Governing Body member Stephen Lett has slammed criticism of the organization’s child abuse record as “apostate-driven lies and dishonesties” in a video released on Watchtower’s new “JW Broadcasting” website.
Lett, who recently raised eyebrows by saying there is more evidence that Jesus’ kingdom began ruling in 1914 than there is for “gravity, electricity, wind,” insisted that “Jehovah’s organization” takes action against those who would threaten its young ones, whom he says it protects.
The comments came in the final part of a 10-minute Orwellian speech in which Lett reminded bethelites to pursue “oneness” even if it meant foregoing personal rights, such as one’s right to decide on one’s own dress and grooming.
A video of Lett’s comments on child abuse can be seen below. To watch the full 10-minute talk, please click here.
In case you didn’t catch it (or couldn’t bear to watch the video) this is what Lett said…
“Another way we can contribute to the oneness: rejecting false stories that are designed to separate us from Jehovah’s organization. As an example, think about the apostate-driven lies and dishonesties that Jehovah’s organization is permissive toward pedophiles. I mean, that is ridiculous, isn’t it! If anybody takes action against someone who would threaten our young ones, and takes action to protect our young ones, it is Jehovah’s organization. We reject outright such lies.”
Aside from the fact that the above words represent a flagrant, bare-faced lie as respects the organization protecting children from pedophiles, it is noteworthy that Lett begins his rant with a straw man argument.
“Apostates” do not necessarily say that Watchtower (“Jehovah’s organization”) is permissive toward pedophiles. Though technically speaking Watchtower’s policies are permissive to some extent, saying the organization is permissive toward pedophiles implies that the organization endorses those who engage in pedophilia and/or doesn’t object to child molestation in its printed material.
Activists like myself have never denied that Watchtower publications strenuously condemn child molestation and those who engage in it. What we are horrified about is the fact that, despite outwardly condemning pedophilia, Watchtower effectively shelters pedophiles by allowing allegations against them to go unreported to the authorities if there is no witness to their heinous crimes.
Rather than this being an “apostate-driven lie” this is a sad truth, as borne out by (1) Watchtower’s own instructions to elders (which urge them to “leave matters in Jehovah’s hands” if an accused pedophile denies the accusation – see below) and (2) the numerous legal battles Watchtower finds itself embroiled in due to this very policy.
And as I point out in my video rebuttal to Lett’s remarks, investigative journalists like Trey Bundy (who has blown wide open the story of Watchtower’s mishandling of child abuse in recent weeks) are not “apostates” at all, and would not be foolish enough to put their careers on the line by reporting stories that cannot be substantiated.
What we have in this frantic rant is a seemingly desperate attempt at stemming the flow of bad publicity by flat-out lying about Watchtower’s involvement in protecting pedophiles. The fact that “Jehovah’s organization” would rather default on a $13.5 million judgment than release its pedophile database in response to a subpoena, as Trey revealed in a Huffington Post interview, says everything about their priorities. Secrecy comes first, safety of children – a poor second.
It will be interesting to see whether floundering tirades and flat-out denials by Governing Body members regarding child abuse become more of a feature of Watchtower propaganda over the coming months as the media begins to really turn the screws.
After all, when you make yourself so visible to your adoring followers, only for your dirty secrets to be exposed on the evening news, sooner or later they will expect answers.
Further reading…
- Is the media finally grasping just how bad Watchtower’s child abuse problem is?
- PBS airs trey Bundy’s must-see documentary on child sex abuse among Jehovah’s Witnesses
- Stephen Lett: More evidence for 1914 than for “gravity, electricity, wind!”
- AAWA.co article “Watchtower Caught in a Lie”
- Jehovah’s Witness Report article
- JWsurvey articles on child abuse
Related video…
Yes, the GB are experts at the art of CYA -Cover Your Ass.
Great comments everyone!
What can a person say when an organization is prepared to scariface a child’s innocence to protect itself?
The Jw broadcasting is a way for all to see just how these men are. Ive seen some talks where they stick their foot in their mouth.
