Highly condemning has been the ongoing settlement of cases by
the Watchtower Society. Most of these are settled out of court with "gag" clauses, so that the
public is unable to obtain full details. More recently, some victims have decided to pursue
their cases through the courts, so that people are able to become aware of what is happening within the Watchtower Organisation, and understand how dangerous their
policies on child abuse have been.
The Watchtower has accepted culpability when settling cases out of court. The settled cases are generally in situations where known child predators continued
to be re-appointed into positions of authority by the Brooklyn headquarters of Jehovah's
Witnesses. Elders, the equivalent of priests, are appointed after
recommendation by
congregation elders, approval of the circuit overseer, and acceptance by the Bethel. Elders
are said to be placed in their position of authority by the active guidance of holy spirit; as such they hold considerable
influence over congregation members.

Candice Conti wins $28 million -2012


In 2012, the Watchtower lost a landmark case against Candice Conti and her lawyer, Rick
Simons. The case was unusual, as pedophile Jonathan Kendrick
was not an elder, but a "rank and file" member of the congregation. Rather than settle out of court, the Watchtower had
been confident in winning and allowed the case to go through the court process.
The case was lost due to the elders and Watchtower headquarters having knowledge of a known child molester in the
congregation, but doing nothing to protect members of the
congregation or public.
The Watchtower received a judgement of $21 million for punitive damages.

Out of Court Settlements - 2012

On May 20, 2010, a lawsuit was filed in San Diego, California, by
the Zalkin Law Firm, case number 37-2010-00092450-CU-PO-CTL,
against the Watchtower of New York. This regarded 5 people and
was settled out of court in 2012, with the Watchtower paying out
an undisclosed amount of
money. Defendant Campos had an accusation of molestation made against him by a child and his mother in 1981, but nothing was
done due to the "two witness" rule. Around 1983, Campos started molesting a 6 year old
boy over a two year period.
Despite the accusations of molestation, and having been reproved, Campos was made a Ministerial Servant in 1988 and
an elder in 1993. Campos was
disfellowshipped in 1995 and reinstated in 2000. Court documents reveal that over this time frame, Campos molested at
least seven children.

Out of Court Settlements-2007

In 2007, the Watchtower settled 16 child abuse cases, with a total
payout estimated to have been $13 million dollars.
A number of abuse victims filed court cases against the Watchtower Society through Attorney Kim Norris at Law firm
Love & Norris. These were for up to $4 million per victim. Some were regarding Rick McLean,
who molested many Witness children over a twenty year period. Despite numerous
Witness children and their parents approaching
congregational elders, no action was taken due to the two witness rule. Neither were the
authorities contacted. As such, Mclean and others were able to continue in positions of considerable influence and authority to manipulate and molest innocent victims.
Plaintiff Tim W. of Tehama County, California, in his Second
Amended Complaint alleged:

"Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. had actual knowledge that James Henderson was a sexual predator since at least 1964. Yet,
for the better part of three decades, they appointed and re-appointed him to the positions of elder and ministerial servant."

By settling out of court the allegation was neither proven or disproven. However, an out of court settlement for such a large amount of money speaks for
itself. If the Watchtower Society believed itself innocent you would imagine them welcoming
the opportunity to prove in court that their policies were not responsible for hiding pedophiles within
congregations. In an indication of guilt, the Watchtower Society
chose not to allow these cases to go to trial; to do so would have been devastating to their
reputation. Rather they have settled out of court with nondisclosure agreements, also
known as gag orders, which mean the victims receipt of compensation is dependant on them not speaking about the court cases. The settlements have been printed in newspapers around the world.

Transcripts of additional cases can be found at
watchtowerdocuments.com

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