Back in December this website reported on the story of Jonathan Rose, the convicted pedophile who was sentenced to nine months for his abuse of two little girls, aged only 5 and 10 at the time.
Now Rose has been released from jail and his elders have finally disfellowshipped him – but only after gifting him the opportunity to quiz his victims and force them to relive their abuse.
Chris Osuh of the Manchester Evening News who broke the story back in October has followed up events in the wake of Rose’s release in March. In his latest article, it is reported that the victims “were told if they wanted him barred from the church they would have to recount their ordeal before elders.”
And unbelievably, “Rose was even allowed to ask the women about the abuse he was jailed for – as eight elders looked on.”
Over the course of three meetings victims were made to relate their abuse in detail, and were asked if they had done anything to encourage it. Shockingly, given the fact that all victims were children at the time, “one of the victims was asked if she had enjoyed it.”
In the third and final meeting Rose was invited to the proceedings and given the opportunity to question the women “in detail” without any of the usual measures used in court to prevent witnesses being bullied.
Though it seems inconceivable that victims of child abuse would willingly subject themselves to such dreadful treatment, apparently they went through the ordeal because they were under the impression that Rose would NOT be disfellowshipped if they didn’t attend and participate.
According to the article, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not deny these meetings took place. However, a statement issued by Watchtower insisted that victims were not “forced to attend a meeting or confront an alleged perpetrator of child abuse,” but this contradicts what is known to have taken place – namely that three young women attended a meeting they would surely have avoided had Rose been disfellowshipped regardless.
This is not the first time Watchtower has been caught lying to the media.
The shocking incident illustrates perfectly how out-of-touch and oblivious to the severity of child molestation the elders in New Moston congregation are – and it seems inconceivable that they arranged this meeting without first taking instructions from the London Branch Office.
Rose may have finally been ousted as a Witness and thus limited in his opportunities to abuse other children, but the local elders, who stood by Rose in the courtroom, cannot take any credit for this.
Rather, it seems Rose’s victims have bravely gone way beyond what might reasonably have been expected of them to help ensure the safety of the children of the New Moston congregation. And this should speak volumes.
Further reading…
- Original M.E.N. story on Jonathan Rose
- Jonathan Rose – the pedophile elder who won the support of a congregation
- MEN follow-up article
- Independent article
- Daily Mail article (quoting this website)
- Sunday World article
- Mirror article
- Civil Society article
- Third Sector article
- JWsurvey articles on child abuse
John,
Oh my God! The elders made the victims do that?
My sincere and deep respect and sympathy go to those brave and wonderful ladies who endured this travesty of justice. This disgusting human being is now not only on the sex offender’s register, but is now disfellowshipped.
No doubt Mr Rose will convince the elders that he’s really sorry, and he will try to be reinstated. I hope he is not.
Thank you, John, for providing this update.
I hope that you and your lovely family are not too effected by the flooding your way?
Peace be with you
Excelsior!
Thanks Excelsior. The floods, terrible as they were, didn’t affect our part of the Balkans. I appreciate you thinking of us. :)
The elders had all the evidence they needed to disfellowship him from the court case, so why they felt the need to re-do it all, subjecting the victims to re-live these despicable acts, is beyond me. The victims may not have been “forced” to do this, but they obviously felt that if they didn’t re-testify in front of the elders and the pedophile, that nothing would be done, and he would be free to molest and abuse more children.
So sick, and once again, the Jehovah’s Witnesses show themselves to be a twisted cult.
It’s all part of the cult control horrors. They have to kid themselves that ‘Jehovah’s’ (aka WT Gov. Bod’s) legal system transcends the ‘worldly’ one.
As it is it simply demonstrates the JWs’ gross delusions and cruel insensitivity.
Cedars, you’re late again–I read this in the news yesterday, j/k ;) I have come to rely upon your site for timely revelations of branch letters so I’m not surprised when they’re read from the platform…so image my surprise during this week’s service mtg; it was announced that beginning in September, CO visits will only have one weeknight meeting so as to allow for family worship where it was suggested that week’s congregation bible study may be considered during fw. Is your bethel letter source on vacation (holiday)?
I knew this would happen, my readers are getting spoilt! ;)
Yes, I’d heard about the CO visit thing, but I didn’t consider it big enough to warrant an article. I’m learning to be picky. :)
@Tony – it is the lack of sleep from dealing with a newborn slowing Cedar’s information flow down :-) I thought we would get more information since he would have sleepiness nights because of the little one being awake at night :-)
If you don’t care for Cedar’s timeline get your own source. ;-)
BTW Cedar thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to keep us informed. Many of us appreciate efforts done in behalf of truth. Blessings to you and the family.
