Former and Current Jehovah’s Witnesses Describe Alleged Cover-Ups of Child Abuse in UK Congregations

Former and current members of Jehovah’s Witnesses have described cover-ups of child sexual abuse in congregations across the United Kingdom, according to two separate news reports. The Guardian said more than 100 people contacted it with allegations of child sexual abuse and other mistreatment in Jehovah’s Witness communities. Among them were 41 alleged victims of child sexual abuse, who described a culture of cover-ups and lies by senior members called elders.

The Guardian reported that elders discouraged victims from coming forward for fear of bringing reproach on Jehovah and of being exiled from the congregation and their families. Its investigation also heard from 48 people who had experienced other forms of abuse, including physical violence when they were children, and from 35 people who said they had witnessed or heard about others who were victims of child grooming and abuse. The paper reported that many of those who came forward have since contacted the police. A solicitor representing some alleged victims told the Guardian she believed there were thousands of complainants in the UK.

Rachel Evans, who waived her right to anonymity, told the Guardian she believed a paedophile ring had been active in the 1970s. The Guardian reported that details could not be divulged because of a current investigation. These claims have not been tested in court in the reports supplied.

The BBC also reported on victims’ accounts. It said victims from across the UK told it they were routinely abused and that the religion’s own rules protected perpetrators. A child abuse lawyer told the BBC she believed there could be thousands of victims across the country who had not come forward.

The BBC described the experience of Louise Palmer, 41, who was born into the organisation. She said her brother, Richard Davenport, raped her from when she was four. Davenport is serving a 10-year prison sentence for the abuse. Palmer said she was told not to go to the police and was advised that doing so would bring reproach on Jehovah. Separately, another Worcestershire woman told the BBC that she had told her parents and congregation elders about her childhood abuse by a friend of her brother, and that they advised her not to report it.

The organisation told the BBC that it did not “shield” abusers and that any suggestion of a cover-up was “absolutely false.” The two reports do not settle the dispute between the accounts of former and current members and the organisation’s denial. Lawyer Kathleen Hallisey told the BBC that the organisation’s procedures compromised child safety, including a requirement that two witnesses be present before abuse allegations could be taken further.