Jehovah's Witnesses will pay 35 million to an American woman who suffered from their actions

Jehovah's Witnesses must pay $35 million to a Montana woman who reported childhood sexual abuse to elders who chose not to tell authorities.

Фото: Depositphotos

The judge must review the jury's decision on the fine. The Jehovah's Witnesses organization in the United States is planning to appeal. However, the 21-year-old woman's lawyers say the verdict sends a message that the church does not report child abuse to authorities, writes New York Post.

The Office of Public Information at Jehovah's Witnesses World Headquarters responded to the verdict with a statement.

Jehovah's Witnesses despise child abuse and strive to protect children from such acts. Watchtower is pursuing the appeal review, the statement said.

The Montana case is one of dozens that have come to light over the past decade alleging that Jehovah's Witnesses covered up child sexual abuse.

The case on which the sentence was pronounced on Wednesday concerned two women. Now they are 32 and 21 year. They claim to have been sexually abused by a member of their family in Thompson Falls in the 1990 and 2000. They told about the abuses to the church elders who consulted with the national organization.

The elders expelled the offender by the decision of the meeting in 2004 year, after which they took him back the following year, the girl, who is now 21 year, told the court.

The lawsuit alleged that local and national Jehovah's Witnesses organizations violated a Montana law that requires them to report abuses to outside authorities.

“Their national headquarters, called the Watchtower, monitors if any of their organizations report child abuse,” Smith said. “Watchtower has instructed all those involved not to report the violence to authorities.”

Lawyers for Jehovah's Witnesses argued in court that Montana law exempts elders from reporting "internal church proceedings regarding serious sin on the part of the congregation."

The church also claimed that the national organization was not responsible for the actions of the elders of Thompson Falls and that too much time had passed.

The jury awarded the 21-year-old woman $4 million for her injuries, plus $30 million in punitive damages against the Watchtower and $1 million in punitive damages from the Christian congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, another Jehovah's Witnesses corporation that associates with congregations throughout the United States

Monetary remuneration must be considered by the court and can be reduced. Montana legislation covers punitive damages in the amount of 3 percent of the company's net worth or 10 million US dollars, whichever is less. A legal claim is pending in the Supreme Court of Montana.

The jury rejected the allegations that the church should have reported the abuse of a second woman by the same member of the congregation. The jury concluded that the elders of the church did not receive notification of the abuse of an 32-year-old woman in 1998, when she reported the abuse, and therefore are not required to report to the authorities.

The third family member who reported the abuse was not the plaintiff in the lawsuit.

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