Thanks Sunshine! :)
Thank you for the update on this story, Cedars. I have some followup questions though: is anything known about, the congregation still supporting him like before? Does he visit meetings again, and if so, how are they handling that because he isn’t allowed to visit places with children present (or he has to have their permission)?
Too bad the victims didn’t just leave the cult and let the JWs keep the man they clearly desired to keep.
So much abuse of power.
Won’t be long and such men will inevitably face some natural law as a result of the sick and twisted shit and abuse they dish out for dinner.
But they won’t be forced of course. In fact they’ll quite prefer it to the alternatives. :)
Perhaps an eye for an eye would school those brutish “elders” as to the effects of what they do.
Nothing else seems to.
Thanks to the internet and sites like this, the story doesn’t get buried on the back pages of the local newspaper. Keep it up.
I’m speechless…..This is unadulterated cruelty – and I would believe – breaking the law. Since when do you force victims to be grilled by their abuser? This is plain sick, and I hope the WT pays a high price. Hopefully, if Finland sees the truth of how WT hides it’s evilness and law-breaking, it will filter on down to every country….
Oh. My. Gosh.
This is so wrong. On so many levels.
First, no legal entity requires victims to relate every little detail, in doing so it can trigger PTSD as well as other emotional problems. In the US, victims ARE NOT required to disclose that much info. Ever. And not in such an insensitive situation of the perpetrator and others in place.
Second, the group of elders there probably fancy themselves as qualified as trained counselors or therapists (they often convince themselves that they are trained by the GB…they don’t know the first thing about psychology), so they don’t know how evil and wrong their actions are, and they can’t see the harm that it WILL do. Not maybe, WILL. This misguided assurance that they think they are acting in good faith (somehow) is not enough, they are behaving criminally towards the victims. In the Conti case, one of the convictions was for making her face her accuser in a back room environment.
Third, total sexism. Eight men PLUS the perp? Did they get their thrills hearing all this data? That many men were not necessary and serve to further abuse the victims because the subject matter is so private. That they were “older men” inflicts pain on the victims, no matter what their age now, simply because of the gender disparity.
Fourth, three times? What was the point? Out of boundaries of legal regulations (as Cedars noted), this bullying did nothing to help the victims. Only that gratification for the perp to relive his, and continue, his influence. What were they afraid of, that Rose was going to sue for being disfellowshipped? Why so much care in handling him and not the girls?
The problems that stem from this are many: the women will no longer feel trust towards ANY elder in the hall because they have literally been violated again. The knowledge that everyone knows their private business will make them withdraw and suffer further from the already likely depression and anxiety they may feel. They will not feel any peace because every detail of another’s crime has been imbued on to them. The minimization of their feelings will make them fall apart. Been there, done that.
so wait, your saying that this man was caught, and wasnt disfellowshipped right away? I mean Id expect that to happen the very next meeting, bar none. The police should have handled it from then on leaving the entire congregation out of it.
i wonder if he has a court ordered restriction on him having the child preditor label, to remain away from the victims, and so many yards away from all children? if so he broke the law by being in the same room as the victims, who certainly should have declined to be anywhere near him, and they should have contacted the authorities.
its almost like these elders involved are having a power trip. Id think all involved would be packing up all their literature and dropping it off in the kingdom hall parking lot.
who could go back after that? Id so move .
8 elders? In a single judicial committee?? Or was it 4, then another 4 for an appeal committee? (assuming there was an appeal, the article doesn’t mention any appeal though)
“No victims are forced […] to confront an alleged perpetrator of child abuse.” Yuck! Shiver! Reminds me of the bulgarian blood transfusion scandal (http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/bulgaria-blood-transfusions.php)… JWs are free to take a blood transfusion; but if they do then they’re automatically not a JW anymore … How free is that?! :-/
She should have walked up to him and socked him in the eye and asked HIM if he enjoyed it.
I don’t understand why they even had to quiz anyone. After being convicted and serving his time, was there some doubt in the elder’s mind that he was not guilty of what he was prosecuted for?
What a mockery of the justice system!
Shame on those elders!
Shame on those elders!!
