Persons interested in the specific sub-topic of Jehovah's Witness Child Molestation should visit the SILENTLAMBS.ORG website, which is devoted exclusively to the issue of sexual crimes committed against children by members of the Jehovah's Witnesses community. The owner/operator of that website has been featured in multiple international news reports and documentaries broadcasted on nearly every major television network over the past ten years. He is a former Jehovah's Witness Elder who labels the WatchTower organization as a "pedophile's paradise". There is no point in my trying to duplicate what that website already does well. However, I will post on this webpage those court cases which that dedicated website has missed; pre-2001 court cases; those cases for which I have additional details; etc.

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CALIFORNIA v. PHILLIP GARRIDO and CALIFORNIA v. NANCY GARRIDO are the notorious California criminal prosecutions related to the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnapping, which have resulted in life prison terms for both Phillip and Nancy Garrido. Despite the criminal prosecutions, and the avalanche of media coverage, THE TRUTH about Phillip Garrido's past life is only now beginning to be made public.

Nancy Garrido was reared as a Jehovah's Witness, first in Texas, and then later in Colorado. The unmarried 25 year-old Jehovah's Witness, Nancy Bocanegra, was introduced to fellow Jehovah's Witness, Phillip Garrido, while Garrido was imprisoned in Leavenworth federal prison for a 1976 kidnapping and rape committed in Nevada. The "delayed" introduction reportedly was made in early 1980 only after Garrido's divorce from his first wife became final. Nancy Bocanegra was introduced to Phillip Garrido by one of his cellmates -- Nancy Bocanegra's Uncle, whom she occasionally visited. Phillip Garrido, age 30, and Nancy Bocanegra, age 26, were married inside Leavenworth Prison, in October 1981, by a non-denominational prison chaplain.

A 1978 mental evaluation conducted only 8-9 months after Garrido's arrival at Leavenworth states that Phillip Garrido was already, in March/April of 1978, a "very absorbed" Jehovah's Witness practitioner. Phillip Garrido has indicated that his interest in religion and GOD started sometime around 1973-74, and intensified around 1976-77 (Remember that the JWs were then in the middle of their largest recruitment period ever -- 1966 to 1975 -- when the WatchTower Society was predicting Armageddon to occur in October 1975. After 1975, it was "any day now".) During Phillip Garrido's first year at Leavenworth, Phillip Garrido even rejected the idea of a transfer from prison incarceration to an outside psychological treatment program so that he could complete the religious and secular education programs he had by then already started at Leavenworth. (Although the WatchTower Cult has since relaxed its teachings on mental health treatment -- due to the high incidence of mental illness amongst its members -- at that time, Jehovah's Witnesses were proactively discouraged from seeking treatment from mental health professionals.)

So, when did Phillip Garrido first join the WatchTower Cult?  IT IS BELIEVED THAT PHILLIP GARRIDO FIRST STARTED ATTENDING A KINGDOM HALL OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1970s -- possibly even as early as 1969-70, when Garrido was only 19-20 years old. Garrido either attended the Brentwood, California Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, or the Oakley, California Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, or both, at various times. There is a vague lead which seems to suggest that Nancy Bocanegra was not the first female with JW connections in Phillip Garrido's life. Whether that possible female with JW connections was Garrido's first wife, one of many girlfriends, or even possibly his mother (which opens an enormous can of worms given that is with whom Phillip and Nancy lived all these years), I do not know. I do know that some older JWs in either the Brentwood and Oakley areas probably do know, but evidently are tight lipped.

I also know that Phillip Garrido was arrested and incarcerated multiple times from 1969 through 1974. If, in fact, Phillip Garrido "became a member" of the Brentwood or Oakley congregations during this time period, as one source alleges, then he would have been subject to one or more internal judicial actions by his congregation's Body of Elders. That would mean that Garrido's past history as a Jehovah's Witness would be known not only by one or both of those two California congregations, but probably also by WatchTower Society headquarters, in Brooklyn.

At any rate, it was Phillip Garrido's status as a long-time practicing Jehovah's Witness, plus his marriage to a life-long practicing Jehovah's Witness, that undoubtedly played a significant role in his gaining early parole in 1988 given that nearly every evaluation of any type over the years almost always made positive mention of Garrido's religious beliefs and practices.

