Various individuals, courts and the media around the world have raised concerns about the manner in which cases of child sexual abuse are handled when they occur in congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. An independent 2009 study in Norway was critical of how Jehovah's Witnesses dealt with cases of child sexual abuse but stated there is no indication that the rate of sexual abuse among Jehovah's Witnesses is higher than found in general society. The organization's stated position is that it abhors child sexual abuse. Read the full report (PDF).
In 2015, it was disclosed that the Australia Branch of Jehovah's Witnesses had records of 1,006 alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse, relating to more than 1,800 victims since 1950, none of which were reported to police by the group. Some media and courts have reported that Jehovah's Witnesses employ organizational policies, which the group says are Bible-based, that make the reporting of sexual abuse difficult for members. Some victims of sexual abuse have said they were ordered by local elders to maintain silence to avoid embarrassment to both the accused and the organization.
In 2002, Jehovah's Witnesses' Office of Public Information published its policy for elders to report allegations of child abuse to the authorities where required by law, even if there was only one witness. In 2016 a UK judge upheld a ruling against the Jehovah's Witnesses for failing to protect a victim of child sexual abuse, and the Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the Watch Tower Society to block a Charity Commission inquiry into how the organisation's charity handles allegations of abuse. This was the culmination of two years of legal proceedings in five different courts and tribunals. The commission's attorney said, "WTBTS has at every stage relentlessly challenged the legal basis and scope of the Charity Commission's inquiry".
In 2019, elders in New Zealand were told to destroy documents, causing survivors of child sex abuse to fear that cases will be covered up. The organization maintained that documents relevant to cases of abuse would not be destroyed.
The UK Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was critical of Jehovah's Witnesses' policy that there must be two witnesses to cases of abuse before elders would consider the allegation. IICSA maintained the policy overlooks the fact that "child sexual abuse is most often perpetrated in the absence of witnesses".Religious groups in UK failing children over sex abuse, report says BBC
Policies
'Two witness rule' Jehovah's Witnesses' congregational judicial policies require the testimony of two material witnesses to establish a perpetrator's serious sin in the absence of confession. The organization considers this policy to be a protection against malicious accusations of sexual assault and states that this two-witness policy is applied solely to congregational discipline and has no bearing on whether a crime is reported to the authorities in countries where this is mandatory.Kristine Hirsti and Kathrine Hammerstad (12 December 2012): Tidligere ledere — Jehovas vitner dysser ned overgrep mot barn NRK. Retrieved 23 September 2013 DNA evidence, medical reports, or information from forensic experts or police that proves sexual abuse may possibly be accepted as a valid "second witness", however critics argue that without mandatory reporting for all accusations of abuse regardless of the local laws, such evidence could remain undetected. This approach has also been criticized for its focus on determining guilt overlooking the seriousness of the initial abuse and allowing a pedophile to go unpunished until they have been caught abusing multiple victims.
Questioning the victim A Watch Tower Society representative testified that the organization does not consider itself responsible for the "physical protection" of children in the community. Victims of abuse are required to provide details of their abuse to a group of male elders, which may cause additional trauma;"Case Study 29", Submissions of Senior Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission p. 131, Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, July 2015, "The number of people to whom a survivor of child sexual abuse is required to divulge the detail of her complaint exacerbates the trauma already suffered by a survivor of such abuse."Jehovah's Witnesses accused of silencing victims of child abuse elders are directed that a victim must not be required to face their abuser to present an accusation, however, adult victims may do so if they wish.
Reproof and restrictions Former child molesters, including those who molested children before becoming Jehovah's Witnesses and others reinstated into the congregation, are subject to a number of restrictions. Commenting on the effect of these restrictions, Jehovah's Witnesses' legal representative, Mario Moreno, stated that these restrictions alert members that the individual "lacks spiritual maturity."Paducah Sun, January 28, 2001 An abuser who is judged repentant by a committee of elders is given a 'public reproof', wherein it is announced to the congregation that the named individual "has been reproved", though the specific reason for reproof is not stated. A few weeks later, a talk may be given to the congregation, discussing the type of sin and the need to be on guard against it, but the reproved individual is not named in connection with this talk. It is the intention that the talk about the type of sin, and the previously made announcement of reproof, should allow other congregation members to interpret what type of sin had been committed.
