Convicted Jehovah's Witness Elder Michael Penkava Serves Community Service at the Kingdom Hall
The judge isn't happy. The prosecution team isn't happy. The public isn't happy. More importantly, survivors of child abuse will be angered to hear that an elder for Jehovah's Witnesses who violated the mandatory reporting laws for Illinois has served his community service at the very site where he committed his crime: The Crystal Lake Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses.
On April 19th, 2022, Michael Penkava turned in a work register to the Probation and Court Services Department of McHenry County Illinois. He, along with fellow JW elder Colin Scott was convicted of a Class-A misdemeanor on March 18th for failing to report child abuse in July of 2006. Penkava's defense shifted over a year-and-a-half period from his custodial arrested in 2020, but the essential elements of that defense consisted of the claim that due to the circumstances of the case he wasn't a mandatory reporter, and secondly, that the Watchtower Legal Department gave him faulty advice.
Penkava and his fellow elders ignored Illinois law under instructions from Jehovah's Witness Headquarters and opted to handle the abuse allegations internally.
The problem is, they weren't just abuse allegations, they were abuse confessions from the father himself, Arturo Hernandez-Pedraza. Pedraza had admitted to molesting his daughter at least 6-7 times during 2006 when she was barely 7 years old. The Crystle Lake Spanish Congregation elders formed a judicial committee and decided that Arturo was repentant and would not be disfellowshipped from the congregation. Instead, he was "publicly reproved" and sent right back to his home with his wife and children.
The sexual abuse stopped for about a month, then immediately resumed for the next 12 years, with the abuser threatening the child and her family with harm or death if she revealed what he was doing. Hernandez-Pedraza became so brazen in his conduct that by the time his daughter was in her upper teens, he was escorting her to the local Walgreens Pharmacy where he coerced her into taking pregnancy tests.
On her 19th birthday, the victim came forward to the police, and her father was arrested and put on trial in 2019, found guilty, and sentenced to more than 45 years in prison. A year later, on November 9th, 2020, Michael Penkava was arrested for violation of the Illinois Mandatory Reporter Statute.
Arrest Report for Michael Penkava
Following the arrest of both Penava and fellow elder Colin Scott, both elders obtained separate attorneys not affiliated with Jehovah's Witnesses, but who were paid for their extensive legal services by the Witness organization in New York.
The case faced numerous trial cancellations and delays, largely due to the defendants' attorneys arguing vehemently against the disclosure of documents related to the case, including Judicial Committee notes from the congregation.
These delays proved fatal for the Jehovah's Witnesses, since it allowed sufficient time for an Illinois JW elder to resign his post as an elder in November of 2021, then agree to testify as a rebuttal witness in February 2022. Bradley Kelm provided the critical testimony needed to win this case for the prosecution.
On February 24th, Kelm testified as an expert witness regarding the confessional process of Jehovah's Witnesses. The reason for this testimony was to counter the claims made by Watchtower attorney John Miller, who had previously testified that the wife of an adulterous spouse was instrumental and critical to the "spiritual development" of her husband during or following judicial proceedings inside the church. This child abuse case suddenly became an adultery case, and the JWs fought hard to prove that the statements made by Mrs. Hernandez to the elders about her daughter's sexual assaults were "privileged" and hence abrogated the elders from any responsibility to report the abuse to the police.
Kelm overturned Miller's claims by testifying that the innocent spouse was not an essential part of the spiritual development of the guilty mate.
Bradley Kelm Testimony
In the final verdict delivered on March 18th, Judge Mark Gerhardt stated the following:
"No privilege exists between [the wife,]Eloina Hernandez and the defendants. In deciding so, I do not find defendant Penkava’s testimony to be credible in light of his stipulations, his testimony in 18CF1057, his statement to detective Eitel, and Eloina’s statement.
I find Mr. Kelm’s testimony more credible than Mr. Miller’s regarding the role of the innocent spouse, including the court’s earlier analysis of exhibit 16-1 which was used only for the determination of admissibility of the statements, particularly Eloina’s."
Both Michael Penkava and Colin Scott were found guilty.
A week later, Judge Gerhardt sentenced both to one year of probation along with a $250 fine and 10 hours of community service.