One talk the elder? or hypocrite king was saying how HE WATCHES sports but then Cant stand the attitudes of the sports players saying it sours him and he has to turn his head.. that was so Embarrassing for him.. why? BeCause if its bad as he describes then why was he watching it!! PLUS they’ve had articles and assemblies that say high competitive sports is bad..So basically he’s out in public saying he’s going against whats bad or against his Governing body!!! Lol (Rev 16:15)
Live Long and Prosper. Leonard Nimoy has passed. Now there was a great man.
oh! Ask me please! I was the wife of a pedophile. I made him go talk to the elders. I didn’t find out till ten years later that he lied to them about what he told me he did. He told me what he did and he told them something else. And of course I was the wife who was in submission so they didn’t bother to ask me.
@Cathy Harris. My husband is incapable of telling the truth and will make up lies about me to the elders if it means it will make him look pathetic and innocent in the elder’s eyes and will throw me under the bus in a minute to save his own skin so I know of what kind of man you are talking about. Men like that, have no conscience and the Watchtower Organization is full of men like that.
When it comes to a meeting with a committee, a man’s wife isn’t allowed to be present, but when it comes to a meeting with the elders, the man can insist on being there, if it’s the wife that wants to report what her husband did.
So, this is what happens when a husband like that is called on the carpet and he appears before the committee without the wife being there too: He lies and says he didn’t do it or if it’s a proven fact what he did, he blames the whole thing on his wife for his “weakness” and the committee takes pity on him and you, the wife look like the guilty one, not even knowing what he’s telling them behind your back and since you don’t know what he’s saying, you can’t defend yourself against his lies.
If the wife calls for a meeting with the committee, say for instance because of abuse, the husband gets to come along and no matter what she says about what happened, the husband gets to deny anything she says, in effect, calling his wife a liar, and the elders will believe the husband and do nothing to him. This has been my experience.
On the scale of what society considers worse, a murderer or a pedophile, the pedophile is worse so that is why it is so important to the pedophile that he doesn’t want to be found out and exposed because they know full well how disgusting they will be to everybody who finds out about what they did. They will throw anybody under the bus to hide what they did. They will call their own wife a liar and their own children.
There is no cure for a pedophile. The only thing that can be done with them, is for them to control their urges but the urge is always there for them.
In the Organization, the elders know full well what a stigma it is to be labeled a pedophile but the elders are more concerned about the pedophile’s feelings than the fact that these men are a danger to the children in the congregation and will most likely abuse again and again, until they are thrown in jail for their crimes, so they keep the crime private, to protect the pedophile’s feelings.
Pedophiles are sick and it is not a sickness that is cured. The temptation will always be there for them if they are around children and so unless it’s made public that this man has this problem, he will always be a danger to children he is around, unless he is put in prison.
What the men in the Governing Body don’t realize is that it is a serious crime. These men and the elders too, naively think that once a person becomes a Jehovah’s Witnesses, that the Bible becomes some kind of a charm for this kind of person and that somehow magically, he is transformed into a person who would never harm a child anymore. That is callous thinking on their part. But this is the position that the Society puts these elders in.
They are ordered by the Society to handle cases of sex abuse allegations this way and they foolishly think that God is running the Organization and simple-mindly do whatever the Society orders them to do.
There is a reason the Watchtower doesn’t want the elders to go to college. If they went to college, they’d develop thinking ability and this is not what the Society wants in it’s elders. What the Society wants from it’s elders is blind obedience.
The Society likes to give the impression to the public that the JW religion is made up of only Godly men who would never do such a thing but they are burying their heads in the sand and need to come to grips with the monster that they have inherited and are perpetuating with their smoke screens and lies.
I brought up the subject about pedophiles in the organization. My sister who was raised in the ‘truth’ rolled her eyes, answered, “Not interested” “Don’t want to hear about it.” I thought to myself, it’s hard to reason with stupidity. Jehovah’s Witnesses have a fake sweetness about them. They want to be closed minded. My sister and her daughter told me to stop being negative because I brought it up. I get in trouble with each witness I mention it to, each and every time I bring it up.
The governing body may not be protecting from sex crimes because they could be getting off on it loving it and not really against it. If thats the case then it could only get worse starting secret sex slavery..
Its really common in todays world but sick coming from those claiming to have holy spirit…
But whats loved is loved they obviously love allowing sex crimes for their nasty high..
Trying to get a brainwashed Jehovah’s Witness to change the way they see something, is in many cases a pointless exercise; they need to be ready to change the way they think for whatever reason. It’s like telling an anorexic woman that she weighs much less than a model she aspires to look like – you can present the evidence in black and white, but she still won’t believe it. Her mind is conditioned in such a way that her eyes see an image that the brain interprets as fat, while others will look at that same image and interpret it quite differently.
