‘Twenty former Jehovah’s Witnesses are suing the religious organisation over historical sex abuse claims, as some say the group’s elders are ‘inadvertently’ protecting abusers.
A former elder said the group had been failing to involve the authorities of the alleged abuse, and revealed that it has a policy of not punishing alleged child sex abuse unless a witness has seen the abuse, or an abuser confesses.
The group claims it always tells police if a child is in danger and complies with ‘child abuse reporting laws even if there is only one witness’.
One former elder, who says he was abused from the age of nine to 13, said children were still being abused within the organisation.
John Viney said he was abused by a ‘distant family member who was an active Jehovah’s Witness’.’
