JEHOVAH’S
WITNESSES
More than 10 years revealing secrets because there is no excuse for secrecy in religion – w1997 June 1; Dan 2:47; Matt 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 12:2; Acts 4:19, 20.
JEHOVAH’S
WITNESSES
More than 10 years revealing secrets because there is no excuse for secrecy in religion – w1997 June 1; Dan 2:47; Matt 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 12:2; Acts 4:19, 20.
This article details recent updates of Jehovah’s Witnesses charged or convicted through the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Grand Jury, specifically from Lancaster, Allegheny, and Butler County. AvoidJW and JWChildAbuse are making some of the court documents linked in this article public for the first time. Other details included below were given to me by the victims or families involving these cases by their consent. Please be advised that some of the details may be highly distressing. I will update this article as I receive more information on the convicted.
Written by Miss Usato. Last Updated: 11 January, 2025.
Terry Booth
Terry Booth, 57, was an active Jehovah’s Witness and former elder of the White Oak Kingdom hall when the PA AG Grand Jury Investigation charged him in July 2024. In the documents recently received from the Supreme Court house in Pittsburgh, Booth was charged with three crimes between 2010 and 2011—indecent assault, providing alcohol, and engaging in sexual discussions disguised as spiritual guidance. The ‘Motion of Timeline’ addresses another investigation in Florida involving Booth and an 11-year-old boy (S). The abuse happened in 1995 and was investigated in 1997, but no charges were pressed. Still, the interview from S corroborates a current case with a 16-year-old minor (D.W.)
The Grand Jury realized between the two instances that Booth had a standard scheme that matched one victim to another with similar crimes. Between the two investigations, Booth took it upon himself to “mentor” the boys. In the 1997 investigation (S) and the recent 2010 (D.W.) The minors listed in his documents were 11 and 16. Both minors had met Booth through “custodial or spiritual guidance” at one point. Booth reportedly provided alcohol and exploited his position of trust, actions that were initially framed under the guise of “spiritual guidance” before escalating to sexual assault. He befriended both of their parents and gained their trust while they were in the same congregation. The boy’s parents allowed Booth to take them to work sites separately so Booth could mentor them in construction. During these occurrences, Both of the minors expressed that Booth had asked them similar personal questions about sex, asking for specific details and made-up scenarios. D.W.’s Parents went to the elders once they learned about the assault, yet when a judicial committee questioned Boothe, he downplayed and denied the assault. Once asked by the grand Jury later on, Booth agreed that “The sequence of events and things he did fit the profile of a pedophile.” It was noted that during the time of D.W.’s parents going to the elders about the abuse, Booth had purchased a guitar, a drill, and a new jacket for D.W., and he had done similar for S.
Records do not indicate that the elders or family went to the authorities about the abuse.
Status: Booth currently lives in Panama City, Florida, and had to sign a waiver of extradition – voluntarily agreeing to be assigned to another jurisdiction since he resided in a different state when the abuse occurred. Recently, his documents state that he asked for two motions to be excluded from the case (which would be essential to keep on). One was that Booth had been investigated for previous child sex abuse in 1997; the second motion was that he was an active Jehovah’s Witness and met the victim through church-based activities. He wants it prohibited to the commonwealth from knowing that he is a Jehovah’s Witness. An upcoming trial at the end of the year will shed more information on the current status of Booth’s case.
