JW's Practices Against Child Sex Victims is Cultish and Unbiblical

Jehovah's Witnesses' process for handling child sex abuse allegations keeps authorities in the dark

Radio-Canada's Enquête investigates allegations that the closed religious movement fails to protect children

CBC News

    The policies of Jehovah's Witnesses are established by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society,
    based in New York state. (Radio-Canada)

Mélanie Poirier was 10 when she started taking piano lessons and it would prove to be an experience that changed her life forever. At that very first lesson, she said, her piano teacher sexually assaulted her. It went on for five years.

"Week after week, at every piano lesson, he would masturbate in front of me. And he would ask me to touch him," Poirier told Radio-Canada's investigative program, Enquête.

Her father, Benoît Poirier, was in the next room waiting for her lesson to be over, completely unaware, she said.

Poirier said she couldn't tell her father, who was a Jehovah's Witness elder, or anyone else what was happening because her piano teacher was also an elder in the congregation that her family belonged to in a Montreal suburb.

"He was well-known, an elder, an example to follow," she said.

The biggest obstacle, however, was the fact she didn't have a second witness to the alleged abuse — a key requirement of the church's internal judicial system.

"If I told anyone, nothing would have happened. I wouldn't be believed. The elders wouldn't have even stopped to listen to me," Poirier said.

    Former Jehovah's Witness Mélanie Poirier on confronting her alleged abuser 1:00

Internal policies — and no police

The Poiriers are among several former Jehovah's Witnesses in Quebec and the United States who spoke to Enquête about the church's policies for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse and their failure to protect victims.

Among those policies: complainants are made to answer inappropriate questions if they report an assault, and their stories must be corroborated by a second witness for a case to even be heard by an internal judicial committee. Until this past summer, accusers were also forced to confront their alleged abuser before a panel of elders.

    Policies for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse are guided by a strict interpretation of
    biblical scripture. (Radio-Canada)

Radio-Canada also heard allegations that a five-year-old boy from a Quebec congregation was made to repeat his story in front of the man he said abused him. The boy's mother told Enquête the allegations were dismissed because the child did not have a second witness to the alleged assault.

In its investigation, Radio-Canada obtained a questionnaire designed to guide Jehovah's Witness elders interviewing children alleging sexual abuse. It includes the question: "How many elders believe the victim is to blame or willingly participated in the act?"

The questionnaire was drafted by the headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, in the state of New York. The Watchtower Society declined Enquête's request for an interview.

Rules rooted in scripture

The Watchtower Society's leadership bases its policies on a strict interpretation of biblical scripture.

Its policy on making an accuser justify her or his allegations in the accused's presence, for example, is based on a line from the Book of Matthew:

"If your brother commits a sin, go and reveal his fault between you and him alone." — Matthew 18:15

An elders' manual distributed to congregations cites the books of Deuteronomy and John as the basis for the two-witness policy.

"There must be two or three eyewitnesses, not just people repeating hearsay." — Deut. 19:15

"No action can be taken if there is only one witness." — John 8:17

Jehovah's Witnesses have an issue with Biblical scripture; it is that they use a unique interpretation based on a single codex, a single compilation of scriptures that, while early, was not reproduced in any quantity. It is therefore considered to be less accurate than those codices that were widely distributed in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It explains why they have some bizarre and even blasphemous beliefs about Jesus Christ. 

Verse 8:17 of John is interpreted incorrectly above. 17 Yea and in your law it is written, that the witness of two men is true. 18 I am he that beareth witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.

As you can see, Jesus is speaking and referring to what is written in the Law, specifically Deu 19:15. Christians do not live under the Law, but under grace. Legalism is not Christianity. 

In verse 17 Jesus does not restrict the witness of a single accuser in any way. He merely states that even in the Jew's own Law, the witness of two men is accepted as true. He then goes on to claim Himself and His Father as witnesses to Whom He really is. 

Here are a few preceding verses to put this into proper context: 12 Later, in one of his talks, Jesus said to the people, “I am the Light of the world. So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path.”

13 The Pharisees replied, “You are boasting—and lying!”

14 Jesus told them, “These claims are true even though I make them concerning myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. 15 You pass judgment on me without knowing the facts. I am not judging you now; 16 but if I were, it would be an absolutely correct judgment in every respect, for I have with me the Father who sent me. 17 Your laws say that if two men agree on something that has happened, their witness is accepted as fact. 18 Well, I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.”

