IICSA, the Charity Commission, Jehovah's Witnesses and Child Abuse

(Cedars' vlog no. 167) In this video I give my reaction to the findings of the Charity Commission following its statutory inquiry into New Moston congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in Manchester, England, where elders were found to have allowed a convicted pedophile to grill his victims about their ordeal. I also attempt to clear some of the confusion surrounding what precisely the Charity Commission is, and what - if any - similarities it has to the Australian Royal Commission.

Further reading:

[AV-thuy]

This brought me to tears...I personally was not molested by any elders, but the PATTERN the elders use when an accusation is made - brought back so many memories. I am a domestic violence survivor, and when I went to the elders and brought to light the abuse at the hands of a JW brother, I took was expected to sit across from my abuser and allow him to "interrogate" me. SMH. This org sucks ass! No God would approve of this kind of negligence and misuse of power.

[truthseeker]

It saddens me, but it is also frightening, that men who have devoted their lives to God in the so-called full-time service can, as a collective, be so hypocritical and exude such utter arrogance.

Too bad for them that they lecture the lowly publishers on how to show consideration for the privacy and sensibilities of householders and yet permit pedophiles to knock on doors.

If the householder knew that the Watchtower knowingly allows such a thing to occur, would that most likely disturb them? What might the neighbors think? Some cities require registered sex offenders to announce their presence in a community. Would it not unduly disturb people in the witnessing territory, especially households with young children, if they knew that known sex offenders were being sent to their doors?

Is the Governing Body showing respect for the home and property of people throughout the world when they deliberately send men who have committed crimes against children to their home? So what if the pedophile is accompanied by an elder? Ought the householder rest easy knowing that only one of the men at their door is a child molester?

Too bad for the Watchtower! Hypocrites! You strain out the gnat and gulp down the camel. You vet every Bible student, preventing someone from even being an unbaptized publisher who may smoke or not look presentable, but insist that pedophiles have every right to visit homes in an unsuspecting community.

Too bad for the Watchtower! Hypocrites! You claim concern for the lowly publisher in the field giving cause for stumbling, yet by your utter disregard for decency you have set stumbling blocks before millions of people.

Too bad for the Watchtower! Hypocrites! You give great attention to filling out field service reports, being regular in meeting attendance, being punctual and polite, “but you have disregarded the weightier matters of the Law, namely, justice and mercy and faithfulness.”

Too bad for the Watchtower! Hypocrites! You love to give public talks and praise the righteousness and wisdom of the faithful and discreet slave, you “indeed appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of every sort of uncleanness. In the same way, on the outside you appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Too bad for the Watchtower! Hypocrites! You persecute the victims of child abuse and call them liars in public conventions. You spend millions of dollars donated to the worldwide work of preaching the Kingdom to deny the legal claim of the afflicted.

Too bad for the Watchtower! Hypocrites! You build a magnificent palace for yourselves, boasting of receiving contributions donated by children from their allowance, but you persecute those same children if they fall victim to sexual predators.

Too bad for the Watchtower, indeed! How will you flee from the coming judgment?

[ponyyonder]

Thank-you, Lloyd. This was what initially jolted me from the hypnotism and caused my heart to sink to the ground many years ago. I never could recover Any respect or trust for WT again after seeing the heartless cruelty Elders and a Circuit Overseer displayed in dealing with broken innocent victims. Four different congregations. This is terrifying. These victims will never fully recover from this hideous way of dealing with them. I want to protect my family still in. I have 2 tiny grand-daughters being raised in this cult. I will share this far and wide.

[bobfish]

The worst thing is, is that they don't want to bring reproach upon Jehovahs name. But what is all these news stories and commissions being done about them? Reproach!!!!

[Nocturnalux]

The man who is being accused of sexual abuse gets to interrogate the accuser? Wow. What a travesty of justice.

[WitnessForJesus]

I agree the charity commission should have power to revoke charity status.

By the way, I'm about to upload an interview which I did for cults investigated. It's my story and how I left

[jamieangel]

OMFG. This is disgraceful. WTAF? How DARE he retraumatize his victims like that? How DARE the elders allow this to happen, it beggars belief. How can they not investigate them in the UK? They are one of the worst organisational offenders, this is fairly recent case, and JWs spent thousands of pounds of donation money trying to stop the inquiry by filing appeal after appeal. They are still paying tousands of dollars per day for not providing documents subpoenaed by the Court.
How can the GB justify wasting JW's hard earned money on this, when they themselves do not earn their own living as clearly mandated in the bible they claim to follow to the letter?
'Let him who does not work, neither let him eat'! They are truly parasites.

[goodgirlkay]

Am I really first? This has never happened to me before. I feel so special!!!! As for the content of the video, it's par for the course in every cult.

[guillermovilla]

It just seems to be getting worse how they handle child abuse.

[Sera-Marie]

Absolutely insane that IICSA won't be investigating the JWs. Does watchtower have someone on the inside to "help" with the decision making I wonder?

[vivianvivian]

Ty, Lloyd for all your hard work, along with other warriors like you who's help genuine ones to get out!!!Ty

[zoeyhillion]

I feel the Watchtower is afraid and or too stubborn to say "We're sorry" because if they did that could be the string that could start unreliving the lies, mistruths and secrets that are the foundation of the organization.

[sourcedrop]

i don't see how a guy can be an elder and not be scarred. i know a few that had to step down because of some unspoken "stress" of being an elder.

i always thought it was giving weekly talks, but I think they break down due to the mistreatment they know they're forced to deal out to people that trust them.

blind leading the blind leading the blind = governing body leading the elders leading the publishers.

[RayRay]

Pedophiles have taken refuge in places of worship for way too long, thanks for sharing.

[outofthewoods]

Well, I AM a Jehovah's Witness watching this and it sickens me. But I am an awake witness, so it doesn't surprise me. It's actually routine, what Watchtower has done here, just routine, unfortunately.

[EG-ekfi]

Humankind's worst Invention: RELIGION!

[edgarsteele]

Awesome thank you Lloyd; by chance do you have a link to this news video by itself? I'd like to get my JW family to watch it.

[johnhoy]

Great video. Very well articulated as usual.

[deydododontdedoh.]

Also just noticed a recent BBC Victoria Derbyshire show regarding witness shunning. Worth a look.

[brandonsullivan]

The thing is... I think this is somewhat based on the U.S. court system, where if a defendant chooses to represent themselves instead of hiring a lawyer or accepting one provided by the state, then yes, they get to play the role of their own lawyer and get to ask questions to the alleged victims in a situation.

But in that context, a judge would probably not permit the defendant to keep saying things like "why did you make it up" over and over. That would probably be seen as badgering the witness. But JW hearings are not equipped to handle that sort of legal complexity, so there probably isn't anyone in a role that could object.

Not a justification either way --- a private religious church probably shouldn't be using court systems as a disciplinary model. That's just probably where this comes from.