The organization posted their internal memo online today. It is linked below. Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Scripturally Based Position on Child Protection Highlights  State authority punishes crimes, not us. (#3, #10) Membership review is strictly religious, not a matter for the state. (#10) Parents/Guardians are solely accountable for their own child's safety, not the organization. (#6) We do not isolate children from parents for any activity. (#7) Elders must be kind to abuse victims. (#8, #9) Elders contact the branch to ensure compliance with child abuse reporting laws. (#5) Elders are never to punish reporting and inform parents and victims of their right to report. (#4) Reporting to the legal authorities may even be encouraged for specific reasons. (#5) Mental health consultation is never discouraged. (#8) Elders do not protect known perpetrators of child sexual abuse, (#3)

Our opposers claim that we do not comply with Delaware's mandatory reporting laws on child abuse. But it occurred to me that they may not have reported in the case of Carmean White for the reason that they felt that the mother's intent to report it would be enough. We don't know what their discussions were behind closed doors because of the clergy/penitent confidentiality clause, but I think this is simply a case of the elders not being sure of their responsibilities in the matter. The following analysis of the law is not a justification or defense of the elders' lack of reporting, but is simply a close examination of the mandatory reporting law to highlight potential problems. There are some fundamental problems, gaping holes that do not, in fact, do the job for which they are intended. (Thought that is not to say that Delaware judges would not fairly recognize those deficiencies.) We could see problems in these matters appear in the future. (But not in regard to th...

I could not do any better to explain the matter about our stand on the child abuse issue than what thirdwitness has done. He puts to rest all the lies and confusion that our apostates and religious opposers have heaped upon the situation in the media. If you believe the media hype, then you believe a lie. This is temporary until I provide my own article on the subject. Jehovah's Witnesses Child Abuse Policy -- Exposing the Myths Warning: thirdwitness ill-advisedly cites apostate material and names apostates and apostate organizations to counter their claims. I do not endorse his practice of doing so. My website is designed for people to get the facts without exposure to apostate propaganda. If you have not already been negatively affected by the propaganda of our opposers on this issue, there is no pressing need to look it up. Other Links: Jehovah's Witnesses Child Abuse Policy - Protecting Children from Abuse

By C. J. Williams Many of our opposers seem to want those of Jehovah's Witnesses who have once been criminals to stop confessing their sins to the elders. They also seem to want to take away the freedom of victims and anyone who hears about a case, to decide whether they will report the offender. Victims and their families could end up paying the price along with the offender. If you have ever been molested, you are not alone. However, if your molester has not repented and has re-offended, then they are actually an uncommon breed among child molesters.  Only 11-17% of child molesters in the world ever re-offend within 15 years after ceasing their activity . (That number is doubled for molesters of boys.) In fact, regarding Jehovah's Witnesses, the July 15, 2002 Watchtower, p.9, recorded a response by one prison that stated, "In the ten years that this program has been in operation, not one released inmate who was baptized in prison as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses ha...

The claims that the organization is hiding child molestation cases has provided a springboard for many so-called "watchdog" organizations bent upon bringing accusation against the organization for every incident even remotely related to Jehovah's Witnesses, most having nothing to do with the issue of molestation, yet under the guise of serving that issue. Even Jehovah's Witness children who were assaulted by non-Jehovah's Witnesses have not proved free from exploitation by these unscrupulous "watchdogs". I will not be presenting the proof of their misdeeds in this post as I do not want to spread their cancer and this is not a court of law. But I want to show the reader the extent of their lies and how to identify whether the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses is actually at fault or not when they come across such information from these ones. False Claims Made By A Certain Watchdog Organization Every last watchdog organization focused on the c...

Note: Following are my thoughts on what took place at the Royal Commission and afterward. As I study the information more, I will add to this post. You can find the Royal Commission transcripts here . First of all, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Herin referred to as the Royal Commission) is not a court hearing. It is the same as a Senate Committee or Commission in the United States. (Such as the PMRC or McCarthy era hearings, from which little appears to have been learned.) It is legislative, not judicial. Thus, anything coming out of the Royal Commission cannot serve to condemn Jehovah's Witnesses. It can only result in developing laws that affect how Jehovah's Witnesses and other organizations deal with the issue of child sex abuse. It cannot make rulings for or against any one organization or levy penalties on that organization except as that organization breaks laws related to its participation in the hearing. The Royal Com...