Nancy Garrido worked within the healthcare community in multiple states at least as far back as 1981. Nancy Garrido was licensed as a Nursing Assistant in California in 1989 after the couple moved to California after Phillip Garrido's parole from Leavenworth, and 8 months served in a Nevada state prison, where Garrido served short time on a state charge related to the 1976 rape/kidnapping. Between 1994 and 1998, Nancy Garrido worked for a California community agency, Contra Costa ARC, that served adults and children suffering from developmental disabilities. Nancy Garrido reportedly also worked at multiple nursing homes.

Nancy Garrido is reportedly accused by Prosecutors of playing an equal role with Phillip Garrido in the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard. Prosecutors suspect that it was actually Nancy Garrido who forcibly put Jaycee Lee Dugard into the car driven by Phillip Garrido in June 1991. In 1993, Phillip Garrido was returned to federal prison for 38 days because of a parole violation. Prosecutors allege that Nancy Garrido was Jaycee Lee Dugard's sole kidnapper during those 38 days.

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CALIFORNIA v. CHARLES JONES (1991) and CALIFORNIA v. CHARLES JONES (1996-2012). Described as "very religious", Charles Jones has been a Jehovah's Witness since 1980. Jones has testified at trial that he considers his WatchTower religion to be "very important in his life". At least two psychologists have also labeled Jones a "pedophile", and the state of California has adjudged Jones to be a "Sexually Violent Predator". Jones has repeatedly blamed his personal problems on a dysfunctional marriage, including the fact that his wife was not a Jehovah's Witness, and the fact that his own WatchTower religion discouraged him from divorcing her. Jones has admitted to one psychologist that as early as 1985 that he would visit public swimming pools in order to "touch" young children. Jones' first pedophilia-related prosecution came in 1991, when he molested a 4 year-old girl at an apartment complex, while working at his window blind cleaning business. Jones was convicted of that assault, as well as on charges that he exposed himself to another 7 year-old girl and a 3 year-old boy during that same assault. Jones was sentenced to one year in jail, probation, and mandatory counseling.

Jones claims that at the time of the 1991 offense that he was then "disfellowshipped" because of his habit of visiting prostitutes due to his wife's failure to maintain a normal sexual relationship with him. Jones was "reinstated" in 1994, and Jones was encouraged to begin participating in door-to-door recruiting. In 1996, while still on probation from the 1991 offense, and while continuing to receive court ordered counseling, Jones molested a five-year-old girl while cleaning window blinds in that girl's home. Jones was sent to prison for a total of six years for that offense. Jones chose to stay in county jail at the end of his prison sentence, rather than be transferred to a state hospital where he would receive treatment for his mental illness. In November 2007, the DA filed a petition for Jones's commitment under California's Sexually Violent Predators Act. The trial court determined that Jones was an SVP. The court committed Jones to the Department of Mental Health for treatment and confinement in a secure facility for an indeterminate term. In February 2012, the California Court of Appeals affirmed that Jones was a SVP, but remanded Jones' case back to trial court on the issue of length of confinement.

Interestingly, similar to the CARY VERSE case summarized below, Charles Jones has indicated that if he is released that he plans to reside with a fellow Jehovah's Witness in Coalinga, California, and that he has arranged for a job and a circle of support in Fresno. Jones claims that he last went house-to-house to share his WatchTower beliefs in 1994 or 1995, but says that he does not think he would reoffend if he went door-to-door in the future -- because the "brother" with whom Jones would go out in service would supposedly be informed of Jones' history of child molestation.

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PENNSYLVANIA v. HECTOR CAMARA JR was a 2011 Pennsylvania criminal court case. In November 2011, a Jehovah's Witness named Hector Camara Jr., age 65, of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to nine counts of sexual abuse, including aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Camara was sentenced to 20-40 years in state prison. The victim was the teenage son of Hector Camara's next-door neighbors. Camara began sexually molesting the boy when the boy was in the seventh grade, and continued almost weekly into the boy's latter high school years. During this lengthy period of abuse, the victim suffered mental and emotional turmoil that manifested itself through outbursts of anger resulting in trouble at both home and school. The boy was eventually diagnosed as bi-polar, and was placed on medication. The boy had to have a classroom assistant at school to help him manage his anger. However, since finally reporting the molestation to his parents, and thereafter, the police, the victim no longer is on medication, and his entire life is now on a course of healing.