As appalled as I am by this I’m not surprised. Elders just love salacious details of sin and have no regard for what they do to victims because they have been given a ‘green light’ to hold their own kangaroo courts.
This criminal should have been DF’d immediately to spare these poor victims further torment. My heart goes out to these poor kids, they have been assaulted over and over again like it’s a game. I really hope they see what they are involved in and one day we can welcome them into an ex-jw forum where they will receive support and love from people who understand!
As far as I’m concerned, those elders are partners in crime as that man continues to abuse his powers. The elders are helping him commit further abuse. Clearly nothing to do with a god of love. If Jehovah backs this organization, then Jehovah is one sick bastard.
they are just as bad as the pedophile, its abuse over again, and these mongrels should be made to pay for this cruelty, disgusting and shows that the elder arrangement of so called shepherds is nothing more than a front for men willing to enforce the GB rules in the most cruel way, its all about law not love, their law.
this men run club of Pharisees’ hopefully will start to crumble along with all those that support this wicked organization.
In response to Tony’s comment about not hearing about the CO visit changes, I stand behind cedars decision to be choosy about what articles he writes. It seems his site is best suited to announcing the bad & hypocritical things WT are involved in, and not simply being a source for breaking WT news updates.
[However, having said this cedars, it dawned on me that if you have this sort of WT update information frequently available, it may not be a bad idea to use it to your/our advantage somewhere on the website. I was thinking, if tony is out there looking for regular updates about everyday WT affairs, there are likely a number of others who would like it also…including JW’s who still think they’ve got the truth. The point being, you could use it to drive even more traffic to the website frequently, and subsequently have more potential JW’s crossing over from these proposed “news” updates to the main information articles which show WT for what it really is…potentially helping more active JW’s wake up. A seperate news updates section could just have a few lines of essential information, avoiding the need for too much regular extra work on your part. It’s just an idea i had though, not trying to impose!]
Tony I think this news here where your posting is by far more important, I don’t see anything really that mind blowing about having only one night a week on a CO visit, or do you think there is more to it?
I wanted to add one more thing that is essentially of foremost importance in survivors of sexual abuse: they didn’t choose to be, or want to be, victims. Even the term “Survivor” is appalling in some regards.
So, the fact that all those details are out there with the elders, and thus their wives and children, and then to their pals, service groups, etc. Even the local Starbucks baristas will have the details by the end of the week. Shame on them!
Thanks to the victims for being courageous and bringing this matter out and helping others come forward by their example.
@ John, enjoy your little one, what an awesome gift you have from your dear wife
It just shows how little respect they have for criminal law. Would you trust them?
It just shows how little respect they have for criminal law. Would you trust them?
Jehovah witnesses will not take judicial action while the trial is in progress in case the accused is found innocent thereby avoiding libel (self serving).
They bleat on about the two witness rule ( after the case) but what they fail to mention is the one witness rule found in the Hebrew scriptures
( deu 19. 15-19) which Christ was no doubt endorsing in Matt 18. This I believe is at the crux of the argument. Would it be possible Cedars for you to write an article on this subject. Cheers.
To Michael re CO visit
It’s all seems a little involved to me, but I guess it could work out.
I wonder what examples the WT would use if they release an updated ‘Questions Young People Ask – Answers That Work’ that was dedicated entirely to the Two Witness Rule??
And then a new book explaining how the Faithful and Discreet Slave Class finally met their end in Australia, by their own hand, earlier in the year. Now that really will involve some linguistic and mental gymnastics.
If she enjoyed it?
This is so disgusting… I almost choked on my food.
Brave ladies…
John,
I was under the impression that the victims of this sick paedophile were ex Witnesses? Are they still active Witnesses, then?
My heart goes out to the victims and I hope that they can get professional help to assist them in carrying on with their lives.
Peace be with you
Excelsior!
Jehovah’s Witnesses are described in 2 Timothy 3:13 . . .wicked men and impostors will advance from bad to worse, misleading and being misled. . .
Never expected this liars to change, they will become worse and worse! Let us warn outsiders not to fall victims of the cult!!!