@Anonymous,sorry your married to a JW tool.Ime in same situation.
As for a cure for peadophilia ,it’s called Mr Winchester and he’s very effective,the cure is permanent.
Massive article in the UK Sunday Times newspaper today, about sex abuse within the JW organisation. What say you, ‘brother’ Lett?
@Wild Olive, from the little research I have done about pedophilia, it seems that there’s different degrees of the disorder. Most are men but some are women too. It’s born into them, the same as a person would be born being either heterosexual or homosexual. It’s not known for sure what causes this disorder for sure.here’s many different opinions.
There’s different names for the age that the pedophile is attracted to but generally, they are attracted to age 16 down to infants and there’s a different name for the disorder for each age group.
When it gets in the news that a man rapes or sodomizes a baby or a child, I think the general opinion is, is that a Winchester would be the answer and in my gut, that is exactly how I feel too.
There are men and sometimes women, who are only attracted to children who haven’t reach adolescence yet and then you have those who are attracted to adolescents.
Not all pedophiles act on their fantasies and so aren’t considered a pedophile. They have to have committed the abuse at least one time to be considered a pedophile since what goes on in a person’s mind, doesn’t make them a criminal.
Today, the laws are so strict that when it comes to what is considered criminal behavior or contributing to the delinquency of a minor, that even if a child under the age of 18, sends either suggestive photos of herself or himself either on line or on their phone, they could be put on a sex offender’s list and it will stay with them for the rest of their life or if they receive such a picture, they will be charged with the crime of either possessing child porn or sending child porn. The picture doesn’t even have to be a naked picture. It only has to be sexually suggestive to be considered criminal. This law applies to girls and boys so the Society is right when it comes to the fact that not everyone who reports something like this is necessarily a pedophile.
Where the Society crosses the line is that they think it’s up to them to decide whether or not the reported abuse was a crime or not. It is not up to them to decide whether or not the person is a pedophile. It is up to the authorities to decide and the person or persons affected by the crime, should be encouraged to report it to the police, not discouraged, is what the Society does to the victim and their family.
How the Society crosses the line in the protection of a true pedophile, is that they let the Branch decide whether or not the person is a danger to the congregation and then the elders, when they do investigate an abuse accusation, give the abuser a chance to either confess or not and then if he does confess, they let the person try and convince them that they are repentant and won’t do the crime again but this is where the Society is ignorant when it comes to disorders such as pedophilia. If the pedophile is a good liar and convinces the committee that he is sorry for what he did and tells them that he won’t do it again, they won’t disfellowship him and that makes them stupid for believing what the pedophile told them because just the fact that this person acted even one time, should tell them that the person is sick in the head and can’t be trusted to be telling the truth but they are too ignorant about such things and are too lazy to find out about it and let the guy off to go and abuse again. The fact that it is kept secret from the rest in the congregation, only facilitates the abuser to do it again and again. That is why it is correct in saying that in the JW religion, it is a haven for abusers.
It is a disorder that is not cured. You can’t cure a person of being attracted to the same sex just the same as you can’t cure a person of being attracted to the opposite sex and you can’t “cure” a person who is attracted to children. The only thing that can be done with a person who is a pedophile is to either keep them in prison or put them in mental institutions. The reason for that is, if the person is a repeat offender, that means he doesn’t have control over himself and if he is alone with a child, will most likely offend again. That is why in the United States, there is a law now that when a sex offender is let loose in any community, that the entire community has to be alerted to him and where he lives.
That is what I have found out when I have done some research into pedophilia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7y2PddkkJgs
This video is about sexual abuse that went on at Boystown in Australia but it shows the pain these men are still going through because of their abuse as children and how important it is to report the abuse, no matter how old a person is.
@ anonymous
I’m uncomfortable with the idea that a pedophile is born that way. I mean, is there a “pedophilia” gene? That’s basically what these “scientists” are saying. If society continues with that logic, soon there will be a “murderer” gene, a “rapist” gene, maybe even a “serial killer” gene. Could be an “evil dictator” gene. Maybe people like Saddam just can’t help themselves. Could some people be born with the predisposition to torture? Again, by that logic, this whole forum could be a pointless exercise. Maybe each member of the Governing Body was born with a predisposition to lie, manipulate, and be a control freak. Maybe it’s a disease and they can’t control it. I don’t blame you for believing what you do. But keep in mind, our global society (some call it the New World Order), including these “scientists” with their “research”, strives to eject God, ethics, accountability, even the concepts of Good and Evil, from the human mind. Today, if someone does something evil, they simply are “sick”. Sure, in some cases that could be true. I’m not an expert. But I believe in calling a Spade a Spade. And I believe pedophiles are evil, and they CAN change if they really want to put forth an effort and exercise some DISCIPLINE (which is another thing the “New World Order” is trying to eliminate – remember, obedience is a poor substitute for discipline, just as cruelty is a poor substitute for strength).