Hector Camara reportedly served as a Ministerial Servant in his local Jehovah's Witness congregation. The victim's parents testified that Camara was an ideal neighbor who helped them with their yard work and even painted their home. Indications are that Camara used his position as a Jehovah's Witness Minister to conduct the JW's infamous "Weekly Home Bible Study" with the young victim. At trial, Camara stated, "I'm not a monster", claiming that he had never forced himself sexually onto the child victim, and claiming that the ongoing sexual relationship was "something that just happened". The trial judge told the Jehovah's Witness Minister, "... you are the devil in disguise." The local Pennsylvania newspaper refused to identify Hector Camara as one of Jehovah's Witnesses -- mysteriously claiming that Camara's status as a Jehovah's Witness Minister had nothing to do with the case. We suspect that the newspaper has a JW connection. Even the folks at the Shady Rest Gazette are not that ignorant.

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TEXAS v. ROBERT ALLEN LEE was a 1992-1997 Texas criminal court case. In February 1993, Robert A. Lee, age 43, was indicted for aggravated sexual contact with a child under 14 years of age. Pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, Robert Lee pleaded guilty to the reduced offense of sexual assault. Lee was sentenced to 10 years in prison, probated for 8 years, and a small fine. Bob Lee was released from prison in April 1995 under multiple terms of probation, including that he have no contact with anyone under the age of 18.

In June 1995, Lee reported to his probation officer that he was spending two days per week in field service activity. Lee stated that he was going door-to-door in residential neighborhoods and "witnessing" as a Jehovah's Witness, along with other members of his JW congregation. Lee refused to identify the neighborhoods; refused to specifically define "witnessing", and refused to identify the JWs who accompanied him. Lee's probation officer concluded that through these activities Lee could come into contact with children in violation of a condition of his probation. Upon receiving the probation officer's report, the trial court conducted a hearing and ordered Lee to stop witnessing door-to-door. However, Lee was told that he could continue "witnessing" in places where there were no children, such as nursing homes.

Lee supposedly stopped witnessing door-to-door, but began witnessing by telephone. Lee's probation officer then became concerned that Lee might be telephoning children. In July 1995, Lee refused to answer questions whether he was having contact with children, and Lee also refused to answer questions about his telephone witnessing activities -- contending that his "witnessing" was none of the probation officer's business. For those, and other probation violations, Lee's probation was revoked, and he was sentenced to 7 years in prison. On Lee's appeal, the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's sentence, stating in part:

In applying the three Simpson factors for determining whether probationary conditions are valid to a determination of whether [probation officer's] questions were valid, we note that [probation officer's] questions regarding appellant's religious activities, although probably poorly phrased, were directly related to the crime of sexual assault, were directly related to criminal conduct, were designed to prohibit conduct that was reasonably related to future episodes of sexual assault, and served the statutory ends of probation that appellant successfully complete his probation without committing further acts of sexual assault. [Probation officer] was attempting to determine whether appellant was complying with the condition of his probation prohibiting contact with minors. Restricting a sex offender's right to roam residential neighborhoods and telephone strangers contributes significantly both to the rehabilitation of the convicted person and to the protection of society.

In applying Simpson's analysis of this issue to our case, we note that [probation officer's] questions did not relegate to a nonjudicial officer the unrestricted right to make appellant's religious decisions, were not subjective and ambiguous, and did not exceed the diminished expectation of privacy of a probationer allowed to remain at conditional liberty after conviction of a crime. Any convicted sex offender can expect questions from his probation officer regarding his or her contact with minors, even if this contact is made in connection with "religious activities." ... ...

In applying the Macias factors to [probation officer's] questions, we note that [probation officer's] questions were reasonably related to the purposes of probation because they were designed to provide [probation officer] with information necessary to determine whether appellant was contacting minors in violation of a condition of his probation. [Probation officer's] questions also advanced the probationary purposes of protecting society from the wanderings of a sex offender and deterring appellant from using his religious activities as a means for finding potential victims. We conclude that application of the analyses of both Simpson and Macias to this case leads to the reasonable conclusion that [probation officer's] questions were not unduly intrusive into appellant's religious freedom.