@gary, Here is “one witness rule found in the Watchtower’s scriptures…
*** w83 3/15 p. 31 Honor Godly Marriage! ***
What, though, if one mate wants or even demands to share with his or her partner in what is clearly a perverted sex practice? The above-presented facts show that porneia involves unlawful sexual conduct outside the marital arrangement. Thus, a mate’s enforcing perverted acts, such as oral or anal sex, within the marriage would not constitute a Scriptural basis for a divorce that would free either for remarriage. Even though a believing mate is distressed by the situation, yet that one’s endeavor to hold to Scriptural principles will result in a blessing from Jehovah. In such cases it may be helpful for the couple to discuss the problem frankly, bearing in mind especially that sexual relations should be honorable, wholesome, an expression of tender love. This certainly should exclude anything that might distress or harm one’s mate.—Ephesians 5:28-30; 1 Peter 3:1, 7.
As already stated, it is not for elders to “police” the private marital matters of couples in the congregation. However, if it becomes known that a member of the congregation is practicing or openly advocating perverted sex relations within the marriage bond, that one certainly would not be irreprehensible, and so would not be acceptable for special privileges, such as serving as an elder, a ministerial servant or a pioneer. Such practice and advocacy could even lead to expulsion from the congregation. Why?
Elders told me my wife accused me of that (anal sex) and I wonder if “one witness rule” would work better!! I did not do anything of the sort to my wife who is an active publisher cherished by Kigali Branch Office as they use her to fight against a strong APOSTATE I am!
In my opinion, the root problem is not “two witnesses rule” or “one witnesses rule”, the problem is the sort of people JWs are in general: A “HEARTLESS PEOPLE” described as (Ezekiel 21:31) . . .men who are unreasoning, the craftsmen of ruination.
@ Hakizimana Jean de Dieu:
JWs are in general: A “HEARTLESS PEOPLE” – Fiche-moi le camp!
The VAST majority of JWs I have known and know now, are mighty fine people. What most are questioning is a “two witness” policy which has life threatening devastation.
Firstly, whether part of the movement or not these three (now) ladies can FINALLY have closure. May they be at peace.
Secondly, not one of knows the detail of the case, and many of the knee jerk comments appear gung ho… without the absolute facts. If anyone here can temper that statement.. it will be John himself, as I believe he probably has the best pulse on the matter. He is (almost) Mancunian, I believe.
May I please offer a “devil’s advocate” on this one. In the city closest to me in the United Kingdom we have recently had a similar case, involving (a non JW) male Teacher.
Allegations of interfering with some of his young pupils were made. He was suspended from his duties and a long, protracted case ensued. He fell into deep depression, lost his only source of income, his reputation and his career. By the time he was completely exonerated by the British justice system…. he had fallen into deep depression. He committed suicide.
Whereas I am delighted a complete dirt bag has been brought to his knees in the “Rose” case… he may have actually been “disfellowshipped” because of his lies, even if he feigned repentance at the outset….. his cover finally busted and brought to light.
As for an Elder, asking a now grown set of women if they enjoyed the experience (as small children)… it smacks me between the eyes of disbelief if it is true… but, I wouldn’t disbelieve it either.
Personally, I hope all these trials of perverted practice establish better law and standards everywhere… they are not just among Catholics and JWs, Hakizimana.
NB: before you react to my opening comment… I did use the polite form of the expression I used!
GEM- I have been a part of and heard it over and over again from very good sources who have served on such cases these types of question are ask. Just to prove these types of question are probably true. I have heard it from different elders and different areas of the country I live in, who could not and do not know each other. They do indeed ask such questions. I myself have been a part of a couple of cases where these types of questions were asked so I have seen and heard if first hand. But this is why GB does not follow the rule of hearing case at the “city gate(public)” which is mention much more in scripture than the two witnesses rule.
I don’t disbelieve it Scrubmaster: Thank you for clarifying that point. I can kind of understand a hearing of an adult case… if only to ascertain a truly “repentant” attitude… but, a retrospective question addressed to a “kid” in hind-sight… ???
Unfortunately, I can’t comment on much current policy. I served at Bethel some 30+ years ago… and oddly, it was around the time “shunning” was becoming hard core. I was Best Man for someone… half of his bride’s family was disfellowshipped for Smoking. This included the Mother who was told she could observe her daughter’s wedding at the KH… but, NOT attend the celebrations after.
I came from a deeply divided family, where my Mother was a Smoker. It was hard keeping a foot in both camps with One parent believing and the other not.
In those days we were instructed to be civil to DF persons but not to share with them Spiritually… that was the job of the Shepherds (Elders)… encouraging such ones to make it back.
I felt uncomfortable as Best Man at that wedding… and, the rejection of an otherwise loving Mother, did not sit well with me.
I walked away from the Religion shortly thereafter.
@Gem,
are we talking about the same people, JWs?
