Dissecting the May 2019 Watchtower Regarding Child Sex Abuse and Jehovah’s Witnesses

[link to jwvictims.org (secure)]

Jehovah’s Witnesses Certainly Do Shield Child Molesters

The magazine says, page 9, paragraph 7:

“While the elders are not authorized to enforce the law of the land, they do not shield any perpetrator of child abuse from the legal consequences of his sin.”

Page 11, paragraph 17:

“The elders do not interfere with law enforcement; they leave criminal matters to the secular authorities.”

Page 13, paragraph 23:

“Governed by the law of the Christ, our congregations do not shield perpetrators of abuse from the consequences of their sins.”

These statements are demonstrably false. The religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses paid out a $4000 daily sanction, for two years, to one court in California alone for failing to turn over records of alleged pedophiles in their religion:
News Update: Watchtower Caves on Latest Case, Shutting Down Their $4000 Per Day Fine

In other words, not only do Jehovah’s Witnesses shield perpetrators from the consequences of their crime and interfere with court proceedings by withholding records, but they are also more than willing to pay huge sums of money, donated by their congregants, to do so.