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CALIFORNIA v. MICHAEL JAMES SMITH is a 1994-2011 ongoing California case involving a Jehovah's Witness named Michael J. Smith. In 1994, Michael Smith was charged with 56 counts stemming from his molestation of four boys in their early teens. Smith met all of his victims through his painting business. In each case, Smith "groomed his victims" by offering them employment, and then befriending them, buying them gifts, taking them on trips, and inviting them into his home. After establishing a trusted relationship, he would molest the boys. Smith pled guilty to 2-3 counts against each of the four victims; and in exchange, the remaining 45 counts were dismissed, and Smith was sentenced to 21 years in state prison.

In May 2005, Smith was released from prison and placed on parole. One of the conditions of parole was that he not have contact with anyone under the age of 18 without the permission of his parole officer. Smith secured full-time employment as a parking lot attendant manager. Smith attended a relapse prevention sexual offender treatment program three times per week. As a Jehovahs Witness, Michael Smith also attended a Napa County Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses at least three times per week.

In December 2005, Smith's parole officer gave permission for Smith to move to an apartment building where there were children. In February 2006, while doing some painting for his landlord, Smith paid an 11 year-old neighbor's boy to help him paint. Thereafter, Smith started buying the boy presents and inviting him to Smith's apartment. In July 2006, the boy's parents finally learned that Smith was a registered sex offender, and advised Smith's parole officer about Smith's relationship with their son. While being detained for his parole violation, a petition to commit Smith as an "Sexually Violent Predator" was filed. At the conclusion of a five-day court trial, the court found that Smith qualified as an SVP, and committed Smith to the custody of the Department of Mental Health for an indeterminate commitment. Smith's attempts to be released have thus far been unsuccessful.

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KENTUCKY v. DANIEL MUDGE was a 2006-7 Kentucky criminal court case which involved Daniel Scott Mudge, age 25, of Danville, Kentucky, in Boyle County, Kentucky. Given that Daniel S. Mudge is the son of prominent Jehovah's Witness Elder, Donald Mudge, a/k/a Don Mudge, whose status as a Jehovah's Witness Presiding Overseer and Special Pioneer has been featured in multiple media articles in New York as well as Kentucky, including one that indicated that he and his son were "partners" in Super Clean Carpets Inc., it is likely that Dan Mudge was also a JW Elder at the time. Notably, no mention was made of Mudge's status as a Jehovah's Witness Minister in the local media's extremely abbreviated coverage of this criminal matter. (A now-retired prominent local JW Elder may still have been employed at the time by the entity that reports/controls news for that area.) In June 2006, the married-with-child Daniel Mudge traveled to an adjacent county to meet a 15 year-old female for sex. Mudge was highly disappointed when he was met by law enforcement officers, who informed him that he had been communicating via computer with a police sting operation. In January 2007, Mudge pleaded guilty to charges of criminal attempt to unlawfully transact with a minor under 16, and distribution of obscene matter to a minor (certain photos of himself). Mudge was sentenced to five years in prison, but did not serve the entire sentence. Notably, Dan Mudge had served only one day in local jail prior to prison sentencing, which indicates that someone hurried to bail him out of jail when he was initially arrested.

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KENTUCKY v. GEORGE VERNON was a 1992-3 Kentucky criminal court case involving a Jehovah's Witness Elder or MS named George Vernon, of the London, Kentucky Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, in Laurel County, Kentucky. In the late 1980s, George Vernon befriended the three children (two boys and a girl) of a single JW Mother (an elementary schoolteacher) in the London congregation, supposedly due to there being no fatherly presence. At some point thereafter, one or more of the children told the JW Mother that Vernon was touching them inappropriately. The JW Mother reported this to the local Elders, but Vernon denied such. When the Elders told JW Mother that Vernon had denied such, and no more could be done, JW Mother mentioned reporting such to the local police. However, the Elders warned JW Mother that she could be disfellowshipped (excommunicated) for defaming Vernon. Thereafter, JW Mother and family were allegedly "marked" and shunned within the congregation. Much later, the "touching" was reported to a school authority by one of the children. The school dutifully reported the matter to the police, who investigated and charged Vernon. The local Prosecutor thought that he had a slam-dunk case. That was, until the trial. The Prosecutor got little if any cooperation from anyone other than the victims and their mother. Each session, the seats behind Vernon were packed with local JWs supporting him; with the seats behind the victims being nearly empty. Vernon was ultimately convicted on a lesser charge that resulted in only one year in county jail. Afterwards, the Prosecutor naively sent a futile letter to the WatchTower Society outlining the injustices at the hands of the local JWs that had occurred during the investigation and  prosecution, along with his disgust.