*** w86 1/1 p. 13 par. 12 Days Like “the Days of Noah” ***
12 Shocking as it is, even some who have been prominent in Jehovah’s organization have succumbed to immoral practices, including homosexuality, wife swapping, and child molesting. It is to be noted, also, that during the past year, 36,638 individuals had to be disfellowshipped from the Christian congregation, the greater number of them for practicing immorality. Jehovah’s organization must be kept clean!
27 Years later, is the organization clean? By no means!
“When faced with temptation, however, some of our fellow believers have chosen to act like Esau, putting their spiritual inheritance at risk. In fact, a considerable number of judicial actions and disfellowshippings that take place each year are the result of sexual misconduct. How crucial it is to prepare our heart now—well before we find ourselves in situations that test our integrity! (Ps. 78:8) We can take at least two steps that will serve as a bulwark against temptation and will help us to make wise choices later.” (http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/l/r1/lp-e?q=w13+5%2F15+p.29+par.13)
“Religions is racket and snare” This cult is not only mind control cult but also SEX CONTROL CULT. The only religion I have know that teaches that Jehovah’s children came on earth to rape HUMAN WOMEN and became DEMONS! This is to instill sex ideas in JWs minds to control their GENITALS FUNCTIONS!!!
Do more research man, you will be surprise!!
I challenged only your statement: All JWs are Heartless people.
You are wrong. I stand by that statement
I live with JWdom in my family to this day. There is no lack of research on my part…
Just an agreement, that many policies/doctrines have spiralled out of control since I left. There, I agree.
Before the “disfellowship” announcement was made 2 elders which I won’t name point blank REFUSED to make the announcement as they disagreed with it happening, there was plenty of tears, back patting & sympathy being passed to Rose before the announcement. There is no justice in this case sadly as with him having so much support in the congregation he will no doubt be a regular attendee at meetings regardless of the supposed “shunning” that they normally follow through with, sadly I would think within a few months normal service will resume in this congregation. What sickens me is the elders are fully aware of his guilt against these girls or there would have been no sense to asking “did they enjoy it” had nothing ever occurred! Rose has always denied his guilt, yet seems the elders are aware of the fact despite his lies and denial that he is loaded with guilt. In a court of law victims are granted the privacy of a screen should they choose not to face their abuser, yet New Moston elders took any such privacy away from these girls to further humiliate them and give Rose a front row seat to see and hear the pain he has caused for a second time around, I just hope that this sadistic animal does not take revenge on another innocent in the future as although he is disfellowshipped he still has an unwavering amount of support from elders, family and friends who will not think twice about putting their trust in him around their children. This case has not divided a congregation despite the evidence and transparent guilt of Rose it has only cemented sympathy and loyalty within the congregation for him and his own family. Monsters that behave in the way Rose has for all these years do not suddenly develop a sense of right and wrong, I hope to never be reading another case involving this animal wether inside or out of the organisation.
Since rape is more about power than about sex, these elders are accomplices in the first degree of further raping Rose’s victims with him. They’re JW gangbangers.
If bad things happened to those responsible for this miscarriage of justice and any who buy into their bs, I admit, I would not be even remotely sad about it.
They’re uneducated bullies, completely lacking in empathy. They’re about as useful to humanity as people with lobotomies.
In early 1975 in our congregation we had 2 married couples and the wife of one husband had an affair with the husband of the other couple and when it was discovered, both adulterous mates were disfellowshipped for only 3 months and did it again right after they were both reinstated and again only disfellowshipped for another 3 months. The reason these people were reinstated so quickly was because if they had been disfellowshipped when armageddon happened, Jehovah would have killed them. That is how smart elders are.
Elmo,
Thanks for the inside information, molesters and abusers are so manipulative so as to twist the truth, it’s no surprise that many are on his side, my ex beat my daughter and son, but he has manipulated the elders and the social workers so I have got DF’d and can’t see my son.
My kids know what he is really like, but he is still fooling many, just like Rose. It make s me sick too see such manipulative men get away with deceiving others.
I am glad in a way though, as my kids came to realise that Jehovah does not bring it out. My 12 yr old son is an atheist and stopped praying months ago.
My daughter has now left the WT. So we have to count our blessings. I am incensed though when I hear things like this, it make me mad that liars get away with lying.
Kate xx
Thanks for continuing to bring such articles to public attention. In the past these issues would have been buried on the backpage of the newspaper.