Sex offenders may still be permitted to participate in the congregation's house-to-house preaching. According to the Watch Tower Society's spokesperson, J. R. Brown, such ones are only allowed to preach when accompanied by a responsible adult.Louisville Courier-Journal, 1-4-01. In 2016, a convicted child sex offender was filmed going door-to-door for the denomination, accompanied by an adult partner. The sustained participation in the group's activities has resulted in sexual predators remaining in good standing in the congregation. Elders are instructed that if a child abuser moves from their congregation to another, they must send a letter to the body of elders in the new congregation outlining the offender's background, although these letters sometimes fail to mention these confessions of abuse.
Comparison with other religions The New York Times commented:Laurie Goodstein, Ousted Members Say Jehovah's Witnesses' Policy on Abuse Hides Offenses, The New York Times, August 11, 2002.
In 2008, the Watch Tower Society of Britain, in discussions with the UK Charities Commission, undertook to produce a Child Protection Policy and update its procedures to bring them into line with other religious and secular bodies."Work of the Charity Commission in 2008-09", Minutes of Evidence Taken Before Public Administrative Committee (House of Commons), Thursday 10 December 2009, Retrieved 2014-12-23
Cover-up allegations In some cases, members of Jehovah's Witnesses have been prevented or deterred from reporting child molestation to civil authorities. Particularly since around 2000, the Jehovah's Witnesses organization has been accused of covering up cases of child molestation committed by its members. In March 2001, Christianity Today printed an article reporting allegations that Jehovah's Witnesses' policies made reporting sexual abuse difficult for members, and did not conform to typical treatment of such cases. The article also included a response by representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses."Sex Abuse: Witness Leaders Accused of Shielding Molesters" by Corrie Cutrer, Christianity Today, March 5, 2001, As Retrieved 2010-04-15 The Australian Royal Commission heard that an elder discouraged an abuse victim from going to the Commission by saying, "Do you really want to drag Jehovah's name through the mud?" In Ireland in 2016, two Jehovah's Witness elders were removed from their positions as punishment for reporting a child molester to the police after the London Branch legal department told them not to.
The BBC reported allegations of a cover-up in July 2002, in an episode of Panorama entitled "Suffer the Little Children". The report revealed that the headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Watch Tower Society, requires all congregations to submit details of child abuse allegations and maintains an internal database on all cases of child abuse reported to them. It described one case where a child came forward to the elders of her congregation to report sexual abuse by her father but was sent home, despite their having known for three years that her father was an abuser. When the girl eventually went to the police, her father was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
According to Witness spokesman J. R. Brown, Jehovah's Witnesses are not required to report crimes to elders before calling civil authorities. Victims and their families are free to call police, he said, although some don't choose to.Tubbs, Sharon (Aug. 22, 2002), "Spiritual shunning", St. Petersburg Times. The Watch Tower Society maintains a policy with no explicit requirement for elders to report all child abuse cases where such is not required by law. Elders are instructed to "leave matters in Jehovah's hands" if an abuser denies the accusations and there is no second witness available.
2014 investigations in the United Kingdom In 2013 at the Jehovah's Witnesses congregation of Moston, Manchester, England, church elder and convicted child sex offender Jonathan Rose, following his completion of a nine-month jail sentence for paedophile offences, was allowed in a series of public meetings to cross-examine the children he had molested. Rose was disfellowshipped after complaints to the police and the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
In a separate incident, prior to the trial and conviction for rape and sexual assault in June 2014 of Mark Sewell, an elder of the congregation in Barry, Wales, the church conducted an internal investigation of the allegations, where the women and children had to face their alleged abuser in judicial committee hearings. A child victim, for whom Sewell was later convicted of rape, alleged that she was questioned closely by church elders when she came forward years after the attack and was required to describe the incident to them in intimate detail, with Sewell present, but her claims were dismissed by the committee and not taken to the police for further investigation. In June, Sewell was jailed for fourteen years for the rape and sexual abuse of parishioners, including children. All but one of Sewell's fellow elders who investigated claims against him declined to give evidence in his Crown Court trial. They also provided no assistance to police and prosecutors in their investigation, despite dis-fellowshipping Sewell 20 years previously, and destroyed evidence showing claims against Sewell dating back more than 20 years. In June 2014, Sewell was sentenced to fourteen years in prison for eight sex offenses; in December 2014 he appealed unsuccessfully for a reduction of his sentence.