Ronald Drage Shows How to “Suffer the Little Children”?

Recently the UK press has reported that Michael Porter was convicted as a child molester with a long history of molesting little boys.  Porter’s crimes included the molestation of an eighteen month old baby.  In a recent sentencing hearing Porter was given no jail time for his crimes that involved thirteen children over several years.  The public, media, and even Porter’s sister expressed outrage at the light reprimand while his fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses remained steadfast in their support of “Pedophile Porter”.  Elders from the Mill Hill congregation assured media that Porter would be “supervised” as he attended meetings and door to door ministry to offer bibles studies with families.

There remain several parts to this story that are untold and for those reasons we mention the following.  On October of 2007 the Jehovah’s Witnesses will be offering the Awake magazine door to door.  The October issue is a special print with the title, “Keep your children Safe!” The article goes on to relate the dangers of sexual predators, but fails to mention the need to protect children in a congregation setting  as well as the most important aspect of protecting children, that is, calling law enforcement to report the matter. Interestingly the actual advice discourages members or anyone who reads the article from reporting to the authorities.  Note the comments in the scan of the article below.

So according to the article how is the child to protect themselves in the event an adult attempts to rape them? The JWs supplied a picture of a child with her parents learning what she needs to do if she is ever faced with a rapist.  

Michael Porter certainly benefited from articles like this as he served as a Ministerial Servant (Deacon) for most of the years he was molesting kids.  From the age of 17 – 31 he apparently was abusing kids in the Bristol area.  In the year 2000 Porter moved to the “Mill Hill” congregation of JWs and found a residence in the Barnet area.  In a short time he was married to a woman with children and appointed as an elder when he was in his early thirties. 

Mill Hill is one of the most significant congregations in United Kingdom, as it is the official home congregation for the Branch Office of the IBSA (International Bible Students Association).  This is the official headquarters for Jehovah’s Witnesses and oversees most of the work for Europe and other countries.  It would be considered quiet prestigious to serve as an elder in the home office congregation of headquarters as you would be working on the elder body with the key people in the administration of JWs.  Porter appeared to work well with his fellow elders as he is listed as a “Trustee” for the Mill Hill Congregation with the UK Charities Commission.

LONDON, MILL HILL CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

MR ELIOT WILLIS

MR ROGER DUBOIS

MR ANDREW DAVIES

MR DAVID JOHNSON

MR IVOR DARBY

MR PAUL WADE

MR PHILIP MARSH

MR REGINALD DAVID

MR ROBERT EDWARDS

MR RONALD DRAGE

MR STEPHEN HUAGIE

MR STEPHEN BERNARD CHARLES CHARLES

MR ORLANDO ZENI

MR WILLIAM MACKENZIE

MR JONATHAN CALDWELL

MR MAURICE INGLES

MR MICHAEL PORTER

MR ALISTAIR THOMSON

**This was the listing as of 08/28/07 now Porter has been removed from the list.

A trustee with a Jehovah’s Witness congregation is a significant honor.  In the 09/01/03 letter to all congregations regarding how to set up ownership if the congregation it states,

“In selecting trustees, mature ministers who are not likely to move away from the congregation should be chosen.”

This information shows the Michael Porter was not only considered as a “mature minister” but also that he was viewed as a long term member of the Mill Hill Congregation. 

[It has recently been reported to silentlambs]

**Update - Michael Porter became a member of Bethel (home office of JWs in UK) in Summer/Autumn of the year 2000, he was a Ministerial Servant when he joined and appointed as an Elder in the year 2002. He got removed from his position when he was reproved for child abuse in the fall of 2006.

If this is in fact true this is a major problem for the home office to explain. Look closely at the trustees and you will see another name listed in the Mill Hill Congregation, a fellow elder Ronald Drage.  Who is Drage? He is listed as the Chairman for the IBSA in UK.  Drage was part of the body of elders that handled this abuse case and was part of the cover up of Porter’s proclivities. 

