Jehovah's Witness Child Abuse Case Documents and News
June 10th, 2024 - Judge Susan Watters has issued two more rounds of sanctions against the Watchtower Organization and Church after attorneys for abuse victims discovered that the Jehovah's Witnesses intentionally destroyed critical evidence and notes related to multiple child abusers and their victims.
The Jehovah's Witness Service Department in New York was found to have collected significant data describing the actions of abusers over many years, then produced "Memorandums," and subsequently deleted or destroyed the materials that were the basis for those Memorandums.
Judge Watters' ruling reflects proof that the Witnesses destroyed the evidence after being engaged in litigation in the two Montana lawsuits currently scheduled to go to trial this summer.
As a penalty for this misconduct by the Witnesses, the jury will be informed by the Court that critical evidence was destroyed after the Memorandums were created, and that the jury may infer that the information destroyed would have been unfavorable to Watchtower New York.
In a second Court Order issued the same day, Judge Watters also fined and penalized the Church due to pre-deposition misconduct by two key officials for the JWs, Allen Shuster and Gary Breaux, both long-time members of the JW Service Department. The Court has ordered that all expenses related to this misconduct be tallied and submitted to the Court for review.
May 28th, 2024
BREAKING: The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled against Jehovah's Witnesses' Chief General Counsel, Philip Brumley.
On April 14th, 2023 Brumley, the top attorney for the JWs and overseer of their international Legal Department, was fined over $154,000 by Federal Judge Susan Watters for submitting multiple misleading and false affidavits in two Montana child abuse cases.
Brumley attempted to convince the Court that Watch Tower Pennsylvania had no involvement with JW congregations in the 1970s and 80s, and should be eliminated as a defendant. However, documents obtained by attorneys for the abuse victims made strong connections between the Pennsylvania corporation and Watchtower New York, as well as the day-to-day operations of Jehovah's Witnesses during the relevant time periods.
Judge Watters stated:
"Brumley's actions demonstrate, at minimum, a reckless disregard for providing an accurate and truthful accounting of [Watch Tower Pennsylvania's] role." The smoking gun documents were sourced, not from the Jehovah's Witnesses, but from whistleblowers who left the religion and turned them over to activists supporting abuse victims. Brumley appealed the decision by Judge Watters to the Ninth Circuit, and the Appellate court has dismissed his appeal today.
The Jehovah's Witnesses have already paid the fines issued by the court, and Brumley's reputation had been severely damaged due to his misleading and false statements.
The two Montana child abuse cases continue to progress toward their respective trials, scheduled for August and September of this year.
Attorneys for Plaintiffs have filed a 25-page Brief in support of a motion for Sanctions against the Watchtower Corporation, alleging that the Jehovah's Witnesses intentionally destroyed original evidence files containing significant information about at least three child predators who committed multiple rapes and abuses of children in Hardin Montana during the 1970s and 1980s.
February 6th, 2024:
Federal Court Justice Susan P. Watters has ordered financial and punitive sanctions against Watchtower New York, a US-based corporation used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The sanctions result from ongoing litigation in two child abuse cases scheduled for trial in 2024.
These fines and penalties stem from the Witnesses' refusal to explain the specific functions of the Governing Body, how it makes decisions, and how it interacts with other Jehovah's Witness Corporations and bodies including the United States Branch Office.
The Watchtower Corporation's attorneys have repeatedly stonewalled the court and provided vague and misleading responses, to the point of triggering severe penalties against the JW Organization.
Plaintiffs for the abuse victims have 30 days to submit financial documentation for all of their expenses related to this litigation. Watchtower will be given 15 days to respond to the cost estimates, after which Judge Watters will rule on the financial component of these sanctions.
On November 6th, 2023, Attorneys for Survivor Caekaert filed a brief in support of their Motion for Sanctions against the Jehovah's Witness corporation known as Watchtower New York. This motion to penalize Watchtower comes as a result of years of deceptive legal practices by the Jehovah's Witnesses, especially in connection with their misleading explanations of their corporate structure.
The Watchtower Corporation issued its response to the Plaintiff on November 20th, 2023.
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