So, obviously, Jesus was just using the Pharisees own scriptures to prove Himself. He was not making a policy statement, and to interpret it as such is a gross aberration of scripture.

Avoid police policy

While the Watchtower tells elders it is the "absolute right" of members to report allegations of child abuse to police, doing so is effectively discouraged by an organizational emphasis on dealing with such matters internally and avoiding "unnecessary entanglement with secular authorities," as stated in an internal document from 2014.

A recent Royal Commission in Australia found the Jehovah's Witness church there had recorded allegations of child sexual abuse against 1,006 members. Not one allegation was reported to authorities outside the church.

Since 1997, the Watchtower leadership has required that every allegation of child sexual abuse brought to a congregation's attention be sent to the organization's national headquarters. 

Earlier this year, a California court ordered the Watchtower Society to submit a database of the alleged pedophiles among its ranks, but the society has yet to do so.

    Mélanie Poirier and her father, Benoit, both left their congregation in suburban Montreal after
    going through the church's judicial process. (CBC)

'Catastrophic' complaint process

Mélanie Poirier kept her story of alleged weekly assaults by her childhood piano teacher to herself for 20 years, until she met another alleged victim of the same man. Together, they decided to bring their case to the congregation's elders.

Both women were made to defend their allegations in a meeting at which their alleged abuser was present.

"I thought it would be difficult, but it wasn't difficult — it was catastrophic," Poirier said.

"He asked me questions. He said I was mistaken, my memories were wrong, why do I want to do this to him. I was revictimized that evening," Poirier said.

Based on his alleged victims' testimony, a judicial committee composed of elders expelled Poirier's former piano teacher from the Jehovah's Witnesses. He appealed, however, twice — meaning Poirier and the other alleged victim were made to confront the man a total of three times.

The story doesn't end there. Poirier's alleged abuser soon joined another Jehovah's Witness congregation, despite never having admitted to any wrongdoing or repented for the sin he was accused of committing — conditions set by the Watchtower Society for regaining membership.

Enquête contacted Poirier's old teacher, who is still a Jehovah's Witness and doing door-to-door work. He denied the allegations and refused an interview.

Poirier left the Jehovah's Witnesses soon after her ordeal, as did her father. Benoît Poirier said he's never recovered from seeing his daughter treated the way she was, and he's encouraging others to come forward with their stories.

"You're not sullying the organization by speaking out," he said. "These people are traitors, abusers, criminals.… They're sullying the organization with their actions."

Poirier has since taken her case to police in Laval, Que.

Three UK Schoolgirls 'Travelling to Syria' to Join ISIS

Police released CCTV footage of the three girls at Gatwick Airport

Three east London schoolgirls have flown to Turkey and there are fears they may cross the Syrian border and join the Islamic State terrorist group.

Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and an unnamed 15-year-old, pupils at Bethnal Green Academy, flew from Gatwick on Tuesday, during half-term.

Commander Richard Walton, of the Metropolitan Police, said he feared they were "extremely vulnerable".

The trio are friends with a fourth girl who travelled to Syria in December.

At the time the three girls were interviewed as her friends, police said.

Cdr Walton said the teenagers' families were "devastated" but there was a "good chance" the girls were still in Turkey.

He hoped a police appeal, via social media, would persuade them not to enter Syria.

They were last seen at their homes on Tuesday morning when they gave their families "plausible reasons" to be out for the day, police said.

The girls boarded a Turkish Airlines flight, which landed in Turkey on Tuesday evening.

The third girl is not being named at the request of her family.

Shamima is possibly travelling under the name of her 17-year-old sister Aklima Begum, police said.

'Increasing concerns'
Cdr Walton said he hoped the trio would "hear our concerns for their safety and have the courage to return now, back to their families who are so worried about them."

He said the force was becoming "increasingly concerned" about a growing trend of young girls showing an interest or intent in joining Islamic State.

"The choice of returning home from Syria is often taken away from those under the control of Islamic State, leaving their families in the UK devastated and with very few options to secure their safe return," he said.

"If we are able to locate these girls whilst they are still in Turkey we have a good possibility of being able to bring them home to their families."

Shamima and the unnamed 15-year-old were reported missing by their families on Tuesday evening, while Kadiza was reported missing on Wednesday morning.

Kadiza Sultana, aged 16, is the oldest
of the trio, who are all in
the same school year

Police have issued a description of the three girls:

Kadiza Sultana is 5ft 6in and slim build. She was wearing black rimmed glasses, a long black jacket with a hood, a grey striped scarf, a grey jumper and dark red trousers and was carrying a black holdall. She speaks English with a London accent and Bengali.