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JEHOVAH'S WITNESS INCEST. In the late 1970s, a family of Jehovah's Witnesses "NEEDGREATERS" moved from southern California to serve with the Mount Vernon, Kentucky Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, in Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Needgreaters are JW families who move to areas where there are few JWs, and the entire family door knocks 20-25 hours per week. Various family members -- parents and children -- thereafter regularly pioneered and regularly auxilary pioneered for years. In the latter 1980s, the newlywed husband of the last daughter to marry from this JW Needgreater family discovered that his newlywed wife was no novice when it came to sexual matters. She eventually disclosed that she and her father had been regularly having sexual relations for years -- since she was a young teen -- and this allegedly was a family practice that had involved her older sister(s), and was allegedly practiced with the knowledge of the JW Mother. The newlywed JW Husband took this information to the Mount Vernon, Kentucky Body of Elders. Incestuous JW Father, who was then a Ministerial Servant, Literature Servant, and Pioneer, reportedly lost all his "privileges" in the congregation, and was "publicly reproved", but without the reason(s) for such being publically disclosed to the other members of the congregation. In fact, inquiring members were told that Incestuous JW Father had been co-mingling funds while acting as Literature Servant. Shortly thereafter, Incestuous JW Father and Mother relocated themselves and their residential carpet cleaning business to another small southeastern Kentucky town only 40 miles away. No report was ever made to California nor Kentucky authorities, despite the fact that in succeeding years that numerous JW Elders in neighboring southeastern Kentucky congregations were told of this criminal scenario.

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That was not the last time that the Body of Elders at the Mount Vernon, Kentucky Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, in Rockcastle County, Kentucky, concealed criminal activity of a sexual nature committed by one of their members from local and state law enforcement. In 1998-9, a married Jehovah's Witness Husband-with-child was caught by his JW Wife carrying on a casual sexual affair with the 13 year-old granddaughter of their elderly non-JW female neighbor. JW Husband had somehow become acquainted with the 13 year-old girl while employed by one of the local JW Elders, whose home and contracting business were located next door to the home of the teen and her grandmother. Shortly after switching employment, JW Husband and family moved to a house which also was next door to the home of the non-JW GrandMother and her granddaughter. It is not known if the sexual affair began while JW Husband was working for JW Elder, or later, after JW Husband moved next door. However, when JW Wife went crying to the Body of Elders with the news of JW Husband's infidelity, JW Wife told the BOE that she had already had multiple conversations with the 13 year-old's GrandMother regarding the situation. Presumably to determine the extent of the spread of bad publicity, and the possibility of conducting damage control, JW Elder hurried to meet with the non-JW grandmother, first, and then later, with other JWs to whom JW Wife had blabbed before warned against such by the BOE. Whatever JW Elder did or said during his meeting with non-JW GrandMother is not known , but the end result was that the crime was not reported to authorities, and local JWs were tactfully advised not to spread knowledge of the crime any further. Eventually, JW Husband was merely "privately reproved" for this minor indiscretion of committing statutory rape.

The result - results? Around 2001-2, JW Husband was "investigated" for alleged attempted sexual assault on a sleeping 17 year-old female non-relative, who along with a teenage female relative of JW Wife, were spending the night at their home. In 2004, this same offender was arrested and did limited jail time for carrying on a sexual affair with his wife's 14 year-old cousin, who had temporarily moved in with his family due to issues with her own parents. In this instance, the 14 year-old eventually revealed the sexual affair to a school friend, who in turn disclosed the "secret" to her own Baptist Pastor, who in turn notified authorities.

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CALIFORNIA v. DANE SCOTT is an EXTREMELY INTERESTING 2001-11 California criminal court case. From Summer 1999 until Summer 2000, Dane "Scotty" Scott worked with fellow Jehvah's Witnesses Jose X and Elder James McQueen at the same Santa Clara, California home improvement company, which was owned by Jehovah's Witnesses, and whose employees were mainly Jehovah's Witnesses.

