NBC NIGHTLY NEWS REPORTS ON SILENTLAMBS STORY

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS REPORTS ON CHILD ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

After the Associated Press did a national story on the lawsuits being settled with Jehovah’s Witness victims of abuse on May 10, 2007 we are happy to find that Brian Williams finally found the story.  On November 12, 2007, six months after the fact, NBC Nightly NEWS announces, “New Evidence in Jehovah’s Witness Allegations”. In the reporting it was stated there were "seventeen" lawsuits settled.  The facts show that one lawsuit was settled in the summer of 2006.  The balance of "sixteen" were settled in the spring of 2007 for larger dollar amounts.  For the sake of accuracy Silentlambs reported sixteen settlements that were related to the major litigation finalized in recent months. This was the documentation provided on the Silentlambs website in May of 2007.  Due to Silentlambs providing this material certain individuals were then given the key to accumulate thousands of pages of court documents related to the cases.  We wish to express our great appreciation for all those that assisted in assembling this material. We are happy to provide this material at no charge.

We are also glad the Brian Williams/NBC report did find one new development and that was the actual amount of one of the settlements at $781,250.  This helps to establish that the actual amount paid out by Watchtower would be somewhere in the $12,500,000 range of World Wide Work donated money going to victims and the lawyers.  The victims were required to sign gag orders to prevent them from saying anything about the money or more importantly about their abusers.  Yet more importantly the court documents that were part of the five year legal battle shows exactly what despicable sinks of debauchery that supposed leaders and elders of Jehovah’s Witnesses will go to in order to protect pedophiles.  The written record is incriminating and shows God/Jehovah had little to do with the cover up, protection and enabling of Jehovah’s Witness child molesters around the world.  Just one month earlier the French media equivalent of “Dateline” produced a one hour documentary on numerous Jehovah’s Witness children that were molested and not reported to authorities.  Once again as with NBC, Associated Press, and French Media the Public Relations Department of Jehovah’s Witnesses denied any wrongdoing.  They even went on to imply that in one hundred years less than ten JW elders have went to prison for molesting kids.  This fabrication of facts once again showed how the name of God can be obtusely abused by men of no conscience.

Silentlambs continues to report the facts, victims continue to come forward.  In the week of Feb.16, 2008, three new JW pedophiles are in the process of being reported to police and Watchtower. In each case they are elders.  Why will some not go to prison? For the simple fact that Watchtower Public Relations omitted from their statement, the policy of the organization silences victims so that often when they attempt to report their molester they are past the statue of limitations.  As a result there is no jail time or in most cases prosecution.  The pedophile is protected by policies enforced to this day by the Governing Body (leadership) of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  In seven years we estimate that over 3,500 Jehovah’s Witness Elders and Ministerial Servants have been reported as child molesters to Silentlambs. Silentlambs has taken no money for their work of exposing this problem, yet after Jehovah’s Witnesses employ a five year legal battle using every unscrupulous tactic to prevent any settlement for victims, who do you think is not playing fair with the facts? Would a better question be; who are the bold faced liars?  Who do these lies protect, children or pedophiles?     

The history of silentlambs has remained simple, to provide victims a voice and platform to speak of their abuse.  In seven years we have now assisted 24 documentary programs and thousands of printed stories that have each featured victims speaking out on abuse.  We are honored by their courage and hope we can continue to honor their cause of no longer being silent lambs.

Thank you Brian Williams for giving a story we published nationwide six months ago in the Associated Press national attention once again.