When the IBSA was confronted with the cover up of numerous cases of abuse within JW congregations along with confirmation by several different law enforcement authorities, they sent out a letter to all congregations in UK.  The letter stated to all members,

“Our position is that the secular authorities deal with crime while elders deal with sin. To avoid a miscarriage of justice elders must not interfere with, prevent, or impede any secular investigation into child abuse. They must ensure that secular laws are adhered to (Romans 13:1)

         To that end they are instructed to contact the legal dept at Bethel whenever they receive information from even one person who alleges that child abuse has occurred. When a report is received guidance is given by the legal dept to ensure that:

     1. The alleged victim and other potential victims are protected from possible abuse.

     2. The council is given to report crime to the proper authorities and to comply with any additional legal requirements.”

The key administrative leader for Jehovah’s Witnesses apparently became aware of a pedophile that molested multiple children in his congregation.  If he were to follow the directives that he sent out to all congregations in 2002, Porter would have been reported immediately by Drage or any of the other “elders” in the Mill Hill Congregation.  Yet the media reported,

“one of his victims threatened to go to the police”    

So here we see the Watchtower Policy on Child Abuse is still being covered up in a scandal that goes all the way to the Chairman of the UK Branch of Jehovah’s Witnesses.   Serious questions need to be answered here.

1. When did Ron Drage and Mill Hill elders know about this?

2. In the investigation did Clevedon Congregation Elders and IBSA Legal Department talk? If so, at what level, when?

(This didn't happen overnight - it was going on for 14 years)

3. What did Ron Drage, Mill Hill Elders and the Legal Department do with this information when it was reported?

4. Was Porter previously accused of child molestation? If so could these records be obtained with the Data Protection Act?

5. Why did the Mill Hill Elders refuse to disfellowship a man that molested numerous kids for several years?

6. Why did the Mill Hill Elders say to media that they “supported” and would supervise Porter while not saying one word about the victims?

7. Given this opportunity to show a strong stance on pedophiles, why did they (Ron Drage and the Legal Department) not prove by example that they do not tolerate child abuse?

It is interesting to note that the official policy is for smokers to be kicked out the organization, people who question the policy of child molestation have been disfellowshipped on several occasions - but child molesters are ok and have “support” that goes to the highest administrative leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the UK?

At silentlambs we feel it appears to be extremely hypocritical for Watchtower to  feature an article that states “Keep Your Children Safe!” while policies are continued that put children in danger by leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Of course if you were in a “pedophile paradise ” what would have been done that is different from what Drage and his cronies have already accomplished?

Jehovah’s Witnesses have stated to the media and the public at large that they have changed their abuse polices due to the work of silentlambs in exposing these issues. They say that JW pedophiles are “monitored” when they go from door to door offering bible studies and asking for donations.  Part of that monitoring is to keep all details of their child abuse in a database that is not shared with law enforcement. This is very helpful in keeping JW pedophiles out of jail.  Victims are told unless they have two eye witnesses they need to wait for more children to be molested that are “credible” witnesses before they can be believed.  JW pedophiles are reappointed as elders after a few years and all their record of abuse is removed from congregation records.   Children are forced to face interrogation by untrained elders when they bring forth abuse allegations that often lead to obstruction of justice for a proper law enforcement investigation.

So while Jehovah’s Witnesses and even certain prominent X Jehovah’s Witnesses try to sell the public on the concept that abuse in JWs is “no worse that main stream religion”, the facts and documentation show that this is not true.  Case after case along with numerous reports from media show it is with good foundation that hundreds have called the JW organization a “ pedophile paradise.” In the next few weeks you might see a smiling Jehovah’s Witness at your door offering you an article on how to “Keep Your Children Safe” and asking for a donation.  It will be your decision as to whether you want to support one of the worst religions on the face of the earth regarding how they cover up child abuse and protect pedophiles.

If you explain the reason why you choose not to donate you will be met with an angry JW that tells you it is all a matter of apostate lies.  Reasoning is futile as they are told if they believe anything less they will be disfellowshipped.  Ronald Drage and his fellow elders that direct the work of JWs in UK will not answer questions or take responsibility for their actions.  In the end it ends up as the title of the Panorama program described in 2002, “Suffer the Little Children .”