I love the subliminal imagery in “Become jehovah’s Friend”: In the opening, Mom is on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor. Dad is a macho musclehead. And Junior is out flying a Stuka.
Wow. Just woooooooooooow.
“We’re not scared to lose it all. Security throw through the wall. Future dreams we have to realize. A thousand skeptic hands won’t keep us from the things we’ve planned, unless we’re clinging to the things we prize.”
Howard Jones
Things Can Only Get Better
@Becksi . Just seen page 7 of the Sunday Times today ‘JEHOVAH CHURCH faces FLOOD of SEX ABUSE CASES’ !! Abigail has lodged compensation complaint of £500,000 for abuse suffered from AGE of FOUR for 5 years until AGE of 9 !! She has been so damaged she doesn’t expect to live past 30 as she will likely commit SUICIDE!! The article says it could open the floodgates for 100s MORE CASES!!
THIS IS HORRIFYING & DISGUSTING!!!
NO WAY can JEHOVAH be behind this EVIL ORGANISATION!!!
“See both sides. Bend your brain. Throw off your mental chains. Oo oo oo”
Howard Jones
New Song
@Neale Krouni. I am 100% in Total Agreement with your comment of calling a SPADE a SPADE. Do you think we could CASTRATE the Members of the Governing Body for their OBSCENE Protection of Pedophiles?? OR AM I Being TOO LENIENT???
@ Pickled brain
Absolutely Goddamm right!!! Didn’t I say that when people treat people like garbage, without ethics or respect or Fear of God, it results in physical and mental illness, even resulting in DEATH? People are dying. Make no mistake, this is war.
Stephen Lett trying to defend the Watchtower Org. from so called apostates,rather than admitting the truth.He is clearly deluded and if these people have God’s Holy Spirit,I’ll eat my hat…!
Did HoJo sing “Bend your brain” or “Bend don’t break” or both? Either one works for me. ;)
@Neal Krouni. As I am Now a Christian & English ,born in London & my Ancestry stems from Henry the Eighth ,.. I Feel in a Good Mood & I am merciful.
I am prepared to Exercise LENIENCY towards the Governing Body & Decided to Not Castrate But USE the GUILLOTINE instead like good old King Henry the Eighth did to 2 of his wives!! LET HEADS ROLL& ROLL & ROLL!!!
@Neal, I am sorry if I gave the impression that I condoned sex abuse of children in any way. I was only conveying from what I found on Wikipedia about pedophilia.
What I was trying to say was that the elders are naive’ if they think that becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses is going to some how “cure” those tendencies in those people and have no business shielding them and need to learn about pedophiles and not be fooled by them during a judicial meeting.
From what I read, many people fantasize about sex with children but have enough control over themselves that they never act on it but the thoughts are in their minds. The fact that most models are very young helps with the fantasies in people’s minds like that and most people really don’t think of themselves as getting old. So, they in their minds maybe always think like as if they were still young and so have those kinds of thoughts like they think like when they were young and attracted to people like how they feel, not necessarily how old they are in real life. I know with myself, I am 68 but I don’t feel a day over 18 most days. That isn’t to say that I’d be wanting a child to have sex with. It’s just that in my mind, even though my body is old, I don’t feel old so I can understand why people’s brains might think sexually of a young person. It’s not the thinking that is criminal. It’s the not having control over their actions and taking advantage of a child is what is criminal.
I am not excusing that kind of behavior at all. But what goes on in a person’s mind, is not a crime either. So, even though many people have those thoughts, most people won’t act on those thoughts. The ones who act on those thoughts are real pedophiles and have to be held accountable for what they do. It isn’t that they can’t help themselves and many of them are devious enough that they get away with it by threatening their victims and lying about what they did when they are caught or they take advantage of children who are too young to talk about what happened to them.
