Sunday, August 16, 2015

Jehovah’s Witnesses hide child sex abuse cases

There is an interesting story out of Australia about the Jehovah’s Witness Church hiding child sex abuse cases.

At the opening hearing into the Jehovah’s Witnesses on Monday, Angus Stewart, senior council assisting the commission, described the church as an insular sect with rules designed to stem the reporting of sexual abuse.

“Evidence will be put before the Royal Commission that of the 1,006 alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse identified by the Jehovah’s Witness Church since 1950, not one was reported by the church to secular authorities,” he said.
- via New York Post
I think we can assume that if the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church in Australia has rules the hide child sexual abuse, then the church would have the same process in place in Europe and the United States. I think we need a congressional investigation into religious child sexual abuse. We can start with Catholics and Baptists and then move on to the more insular sects.