In December 1999, then 39 year-old Jehovah's Witness Dane Scott "coincidentally" met a 12 year-old Jehovah's Witness, named "Jamie" at a Santa Clara Mall. Starting a few days later, Scott began visiting Jamie's home while her JW Parents were at work. Scott would leave Jamie small amounts of money after she allowed him to fondle her. Over the next 12 months (2000-2001), the sexual conduct gradually progressed to full intercourse. Jamie's JW Mother caught her with a pregnancy test kit in January 2001, and Jamie revealed the affair. Interestingly, it took three days for Jamie's JW Mother to call the police. After a month of investigation, Scott was arrested in late February 2001. By the time this case went to trial in November 2001, Jamie already had been impregnated by some other male.

In July 2000, then 40 year-old Dane Scott, who had by then changed employment, stopped by the home of former co-worker and fellow Jehovah's Witness, Jose X, during the middle of the afternoon. Jose X's 14 year-old daughter Sandra supposedly told Scott that her father was not home and went back to drying her hair after a recent shower. Coincidentally, only a few minutes later, Sandra went into the backyard to pick up after the family's two pitbulls, where Sandra found Scott sitting -- with at least one the family's two pitbulls present. Sandra supposedly ignored Scott, and began picking up after the pitbulls. Scott supposedly embraced Sandra from behind for about five minutes, while fondling her breasts and rubbing his erect penis into her backside. While one of pitbulls watched, Scott dragged Sandra into the garage, forced her onto a couch, and began unbuckling his pants. Sandra then summoned the pitbull, so Scott let her go. Sandra ran into the house, locked the door, and woke up her sleeping JW Mother. Sandra told JW Mother that Scott "had tried to embrace her". Mother and Sandra locked all the doors and windows as Scott went around trying such and hollering for Sandra to come out. JW Mother telephoned Jose X at work, and told him only that Scott was at their house, and was acting strange. Jose X arrived quickly as Scott walked down the driveway. Scott simply hung his head as Jose X chastised him for coming to his house when Scott knew he wasn't there, and scaring his wife and child. Scott was ordered never to return.

Jose X reported Scott to the JW Elders at Scott's Santa Clara Kingdom Hall. Former co-worker Elder James McQueen and Elder Sal Palma met with the family to investigate whether "porneia" had occurred. Sandra reported only that Scott had touched her breasts through her clothes as he embraced her from behind. Sandra denied any direct contact with her breasts or genitals, and did not tell them that Scott had pulled her into the garage. After discussing the matter, and feeling that the matter had been solved by Jose X's ordering Scott to stay away, the two JW Elders and two JW Parents decided not to call the police, and Elder James McQueen even destroyed his notes.

Although Dane Scott was arrested in February 2001, Santa Clara Police did not learn about the "Sandra Incident" until August 2001, when Sandra disclosed the incident to her "psychotherapist". Sandra and her family, and probably every JW in the greater Santa Clara area, knew that Scott was in jail for his affair with Jamie -- the 12-13 year-old Jehovah's Witness. Although Sandra told her psychotherapist that Scott was in jail, and the Jamie affair was discussed with her psychotherapist a week later by both Sandra and her JW Father, at trial, Sandra testified that she did not know that Scott had been jailed for his affair with Jamie until some time after those meetings with her psychotherapist.

At the November-December 2001 trial, for the "Jamie Affair", Dane Myron Scott was convicted of three counts of lewd touching, one count of digital penetration, and one count of sexual intercourse with a minor under the age of 14. For the "Sandra Incident", Scott was convicted of one count of lewd touching and one count of misdemeanor assault. Because Scott had four prior convictions for residential burglary and possession of stolen property, and had served two prior prison sentences (before being hired by the Jehovah's Witness Home Improvement Company),California's "three strikes' law kicked in. Scott was sentenced to prison for 100 years to life, and more. Scott's conviction and sentence was affirmed in 2004 by the California Court of Appeals, and he is still "appealing" in 2011.

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MISSOURI v. CLARENCE BOUSE was a 2002-2004 Missouri case in which Clarence K. Bouse was convicted of three counts of attempted sexual misconduct involving a child for transmitting a series of six photographs of his genitals via the internet. In November 2001, Clarence Bouse, then age 38, and then working for the Sedalia, Missouri school system, thought he was emailing the photos to a 13 year-old girl living in Livingston County, Missouri, but was in fact exchanging emails with the Sheriff of Livingston County. Bouse made plans with "Carrie" to meet so that they could engage in sex. He also e-mailed several pictures of unidentified couples engaging in sexual activity. Bouse and Carrie eventually made plans to meet at a motel on November 16, 2001, and on November 19, 2001. Bouse, however, never showed up at the motel on either of the planned dates.The state charged Bouse with two counts of attempt to commit statutory rape in the first degree, two counts of attempt to commit statutory sodomy in the first degree, and three counts of attempt to commit sexual misconduct with a child. Bouse waived a jury trial. At the conclusion of the state's evidence, the circuit court granted Bouse's motion for judgment of acquittal on the attempted statutory rape and attempted statutory sodomy counts. The circuit court found Bouse guilty of three counts of attempted sexual misconduct with a child. Bouse's conviction was upheld on his appeal, which mainly dealt with the then poor wording of the relevant Missouri statutes.

