The Jehovah's Witnesses Church in Scotland stands accused of sheltering child abusers and keeping secret files of known paedophiles within the organisation which it refuses to share with police.
After a successful prosecution over child abuse within a Jehovah's Witnesses family in Ayrshire, Scottish police are understood to be preparing to bring a further case to court in the northeast.

A family of six that moved from Shingle Springs to McMinnville, Ore., in May was found dead in a murder-suicide, authorities in Oregon said Friday.

Robert Bryant killed his wife and four children before turning the gun on himself, said Yamhill County District Attorney Bradley C. Berry.

We never talked about sex. We never could swear. It was a totally moral, Christian home. Except, Donald DHaene adds. Except for one thing. It was called The Game. While most childhood pastimes are fun, frequently rambunctious, and often just plain out of control, this game was different. It was horrific. It was hidden. It was the quiet, continuing childhood sexual abuse of four Elgin children for many years by their father.

Two sisters are suing the national organization of the Jehovah's Witnesses over a policy they claim shields child molesters. The suit, filed in New Hampshire, also sparks concerns that other religious groups might face similar legal action.

RITZVILLE - Fifteen advocates from across the United States and Canada traveled to Ritzville to lend support to a woman who claims she was sexually abused and raped as a child by a Jehovah's Witness elder.

A retrial began Tuesday in Adams County Superior Court. Members of the group say they are especially concerned with clergy-based sex crime.

RITZVILLE - Erica Rodriguez and her mother, Alejandra Garza, broke down and cried when the verdict came in.

It took slightly less than four hours for a seven-man, five-woman Adams County Superior Court jury to declare Manuel Beliz, 48, of Othello guilty of two counts of first-degree child rape and two counts of first-degree child molestation. They reached their verdict about 7:45 p.m.

Victims of child molestation have served a lawsuit against the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the corporate entity that controls the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. The law firm of Reinhardt and Anderson, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is filing the first of several lawsuits in behalf of victims who have been injured by the Watchtower's policy of ignoring reported child sexual abuse.

A tragic family conflict is at the moment being carefully observed by Jehovah's Witnesses and former members of the sect. It revolves around a fathers alleged sexual molesting his daughters and murder. The former Witnesses are wondering if the Watchtower Society will take the accusations serious. According to former Witnesses and other critics Jehovah's Witnesses routinely covers up crimes of this nature.

The Jehovah's Witnesses are invoking their constitutional right to religious freedom as a defense in a lawsuit that blames the church for sexual abuse by a member.

The lawsuit, filed by Bryan Rees in Cumberland County Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages for abuse that Rees says he endured between 1989 and 1992. It names Larry Baker as the man who abused him.

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) - A Hollis man has been convicted of molesting twin sisters although his apparent admission to church elders could not be used in the trial.

A jury deliberated two hours Tuesday before convicting Gregory Blackstock, 45, in Hillsborough County Superior Court of three counts of rape. He already was serving a five- to 10-year sentence for sexually assaulting a 9-year-old East Kingston girl in that town.

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) - A Hollis man's apparent admissions to religious elders about molesting two sisters can't be used as evidence in his trial, a judge has ruled.

Gregory Blackstock, 45, is scheduled to go to trial next Monday on charges he molested two East Kingston sisters.

VICTORVILLE A 20-year-old Adelanto man accused of molesting two young girls accepted a plea bargain allowing him to admit to a misdemeanor charge and serve 210 days in jail on weekends.

Scott Gilman's sentence, handed down in Victorville Superior Court Friday, infuriated one victims family.

"I was thinking he would get three to five years in state prison; no less," Winford Roberson said.

YERINGTON, Nev. (AP) - A former Jehovah's Witnesses church elder was convicted of lewdness with a minor for a 1992 incident with an 8-year-old girl at his home.

A Lyon District Court jury returned the verdict Thursday against Daniel Steven Fitzwater, who faces up to 20 years in prison when he returns to court for sentencing April 20.

NASHUA – A Hollis man asked a judge Thursday to throw out his conviction for molesting twin sisters, arguing the 10-year-old girls weren't specific enough when they testified that he touched their "privates."

Gregory Blackstock, 45, formerly of 68 Flint Pond Drive, also argued that prosecutors failed to prove he acted with the purpose of sexual gratification

Alison Cousins turned to the elders of her family's church after devout dad Ian abused her for three years.

The elders knew Cousins had preyed on another girl. He confessed to them two years earlier but police were not informed.

Alison said she was given no help or encouragement to get justice.

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) - By the time Christian Longo reached the Oregon coast last fall with his wife and three children, he had left a trail of bad checks, fraud and theft charges stretching clear back to Michigan. But all those troubles never seemed to bother him.