It is the elder’s responsibility in the congregations to see though the lies and fake repentance and it is against the law to decide to keep it quiet. Like what I was saying in my post, it should be reported to the police and let the police decide.
When it comes to a young child who has done something like this to maybe a younger sibling, I can understand why the parents may not want to report it to the police and take care of it themselves.
If the parents suspect abuse and they don’t know who did it, then they need to talk to their child and find out what is going on. If the child is too young to talk, then they need to take the child to the doctor for an examination and once the doctor has determined that the child was abused, the doctor is under obligation by the government to report it to child protective services.
At any rate, anybody who has abused a child sexually is a sick individual and has demonstrated that they don’t have control over themselves and is a danger to any child they may come in contact with and just like the government alerts the community where a known sex abuser has moved into, so the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses has the right to know if there is a known sex abuser in their midst as well.
The reason why the Society is criminally negligent in this area is that they not only cover up the abuse but make the abuse secret from the authorities and the congregation. To me, they all belong in jail because they are contributing to the abuse by shielding criminals.
As far as what to do with repeat offenders. It has been a practice to castrate them in some states but some states feel it is too cruel. I feel that anybody who rapes and or sodomizes a child (especially anybody too young or feeble to defend themselves) should be killed. That is how I feel about it. I have no sympathy for them and I don’t apologize for feeling that way either.
It appears that the judgment for the plaintiff in one California case against the Watchtower Society — Candace Conti of Fremont ($21 million) — is currently under appeal and no money has changed hands.
The Watchtower Society has lodged an appeal to the Conte case with four main arguments:
1. Where the WBTS (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society) already knows of a sexual offender, the WBTS does not have a duty to warn any of the members in the congregation about this individual.
2. The WBTS argues that other agencies (the police and Candace’s parents) should share the cost of damages.
3. Religious bodies should not be made to disclose confidentialities, even where a crime has been committed and revealed, as this would contravene the First Amendment.
4. That (Jonathan) Kendrick was not convicted of sexual abuse in a court. Therefore, had the Watchtower made public his deviation, they would have violated his right to privacy.
In addition, the Watchtower Society argues that there was no evidence of malice and therefore the damages were unjust and should be reduced. (What they are claiming is that Kendrick’s sexual advances were not done with intent to commit an unlawful act or cause harm to Miss Conte.)
The Watchtower Society further argues that “field service” is not a required activity:
“It is a personal ministry, not a required congregation function or activity” and “It is a personal ministry motivated by love of God and neighbor, and is not done on behalf of Watchtower or any congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
This ridiculous “personal ministry” argument seeks to minimize the Watchtower Society’s culpability in this case by claiming that the Fremont congregation’s field service activity is not mandated by the Watchtower Society. (It was during field service activity that Kendrick sexually abused Miss Conte.)
It remains to be seen just how long the Watchtower Society can delay the day of reckoning in this case.
http://aawa.co/blog/how-the-watchtower-justifies-its-crimes/
One more thing that troubles me, as a victim who spent years feeling like I had done something wrong, rather than my abuser, is that Lett’s comments certainly are discouraging to anyone thinking of coming forward with accusations. They will be classified as a liar and an apostate. So this speech is really killing three birds with one stone: discourage future disclosure, characterize current victims as apostates and liars, and pump up believers into thinking their precious hall is safe.
It’s abhorrent. It’s offensive.
Additionally, to clarify some comments on pedophilia, the DSM IV(medical manual for psychiatry and psychology) considers pedophilia as existing when the abuser is at least 9 years older than the victim. Younger than that they can find excuses. But if the pedophile IS more than 9 years older, they can be classified AS a pedophile and AS a current threat, beyond simple rehabilitation. Thus, congregations members that are adults are guilty and not to be considered for rehab. This is a legal definition the courts rule by.
Not being caught doesn’t mean one is rehabilitated.
anonymous,
Your comments show a bit of naivete regarding molestation. A doctor cannot simply observe if a child has been molested unless there are physical indications (I won’t get into the horrifying details of that). Many times the molestation involves fondling, oral sex, exposure to genitals and/or exposure to pornography, or photography. These don’t show up on an exam.
Additionally, I take issue with your statement, “many people fantasize about sex with children but have enough control over themselves that they never act on it but the thoughts are in their minds.” No, not true. A sexual curiosity is one thing, but fantasizing about sex in particular is not a normal human function. The taboo usually shuts down those ideas before they even fully are expressed in thought.