Although it is not known if they are one and the same individual, in 1993, a Jehovah's Witness, named Clarence Bouse, of Harrisonville, Missouri, (two counties west of Sedalia, Missouri) filed a federal lawsuit alleging religious discrimination against Capital Cities ABC Inc. and its' newspaper subsidiary, The Kansas City Star, which had fired Bouse from his job as a pressman, in June 1992. (Did Bouse receive his "pressman" training at the WatchTower Society's world headquarters, as have a multitude of former Bethelites who have gone to work for newspapers after leaving "Bethel"???)

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NORTH CAROLINA v. NICOLL (2005) and CROWN v. NICOLL (2010) are multiple criminal cases in the United States and Scotland involving John Nicoll, who was reared with a strict Jehovah's Witness upbringing. John Nicoll's Scottish parents immigrated to Wendell, North Carolina in 1983, when he was one year-old. John Nicoll graduated from East Wake High School in 2000. In March 2005, John Nicoll was convicted in North Carolina for sexually assaulting a 10 year-old girl as the child slept in her own bedroom. Nicoll broke into the sleeping family's home in August 2004 for the sole purpose of attacking the child. Nicoll was sentenced to state prison for a period of 19-23 months, but his prison sentence was suspended -- possibly because of his status as a "Jehovah's Witness". Nicoll was placed on probation and ordered to reside at a state-run specialist residential unit for a 12-month period. However, Nicoll failed to comply with the conditions of probation, and he was sent to prison to serve out the full term of his original 19-23 month sentence.

After John Nicoll's release from prison and placement on the sex offender's registry list, Nicoll moved to Scotland, in 2008, to be with his father, who had returned there after splitting with Nicoll's mother in 2003. In February 2010, John Nicoll pled guilty in Scottish Court to entering a local home without permission. Although details are unclear, Nicoll evidently entered a stranger's home during an onging party, and he was discovered snooping through the bedrooms. Thereafter, in mid 2010, John Nicoll was sentenced to 12 months in Scottish prison on possession of child pornography charges that resulted from a police investigation that grew out of the aforementioned criminal case. The court was told that John Nicoll had been assessed as posing a "very high risk" to the public by both social workers and psychologists who had worked with him.

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MISSOURI v. JAMES MAZUR (2007).  In June 2005, James Mazur, a/k/a Jim Mazur, then age 63, who lived in Missouri Valley, Iowa, was charged in Taney County (Branson), Missouri with statutory sodomy relating to a February 2005 incident involving a 7 year-old girl. In June 2007, Mazur pleaded guilty to an amended charge of child molestation, and was sentenced to five years in state prison. Mazur served less than his full sentence. After Mazur's release on bond after arrest, and until time of trial, Mazur allegedly lived with JW in-laws in Blair, Nebraska -- allegedly a JW Elder and Elderette. This court case was submitted by a tipster who alleges that James Mazur was a JW Elder, who is a member of a large extended, multi-generation family of Jehovah's Witnesses (including family names other than Mazur) who have held prominent Elder positions in congregations and circuits located in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and several other western states. Additional info confirming or refuting such is welcomed.

