‘Jehovah’s Witnesses withhold evidence of child abuse’

The Jehovah's Witnesses organization in the Netherlands has withheld reports of allegations of child sexual abuse for years. RTL News reports this. Victims fear that the reports will be destroyed and that evidence will be lost.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have their own kind of courts, committees with 'elders' within the society. They pass judgment on missteps committed by members of the movement. These are not severe punishments: the maximum punishment is banishment.

According to RTL, there are dozens or possibly hundreds of internal court records in the archives of Jehovah's Witnesses. These consist of cases of Jehovah's Witnesses accused of sexual abuse, with details or even confessions. But the documents are not shared with the police. That is not the policy of the community.

No declaration

The Public Prosecution Service is not yet investigating the abuse, because no reports have been filed. In a statement, the Public Prosecution Service said that victims of abuse decide for themselves whether to report the crime. "If these reports follow at a later time, the police and the Public Prosecution Service will process them." According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, victims of abuse are "free" to report it.

Raymond Hintjes of the Reclaimed Voices foundation, which represents the interests of victims, says that about 220 reports of abuse have now been received. "We spoke with the Public Prosecution Service last week and announced that charges will be filed within a week or two," he says. According to Hintjes, this concerns at least five declarations. "We hope that the Public Prosecution Service will still take action as a result of this story."

Hintjes says that it is difficult for many victims to report the crime. "The question is whether they want to enter into an entire process, while they have closed it for themselves." The fear that records will be destroyed is based on experiences at other Jehovah's departments around the world, says Hintjes. "That has happened in various places, for example in Australia, Great Britain and the United States."

'Additional problem'

The victims' lawyer, Nico Meijering, calls on the Jehovah's via RTL News to still hand over the documents to the Public Prosecution Service. "Don't let it get to the point where they are stupid enough to destroy evidence. Then they will have an extra problem to deal with."