For what it’s worth, Stephen Lett has replaced Tight Pants as my most despised GB member. His slightly-surprised looking face makes me want to punch him. Hard. Harder than gravity, electricity, or the fiercest of windstorms.
Hi Barb. I am sorry if it seemed like I was saying it was “normal” to be fantasizing about sex with children. That is the last thing that I would consider to be normal as well. I was only repeating some of the stuff that I had found online that describes what makes a pedophile a criminal and what doesn’t and you are right about different signs of sexual abuse that a doctor sees or doesn’t see.
In the Barry Furling article underneath this one, I had looked up several articles about how to spot if your child has been abused and I listed quite a few signs to look for and even that list is leaving out quite a few things to look for. That was only a short list.
I was only saying on the post here on this article that when a doctor knows for sure that upon a “physical” exam, that if they know for sure that abuse has occurred, that by law they have to report it to child protective services. That also goes for teachers. I would also say, that it should by reason, also apply to the clergy, right?
There are a lot of articles on child abuse on line and I have already made some really long posts, and I thought people would get sick of my posts being so long, so I have tried shortening them up a bit so people don’t get mad at me here, but yes, you are right about everything you said too, from all that I have read.
One thing that is for sure, from all the videos and articles that I have seen, that there’s a ton of stuff that the Society doesn’t say, when it comes to the abuse of children.
If you type in pedophilia in the search bar on the Society’s online library, you will find zilch. You could wipe your butt with all the information you will find coming from the Society’s articles and there has to be a reason for it. Could it be that they don’t want their readers to be informed on it, so that they don’t recognize it and come forward with more accusations????
One thing they surely will leave out and that is, that no matter how long ago a person got abused, that they have the right to come forward with it now and should come forward with it now and that it was never the fault of the child but of the abuser.
Another thing they won’t tell the readers is that the clergy have no right to discourage any abused person to not report it to the police.
They also won’t tell the readers that they will stand behind the child that got abused in their own ranks because all they care about is their reputation.
@ Pickled brain
Hallelujah! I agree. Let ’em roll!!!
@Barb Moor. I wasn’t condoning that it was normal to be fantasizing about sex with children. I was only repeating what I had read that some people fantasize about it but until they actually act on their fantasies, they aren’t considered a pedophile. I am sorry if it seemed like I thought it was normal. And you are right about different signs of sexual abuse that a doctor sees or doesn’t see. In the Barry Furlong article underneath this one, I had looked up several articles about how to spot if your child has been abused and I listed quite a few signs to look for. I was only saying on this post that when a doctor knows for sure that upon a physical examination, that when they know that abuse has taken place for sure, then they have to by law, report it to child protective services. That is also true of teachers as well. That is all I was saying here.
There are quite a few articles on child abuse on line and I already have made such long posts, that I thought people would get sick of my posts being so long. But, yes, you are right on everything you said too, from what I have read.
One thing for sure, is that all the videos and articles I have read on line, there’s tons of stuff that the Society doesn’t inform it’s readers on when it comes to child abuse.
If you type in pedophilia in the search bar on the online library, there is virtually zero articles about it. You could wipe your butt with these articles. That is about as good as the articles from the Society are when it comes to information about pedophilia and child sexual abuse. They are totally worthless.
There has to be a reason for it. I would say it because they don’t want their readers to be informed on it so that they don’t recognize all the evidence against them and come forward with any more accusations.
@Barb Moor. I am sorry to hear you were a victim of abuse. I was also a victim of physical abuse by my husband and when I finally got up the courage to tell the elders (my husband was an elder at the time), what the elder told me over the phone was “he’s under so much pressure from being an elder” and that was the end of it. This was after being punched in the face with his fist, on the top of my head and in my stomach when I was 8 months pregnant and throwing a rubic’s cube at me from just a few feet away when I was reading to my kids in bed because I had taped over a movie he had taped.
Also, when I was 19 and just starting to associate with the Witnesses, a JW boy came to see me from 800 miles away and as soon as he got me alone, he went under my shirt and started feeling me up and every time he could get me alone, that is all he wanted to do.
All these years, I never told anybody what he did to me, thinking I was somehow responsible because I didn’t slap him and tell him to go home, but it wasn’t my fault and I should have told the elders at the time, but I was young and naive and never told on him but looking back on it now, I was a victim of molestation. But since I was 19 years old, I couldn’t say I was molested as a child but I was definitely molested.