Shamima Begum is 5ft 7in. She was wearing black, thick-rimmed glasses, a black hijab, a light brown and black leopardprint scarf, a dark red jumper, black trousers and a jacket, and was carrying a dark blue holdall with white straps. She speaks English with a London accent and Bengali.

The 15-year-old unnamed girl is 5ft 6in and slim build. She was wearing black, thick-rimmed glasses, a black headscarf, a long dark green jacket with a fur-lined hood, a light yellow long-sleeved top, black trousers and white trainers, and was carrying a black Nike holdall. She speaks English and Amhrick.

Shamima Begum, 15, could be
 travelling under the name of
Aklima Begum

Those with information can call the free Anti-Terrorist Hotline number on 0800 789 321.

Salman Farsi, a spokesman for the East London Mosque, said: "They have been misled. I do not know what was promised to them. It is just sad.

"I think the girls need to know they have done nothing wrong. They have been manipulated."

"The reality is quite grim and the terrain very harsh especially for such young individuals", said Dr Erin Saltman, from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which offers independent expertise in counter-terrorism, said IS propaganda targets young women specifically with the promise of being part of a humanitarian movement.

She said: "They are the wives and mothers of the future jihadists so quite a lot of dedication and time has been put into trying to allure these younger women to come and join in these efforts.

Dr Erin Saltman, Institute for Strategic Dialogue

"They are very much restricted to the house and home for the most part. There is strict sharia law in the region.

"To be able to leave the house they need permission. They are only to leave if they want to pray or if there is a dire medical situation."

A fellow pupil at Bethnal Green Academy, identified only as Sadek, urged the trio to return. He said: "It's really sad what's happened and I think the government should try its best to help in any way, find out what happened and try to help the family as well.

"They need to educate people more, tell them about the risk of going to Syria, that it's not safe out there."

It's more than not safe, it's insane. I love the idealism of young girls, but when it draws them into situations like this it is both unfortunate and dangerous.

CCTV captured the girls passing through security at Gatwick Airport

A spokeswoman for Tower Hamlets Council said: "The council fully supports the appeal issued today by the police for information that will help to find the three students from Bethnal Green Academy in East London."

So You Want To Be a Jihadist's Wife? Are You Crazy?

Women living under Isis’s self-declared ‘caliphate’ are being subjected to
'brutal, abnormal sex acts' and are becoming too scared to leave their homes

Many women and young girls are being forced to marry Isis militants in the group’s defacto capital of Raqqa, in Syria, and are then reportedly beaten and abused by their husbands.

The Syrian activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) says universities have been closed by Isis and women are banned from travelling to other areas to study.  In a report on its website, the group said Isis fighters began searching for wives after taking over a swathe of the city. It says militants introduced a series of "crackdowns" designed to coerce women into marriage, such as prohibiting them from travelling or working without a male relative.

Abu Mohammed Hussam, one of the RBSS activists living outside of Raqqa, said women who walk around without male guardians are constantly harassed.

He said girls and women between the ages of nine and 50 are sent to special ‘education centres’ to learn the Koran and given lessons on how to be good wives.

Women with their children in Raqqa

The RBSS report claimed Isis members took advantage of poverty-stricken families by offering high dowries in exchange for marrying their daughters.

Mr Hussam said he spoke with three women between the ages of 19 and 29 who have allegedly been abused by Isis members. One woman told him she was hospitalised after a fighter she was forced to marry sexually assaulted her.

He told The Independent: “Some women say that foreign fighters are the worst, like monsters. Some of them say they're asking for strange things. They are also looking to marry young girls”.

He said fighters will often take more than one wife and search for 'sabaya' – women who have been kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery.

A report on the RBSS website states that fear of being attacked and sexually assaulted are making women scared to leave their homes.

“All of these factors and circumstances mentioned above have formed a panic and fear to the girls and women of Raqqa, which the houses became their current tombs," it reads.

Islamic State fighters in Raqqa Islamic State fighters in Raqqa (AP) The report comes a month after a 10,000 word manifesto detailing the role of women in the jihadist group and emphasising their role as wives, mothers and homemakers was uploaded by the all-female Al-Khanssaa Brigade’s media wing.

The revealing document is being treated as a more accurate representation of what is expected of women under the group’s Iraqi and Syrian strongholds.

The manifesto advocated fighters marrying children as young as nine and women being allowed to work no more than three days a week.