Convicted elder Michael Penkava promptly arranged to fulfill his community service requirement at the very place where he committed his crime- the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Crystal Lake Illinois.
Crystle Lake Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses
On April 19th, 2022, fellow elder Jeff Renfroe signed off Penkava's community service, adding a note under the "remarks" section stating: "Mike is very diligent in his work ethic and a pleasure to be around." Renfroe also filled out a Work Register report for Penkava in which he itemized the following services performed:
On April 19th, 2022, the Probations and Court Services Department accepted and processed the Community Service Worksheet for Penkava, while Judge Gerhardt and the State's Attorneys were unaware that the services were performed at the Kingdom Hall.
These are the facts of the case, in summary. There was, and is, a great deal more going on behind the scenes following this verdict, and I think it is important for all of us to understand that while the sentence carried out on these two elders was an insult to justice, this is far from over.
Other State agencies are very interested in this case and were present in the courtroom during all three days of the trial. While I can't discuss those details, it should not be overlooked that Illinois could cooperate with other States in an effort to flush out the individuals behind the faulty legal advice that led to an additional 12 years of sexual assaults on a minor girl in their State.
Watchtower has always taken the position that they bear no fault for incest cases, and in fact, it's their policy to avoid civil payouts for incest cases at all costs. Yet the fact remains that Jehovah's Witnesses are directly responsible for the lack of reporting everywhere they exist, and the majority of their Legal Department officials are not licensed to practice in Illinois and most other locations outside of New York. The local elders calling the Legal Department do not know this, and for the purposes of reporting, it's irrelevant whether the case involved incest or not.
On April 22, 2022, the State of Illinois filed a motion before the Court to unimpound a number of documents related to the Penkava and Scott cases, in addition to documents from the original criminal trial of abuser Arturo Hernandez-Pedraza. The reason for this request reveals that other States have not been able to secure these documents via the "IJustice" system that allows other jurisdictions to obtain out-of-state case documents.
On Friday, May 6th, Judge Michael Coppedge granted a motion to unseal documents surrounding the original criminal trial of the abuser, but did not rule on the documents from the Penkava and Scott trials. This motion will be heard on May 18th.
This case has highlighted some very serious flaws we have with the laws in the United States - flaws that are mirrored in other countries. First, religious organizations have caused this problem by insisting on confidentiality loopholes that permit clergymen and elders to conceal crimes. They make the argument that without these reporting exceptions, sinners will be discouraged from seeking spiritual counseling by confessing their sins.
Religious organizations apply intense pressure to lawmakers because that's what many of their religious constituents want- complete church-state separation. While this separation is a necessary part of democracy, a church's wishes should never overtake the State's right to protect children. In the Penkava case, the judge made this clear in his final ruling when he said:
"I still agree, as Mr. Prossnitz has argued multiple times, that the State cannot define one’s religion. I still agree that religion cannot define the State’s statute."
It is worth noting how close the State came to losing this case. While to most reasonable persons it seemed like a foregone conclusion that these elders were guilty, it's not so simple in a court of law. The reality is that if the wife of this abuser had not disclosed to the elders what her daughter told her, this case may have never happened, and the State of Illinois would have had nothing to prosecute.
Why? Because Arturo's confession to the elders is protected by law. This is why the judge refused to allow the State to introduce his confession to the trial. It seems absurd, but it's perfectly legal, and it's why the laws need to change. Too many cases go unreported, and too many victims are abused because of State-sponsored protection of churches.
This case was brought by Illinois because it simply could not be ignored. A child was violated in unthinkable ways, and the Jehovah's Witness elders sat by all those years having missed their opportunity and obligation to protect a child and cooperate with law enforcement. The JWs often quote Romans chapter 13 in support of following the laws of the land, but they go out of their way to conceal from police the volumes of criminal data they store within their database of sins and sinners.
Until the laws change, it's the responsibility of each one of us to understand what happened and to share it with the public and with active JWs who are completely in the dark about
Michael Penkava was convicted, yes- but in the end, he picked up a broom and swept the floors of the Kingdom Hall, just as he swept the sexual abuse of a little girl under the rug. Let's do what we can to not let that happen again.