I think my story is common. Any of us that that happened to, didn’t tell because we didn’t slap the boy and get rid of him so we felt like it was our fault. Can you imagine if it was hard for a 19 year old to talk about something like that, how hard it would be for a child to talk about it and you have to know that if they did have the courage to talk about it to somebody, that they probably wouldn’t be believed. Also, if they did tell about it to the elders that then the elders would give the abuser a chance to tell their side of it and their side would be lies, for sure.
That leaked elder’s video tells it all when it comes to the side of the girl.
@Barb Moor. I was guilty of abuse. When my kids were little in the 1980’s, it was so big that you don’t spare the “rod” and so my husband convinced me that my kids had to mind no matter what and when it hurt my hand too much to spank their butts with my hand, he convinced me that I should use a wood spoon and I did.
I abused my kids and at the time, I thought I was saving their lives by making them behave, because after all, didn’t the Mosaic Law say that if a kid didn’t mind their parents that they were to be taken out and stoned to death? That was drilled into me and I abused my children. If I had it to do over again, there is no way that I would have done that to them but I didn’t listen to my gut. My gut told me it was wrong to do but my religion and my husband convinced me it was the right thing to do to “save their lives” through Armageddon.
When it comes to the abuse from my husband. He grew up in the “truth” and the religion taught him to have no respect for me at all. That is the way he was taught from young on and I have Watchtowers going back to 1951 and I see that in the literature over and over again, right up to today.
Even in the latest magazines, you will see women told that if their husbands beat on them, that it’s up to the wife to be a better wife.
It is a religion that teaches it’s followers to not follow their conscience in the belief that it’s the it’s the “Godly” way of doing it.
It has no regard for women and children either.
@Anonymous . I empathise with you because I had teenage friends over 30 years ago whose parents were Elders & they beat their children. All those Elders children have left the Truth & one was severely Anoerexic needing Psychiatric help. But as you say the attitude was ‘Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child ‘ & the Elders were under pressure to ‘Preside over a Fine Household ‘ or have their Privileges Removed!! EVEN NOW with the Latest Video on TV.JW.Org with Sophia & Caleb about being Quiet at meetings the Implications are that they will be destroyed at ARMAGEDDON if they don’t listen like the Wicked people of Noah’s Day. With the Parents Scolding Sophia& Caleb in the Car on the way home from the meeting for just behaving like any Normal Child would!! This Subliminal Indoctrination is Evil & can Damage a Child’s Mind for Life!!
Anonymous, it seems to me that you’ve beaten yourself up over this more than you did your kids. We’ve all been through this is in one way or another – we did what we thought was right at the time and now that we know better we can behave differently.
Charles, thank you for saying that. Fortunately my kids don’t hate me but they could because of what I did. I wished I knew then what I know now.
anonymous, you did what you were conditioned to do. Let the guilt go, as it doesn’t motivate good.
Remember, in past times hitting kids to obey was completely ordinary. In fact, some kids that I later found out had ADHD were not diagnosed in those times, so beating the crap out of them was their “treatment”.
Live now and leave the guilt in the past.
Thanks Barb. I try but it’s something I have to live with. Like I said, I am fortunate in that my kids don’t hate me for it.
Barb, I believe that all ‘negative’ emotions are created by the brain for a reason. Guilt is a form of self-punishment and also a means of helping one not repeat the same mistakes. When you feel you’ve punished yourself sufficiently the guilt slowly disappears.
Apostate driven lies???
…. it’s not up to us victims to prove OUR innocense! The JW Watchtower should prove THEY’RE not guilty!!
That statement is outrageous and fabricated from evil! How dare they insult me and my experiences! They will burn in hell for this!
It seems the press and public are not going after the WTS as aggressively as they did the Catholic Church, in regards to child sex abuse. It’s awesome that court cases are being reported in the media, but back in the day, with the Catholics, it was like an explosion. I wonder if it’s because the WT is a much smaller organization, and people somehow feel sorry for them, or don’t see it as such a big deal. Of course, that would be like ignoring certain instances of pedophilia because the perpetrators were not very tall. Or ignoring cases of human rights abuses because they took place in a small country. Ridiculous, no?
I agree, press treatment has been light.
But once people start to realize that JW predators are EXPECTED to still go door-to-door, to possibly their own house, they will get more outraged.