Links regarding Booth:
JWChildabuse.org: Pennsylvania Versus Terry Booth Police Report & Affidavit
Judicial System of Pennsylvania Web portal: Court of Common Pleas criminal Docket -Booth
Marc Brown
Marc Brown, 65, was an active Jehovah’s Witness in the Forest Hills congregation when the PA AG Grand Jury arrested him in February 2023. His police report says he molested two female minors (R.W and G.W), who were his stepdaughters to whom he was a legal guardian at the time. The assaults on the 12-13-year-old girls mainly occurred in the shower and in their beds, which Brown would call “horseplay.” He molested them while their mother was away more than 20 times, as records indicate between the years of 2004 through 2006. G.W. testified that Brown used threats to keep her silent and that if she reported her abuse, he would also sexually assault R.W. On one occasion, to prove his threats were real, Brown strangled G.W. until she urinated herself and then made her mop up the urine. He also told one of the sisters that she was a child, so no one would ever believe her. Eventually, one of the sisters, R.W., was at a breaking point and wrote in her diary about the abuse, leaving it out in the open for their mother to see. The mother read it, went to the elders of their congregation about the abuse, and kicked Brown out of the house. It was then that the sisters learned they were both being abused in the same time frame.
Records do not indicate that the elders or family went to the authorities about the abuse.
Status: In September of 2023, Brown’s attorney filed that he believes Brown has diminished mental capacity, and after further testing throughout the year, Brown possibly has dementia due to the lack of memory and results with what appeared on his brain scan. As of August 2024, more neuropsychological testing is required.
Links Regarding Brown:
JWChildabuse.org: Pennsylvania Versus Marc A. Brown Police Report & Affidavit
Judicial System of Pennsylvania web portal Court of Common Pleas Criminal Docket -Brown
Roger Zellars
Roger Zellars, 68, was an active Jehovah’s Witness in the Sheraden Congregation when he was charged in April 2024. The police report states that Zellars sexually assaulted his stepdaughter (L.W.) at 9/10 years of age in the years 1992 until 1993.
Zellars turned his sexual abuse into a “teaching” lesson and strategically planned his abuse when her mother was working or out of town. In 1993, L.W. ’s aunt, who was close in age to her, caught Zellars one day on top of L.W. She fled with L.W. to her house and told her grandmother and L.W.’s mother about what she had seen. The mother then reported the abuse of her daughter to the Sheraden elders. The elders disfellowshipped Zellars for ‘having sexual relations with a ten-year-old.’ In an elder’s report about Zellars abuse, when asked if he would do it again, it is written that Zellars said, “Probably Would,” and it came off that he was non-repentant.
Records do not indicate that the elders or family went to the authorities about the abuse.
Status: Zellars recently had a trial on October 21st, 2024. During the trial, a second opinion on his psych evaluation was requested, and his trial was rescheduled to February 2025.
Links regarding Zellars:
Jwchildabuse.org: Pennsylvania Versus Roger E. Zellars Police Criminal Complaint & Affidavit
Judicial System of Pennsylvania Web Portal: Court of Common Pleas Criminal Docket – Zellars
Norman Aviles- Garriga
Norman Aviles-Garriga, 45, was an active Jehovah’s Witness in the Lancaster Congregation and held a position as an elder when he was charged in February of 2023
He was convicted in June 2023 of molesting three young girls from his extended family while settling in the U.S. from Puerto Rico. Though the girls told the mother about the abuse as little as five years old, she took no action, and Aviles-Garriga tried to discredit them. During sentencing, twenty-five family members testified on both sides, some defending Aviles-Garriga’s character, condemning his refusal to acknowledge the harm he caused. The victims described lasting trauma, including panic attacks and suicidal thoughts. Yet, in the trial, another Jehovah’s Witness elder told the court that the girls were likely lying and that the judge should consider that. Judge Jeffery Wright declared Aviles-Garriga a sexually violent predator. He praised the victims as heroes for their courage in seeking justice, stating, “At last, you and the truth both win.” One of the victims, Jocelyn, said that she had waited 25 years to get justice after her mother and two congregations ignored her about the abuse. “After 25 years, I finally could tell everyone what happened and was finally believed. That’s the best feeling.” She is thankful to the Grand Jury for exposing Aviles-Garriga.
Records obtained do not indicate that the elders or family went to the authorities about the abuse.
Status: As of October 25th, 2024 Garriga was sentenced to 11½ to 25 years in prison on 12 charges of sexual assault against children in families that were hosting him from 1999 to 2003.
