton

Debbie sexton

What are “terminating sanctions?”

Puma

Puma

TERMINATING SANCTION. A punishment for grossly improper litigation behavior that ends the offending party’s participation in the case, usually consisting of a default or dismissal. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 41 (b) states: “Involuntary Dismissal: Effect Thereof

daniel dubois

daniel dubois

bonjour barbara
félicitation pour t’est article
merci

Sharon Christensen

Sharon Christensen

Hello Barbara and thankyou to you and Joe for this site and this information…And all who have a share in…

Erik

Erik

I know another scripture too; Philippians 4:5a English Standard Version (ESV)”Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” What is reasonable about applying the “two witness” rule when kids are being hurt?

Rachele

Rachele

If the Society tricks enough elderly people at the door into signing a Living Trust which leaves their entire estate to them and not their family, they will have the money to buy time so that the 7 year statute of limitations on sexual offenses runs out, and just pay a fortune in fines. That is what rich folk that commit crimes against humanity do. Great example: Donald Trump.

Sharon Christensen

Sharon Christensen

Money, Land, jewellery…you name it…they will take it and get the money…they get older people to sign over their assets to JW.org…while still alive they will take pics etc…making an inventory and estimated value of the possessions etc. they will aquire once the person/persons are dead and gone! I suggest…grannies…wake up and for sure tighten your purse strings! …they would want older sisters to shun and disown their childern…brothers to for that matter, disown your kids….so you can quickly sign all you own and then some to god/Jw.org! Then they decorate their lily pads with finery…so the passer bys would wag their heads…and tongues…saying…Babble on you Grt…Jw.org! They should be sent to labor camps and for a change work for their keep…get a little real dirt under their nails! They have easy access to so much money they do not truly appreciate a bit o coin! Sadly, they steal soo many peoples hard earned cash etc. and just peeooffffttt! :/

Aaron Gallegos

Aaron Gallegos

The Watchtower Corporation is a business pretending to be a religion. It’s shameful how it lies and defies the courts.

A Congregation has an average of 3 child molesters. None of which are reported to the police or the Congregation unless cornered to do so.