That’s the single biggest fact I tell people, rather than other doctrinal stuff. That known predators have to go out in their ministry. At least with the Catholic Church, kids usually had to go to THEM, not the other way around.
@ Barb Moor
Excellent point! That IS scary.
Stalin said Quantity has a Quality all its own. The jehovahs have spread through the earth like a swarm of little minnows. Of course, there’s always a bigger fish.
Sadly for Mr Lett & the other GB members their are many JW, active or not that have seen 1st hand the lies regarding child abuse, that doesnt make us apostates, so again with the cover up, i have personally seen 3 cases, one where certain elders hid a letter from the police during a search warrent, 2 where they didnt report the abuse to the authorities & 3rd where they agin swept it under the carpet so that the local congregation wasnt brought into disrepute,
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME !
http://www.zalkin.com/category/press-releases/
Press Releases:
Zalkin Law Firm Featured in “Center for Investigative Reporting” Report On Childhood Sexual Abuse In The Jehovah’s Witnesses
February 18, 2015
In-Depth Report Details “Culture of Secrecy” About Sexual Abuse San Diego, CA, February 16, 2015 – Irwin M. Zalkin of San Diego based Zalkin Law Firm was featured in an in-depth investigative report about childhood sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses religion that was issued on Saturday, February 14th by the Center for Investigative Reporting. The report, “Jehovah’s Witnesses use 1st Amendment to hide child sex abuse claims”, by investigative reporter Trey Bundy, features an interview with Irwin Zalkin regarding his recent case in San Diego where his client was awarded $13.5 million for damages from sexual abuse that occurred… More
Sexual Abuse Victims File Civil Lawsuits Against Oregon Congregation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and National Organization
Portland, OR, December 1, 2014 – Irwin M. Zalkin of The Zalkin Law Firm and Portland Attorney Kristian Roggendorf, of the Roggendorf Law Firm filed a sexual abuse civil lawsuit today against the North Hillsboro Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, located in Hillsboro, Oregon and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Velicia Alston and a second unnamed Plaintiff, John Roe, who were both minor children when their families were active in the Congregation at the time of the alleged abuse. According to the civil complaint, the Plaintiff Velicia Alston was… More
The Zalkin Law Firm Wins $13.5 Million Default Judgment Against the Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower on behalf of Childhood Sexual Abuse Victim
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) November 02, 2014 San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan M. Lewis has entered a judgment against the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. (Watchtower) for $13.5 million in punitive and compensatory damages in a civil lawsuit filed by the Zalkin Law Firm on behalf of a victim of sexual abuse who was a child member of the Linda Vista Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1986. Irwin Zalkin led his firm’s team of sexual abuse attorneys in this case. Click to read Press Release. More
quoted from Zalkin.com web site
You don’t hear WT suing Zalkin Law firm for false accusations and slandering, I wonder why Not !
Are You Freaking Kidding Me !
Pickled Brain,
The guillotine was not invented in the time of Henry the 8th. It was invented in France around the time of the French Revolution. I am against capital punishment.
Neil Krouni,
As soon as someone uses quotation marks around science – “science” – then I am alarmed.
The genetics of an individual can contribute to many behaviours. It does not make someone a certain way. Free will is still a fact. Why don’t you do some research on this subject for yourself?
I have no desire to live in any New World Order. What do you mean by this?
Please don’t belittle science. It has contributed to better lives for ordinary people and is worthy of respect.
Folks,
Stephen Lett has been forced to address the paedophilia scandal in his grubby little cult. This is a consequence of the hard work and bravery of many, many people. This ad hominem attack will not curb the scrutiny.
This is good news for all of us that want this disgusting problem addressed and remedied.
Peace be with you,
Excelsior!
@Ted. King Henry 8th used the sword in beheading Anne Boelyn But I think the 7 Governing Body members should be Beheaded by Guillotine!! I think it is more Dramatic!!
I Prefer Capital Punishment like JEHOVAH does & Jesus does at Revelation ch.19v.9-21
Why PAY Millions of Pounds in Taxpayers money to keep these SCUMBAGS in a cosy Prison. & Those 7 Men are BLOODGUILTY for the Millions of LIVES SCREWED UP MENTALLY,EMOTIONALLY & PHYSICALLY!!
@Ted. I APOLOGISE to you TED.The Last Comment was Directed at EXCELSIOR .