Links regarding Garriga:
Judicial System of Pennsylvania Web portal: Court of Common Pleas criminal docket -Garriga
Lancaster online: Lancaster Jehovah’s Witness sentenced
Exjw PandaTower Youtube: Breaking: Former Jehovah’s Witness elder convicted of abuse
Shaun Sheffer
Shaun Sheffer, 45, was an active Jehovah’s Witness- a member of, I believe, the Zelienople Congregation when he was charged in July 2023. Documents from the Grandy Jury disclose that Sheffer started sexually abusing K.S. when she was only 7 years old, she said the abuse happened between 50 to 75 times. He was repeatedly left alone with her due to their close relationship. One family member says during those years, they had been living on a large property that had an abandoned RV on the land, where the abuse most likely took place. When K.S. began studying with a congregation member, she confided in the sister about the abuse, and that sister then went to the elders, though nothing came of it. Years later, the Grand Jury became involved. Sheffer was charged with rape, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, and corruption of minors. Since his arrest, fellow former members of Jehovah’s Witnesses on K.S.’s side have expressed that their active Jehovah’s Witness families have acted very negatively toward them and K.S. for speaking up against Sheffer. They are testifying against K.S., believing Sheffer to be innocent.
Records obtained do not indicate that the elders or family went to the authorities about the abuse.
Status: Sheffer posted bail for 300,00.00, and his last scheduled trial in September turned into a continuance (A legal delay or postponement of a court proceeding) Due to reviewing more case materials and witnesses to interview. Currently, Sheffer is charged with Rape of Forcible Compulsion, Rape to a mentally disabled person, Rape to a person Less Than 13 years old, Indecent assault to a person less than 13 Years of Age,
Indecent assault without consent of the other, Indecent assault to a person with a mental disability, and corruption of minors. A date for the trial will be posted here once it is rescheduled.
Links regarding Sheffer:
Judicial System of Pennsylvania web portal: Court of Common Pleas Criminal Docket -Sheffer
Fox11online: Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation members charged with CSA in Pennsylvania
Kevin Isovitsch
Kevin Isovitsch, 51, was an active Jehovah’s Witness of the Chicora Congregation when he was charged in Febuary 2023. Since then, the Kingdom Hall has been permanently closed. Isovitsch sexually assaulted his nine-year-old niece, who is also a Jehovah’s Witness. She testified that when she had visited their home, Isovitsch placed her against a wall, pulled down her pants, exposed himself, and then assaulted her. When he heard his wife entering the house, he discontinued the assault. The victim’s brother testified that at some point between 2005 and 2008, during family worship on the topic of sexual contact, one of his questions prompted his mother to question his sister, who then revealed the sexual assault by Isovitsch. Isovitsch was charged with Rape, Aggravated Indecent Assault, Endangering the Welfare of Children, and Corruption of Minors.
Records obtained do not indicate that the elders or family went to the authorities about the abuse.
Status: After his arrest, Isovitsch was only confined for a month, then on supervised probation, including 50 hours of community service within one year. He was sentenced to indecent assault on a person less than 13 years of age and endangering the welfare of children.
Links regarding Isovitsch:
Judicial system of Pennsylvania Web portal: Court of Common Pleas Criminal Docket- Isovitsch
If it’s not apparent, most of these perpetrators were able to get close to their victims, not only through a relative nature but also religious. Some of these perpetrators were elders. The Jehovah’s Witness Organization pushes younger ones to associate with elders as “authority figures” in their congregation. To trust, love, and allow to be guided by. Before you decide to be baptized or study to become a Jehovah’s Witness, please do your research. Notice how elders, such as the former ones in this article, were trusted and highly admired as the members are taught to do, which has led to numerous amount of abuse cases, specifically on children.
Aiding Transparency to Watchtowers teachings. If you have additional information about this topic or would like to reach the author- Please email [email protected]