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Jehovah’s Witnesses Found Guilty In Unprecedented Molestation Case, Must Pay $21 Million

Posted: June 15, 2012

The Jehovah's Witnesses have to pay part of a molestation settlement

A jury in Oakland, California, has decided that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are partially responsible for the alleged sexual abuse of a young girl by one of its members, forcing the religious organization to pay her $20 million.

After being awarded $7 million in compensatory damages on Wednesday, the Alameda County Superior Court jury awarded Candace Conti, the 26-year-old plaintiff, an additional $21 million in punitive damages on Thursday to be paid by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York (legal entity of the Jehovah’s Witnesses) are responsible for paying all of the punitive damages, and 40% of the compensatory damages. Jonathan Kendrick, the man accused of sexually molesting the plaintiff, has to come up with the other 60%.

Conti sued the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Kendrick in 2011. “The ultimate goal of the lawsuit was to have a change in policy, to be able to ID these people, child molesters, to the congregation to protect children,” Conti told MSNBC. “Secondarily, to have silent ones come forward and tell their stories and to bring to light that overall issue of violence and the hush-hush policy.”

Jim McCabe, attorney for the Jehovah’s Witnesses was floored by the verdict and plans to appeal. “This is the first case I know of where a church has been hit with liability involving a rank-and-file member,” he said. “Mr. Simons has his twist on the facts and we will see how a court of appeals views the trial court rulings and the evidence.”

Kendrick is a registered sex offender and was convicted in 2004 of molesting another girl in Contra Costa County.

“Nothing can bring back my childhood,” said Conti. “But through this (verdict) and through, hopefully, a change in their policy, we can make something good come out of it.”



Comments


9 Archived Responses to “ Jehovah’s Witnesses Found Guilty In Unprecedented Molestation Case, Must Pay $21 Million ”

  1. Ken Perry
    Jun 17, 2012

    I have been privileged to serve Jehovah for almost 60 years, and I can assur anyone here that what Mr Haszard says above is A BOLD FACED LIE!

  2. Jerry McAllister
    Jun 17, 2012

    he'll get it right soon !

  3. Pavel Sirenko
    Jun 17, 2012

    it seems all of mr Haszard's arguments were taken from anticult textbook of russian ortodoxes..))).

  4. Fredy Levy
    Jun 21, 2012

    Jehovah’s Witnesses rejects the claims and appeal jury verdict in California case.

    http://www.jw-media.org/usa/20120620.htm

    A clergyman from the Jehovah's Witness church urged a child molester to go to the police.

    http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=641356

  5. Eric Martin
    Jun 26, 2012

    This is not true. The Jehovah's Witnesses should not be held responsible for the crimes of a rank-and-file member, in fact, the policy that is so dangerous is what had this Kendrick's fellow removed from serving as a deacon, and he's now back in jail where he belongs.

  6. Eric Martin
    Jun 26, 2012

    This is not true. The Jehovah's Witnesses should not be held responsible for the crimes of a rank-and-file member, in fact, the policy that is so dangerous is what had this Kendrick's fellow removed from serving as a deacon, and he's now back in jail where he belongs.

  7. Julie Tremblay
    Jul 10, 2012

    Help is available for Jehovah's Witnesses that feel trapped.

    jehovahswitnessrecovery.com
    jwfacts.com
    freedomofmind.com

  8. Lorena Wertt
    Oct 5, 2012

    The society had to pay because they knew he had raped another child and still kept him silence. and they probably knew of this one too

  9. Anonymous
    Nov 11, 2012

    As a former member of Jehovah's Witnesses since age 5 (I'm now 34), everything Danny said is 100% correct. It's about maintaining an image of cleanliness and looking better than everyone else, most importantly other religions. The moniker "the Truth" is a word ingrained into the minds of JWs from the moment they set foot into a Kingdom Hall, and is hammered in repeatedly. Jehovah's Witnesses are great people. They're very kind, live a very moral and ethical life, but they fall victim to the classic psychological terror tactics that all subjugators use to keep their followers in line. Alternative viewpoints are shunned, and questioning the authority of the religion in any way is grounds for disfellowshipping and shunning. The excuse used is that the person questioning the religion has fallen under the influence of Satan, who is trying to cause strife and sow the seeds of trouble within the congregation. By disfellowshipping and shunning this person, the JW religion is effectively cutting off this person from the others, and reinforcing it using fear tactics (ie: going against Jehovah's holy arrangement, etc). This ensures that the ones still in the congregation are fear-gripped so as not to listen to anyone who may have an intelligent (and fully warranted) concern regarding just what's going on inside. The best book is "Crisis of Conscience" written by a former Governing Body member (who better to listen to, honestly?) who exposes MAJOR flaws in the religion, and details how he was kicked out of the religion for simply wanting to get to the truth itself, and make the religion better than what it was. Of course, if you're reading this and you're a current JW, that means you're reading "apostate material," according to what the Witnesses tell you. So, it really boils down to conscience. If you can't ask yourself the hard questions (like why the organization has predicted Armageddon's arrival incorrectly SEVENTEEN TIMES), then go on as you are. If, however, you find yourself asking these questions, but are afraid to mention it to your elders or other Witnesses for fear of being marked (a term used to identify potential trouble-makers), then it's time to start exercising your own thoughts, instead of listening to those created by man. The Governing Body is supposed to have a direct pipeline to Jehovah. I would think that they'd have a better track record with the religion, if they did.