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KEVIN ROY v. LAKE COUNTY JAIL, ET AL was a 2009-2010 Indiana federal court case. Kevin Roy, approximately age 50, and confined in the Indiana Department of Corrections, filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Lake County Jail officials violated his right to practice his WatchTower religion while he was confined at the jail as a pretrial detainee for nine months in 2007-2008. In 2010, the USDC denied the defendants' motion for summary judgment. Here is a pertinent excerpt:

Roy alleges that the defendants prevented him from practicing his religion while he was at the Lake County Jail. He specifically asserts that he is a Jehovah's Witness, that jail officials would not allow Jehovah's Witnesses to conduct group worship in the jail chapel even though other denominations were allowed to do so, and that jail officials made it difficult for his minister [a local JW named CHASE] to give him spiritual guidance and eventually refused to let him come in the jail. ... "

Googling key terms yields a sex offender website, which lists a Kevin Roy, who then was a 47 year-old African-American male, who had been charged in Lake County, Indiana, under Indiana Criminal Code 35-42-4-3: Child molesting. Googling key terms also yields a Kevin Roy who held a school teacher's certificate (Physical Sciences) in the state of Indiana from 1989 until August 2006, when such expired.

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NORTH CAROLINA v. OSORTO was a 2004-5 North Carolina criminal court decision. Despite being one of the most outrageous cases of its type, this OSORTO case has received only limited coverage. In November 2005, Oscar Omar Osorto Sr., 47, of Liberty, North Carolina, was convicted of using his position as a Jehovah's Witness Elder to repeatedly have sex with two 13-15 year-old sisters -- sometimes inside the Siler City Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Oscar O. Osorto Sr. was sentenced to 25 - 30 years in prison.

The two teenaged girls were the daughters of a single Jehovah's Witness Mother of four, who looked to Oscar Osorto and his position as an Elder as someone who could help her with counseling her teenagers on spiritual matters. Osoto alleged that he uncovered that one or both were having sex with their boyfriends, and that he set up rendevous for them at local motels in exchange for the girls agreeing to also have sex with him only a few times. The girls apparently denied such, and testified that Osorto had started molesting them in 2000, when the oldest reached 12 years of age. The incidents allegedly continued until Osorto was arrested in July 2004. By that time, Osorto had allegedly been pressuring a third younger sister to also have sex with him. Although not charged with offenses relating to the third sister during this trial, she alleged that Osorto had also abused her. At the sentencing hearing, Oscar Osorto Jr., told the judge that his father was a man who gave his strength, love, and compassion "to anyone who needed it", and that his father had always supported his family and others.

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ILLINOIS v. CARNALLA-RUIZ is a 2006-9 Illinois criminal case which has escaped public attention as belonging in the category of Jehovah's Witnesses Molestation cases. The reason for such is that this family ALLEGEDLY were Mexican illegal aliens, who had limited fluency in English. In 2009, Gerson Carnalla-Ruiz, 38, of Des Plaines, Illinois, was convicted of three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child for three separate incidents involving his 10 year-old disabled, wheel-chair bound daughter, in 2005. Ruiz was sentenced to 40 years in prison. There was an alleged fourth sexual assault for which Ruiz was not charged because such occurred out of jurisdiction.The sexual assaults occurred when the Mother, now the remarried Victoria Uribe, went back to Mexico for three months in the summer of 2005 -- leaving Ruiz to care for their son, Hidel Carnalla-Ruiz, and the victim, who required catherization every four hours. The daughter did not tell anyone about the assaults until the summer of 2006, when she finally told her mother, after the mother threatened to again leave her alone with her father. The victim also stated that her disclosure was motivated by her having read in a WatchTower publication that parents should not touch their children's privates.

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PATTERSON v. PATTERSON and OHIO v. JAMIE LEE PATTERSON were related 2004-5 Ohio civil and criminal court cases which involved a Jehovah's Witness Family in Alliance, Ohio. In 2003, Jamie L. Patterson, then age 35, and Regina Patterson, then age 33, had three children -- the oldest being a boy, and the two youngest being girls. Gina Patterson began to observe situations which made her suspect that improper sexual activity was occurring between her husband and their oldest daughter, who was only six years old. After an incident in October 2003, when her daughter had physical signs of molestation, and told her that such were caused by touching by the father, Gina Patterson separated from Jamie Patterson, and filed for divorce in February, 2004. Gina Patterson reported the situation to Department of Family Services, who in turn notified local police. After a thorough investigation, Jamie Lee Patterson was indicted in December 2004 by the Stark County Grand Jury on a charge of Gross Sexual Imposition On a Victim Under Age 13. A jury found Jamie Patterson guilty of one count of Gross Sexual Imposition. The trial court sentenced Patterson to a three year term of imprisonment, and adjudicated him a sexual predator.

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CALIFORNIA v. JOSE LUIS MARTINEZ was a 2006-7 California criminal court case, which involved a 43 year-old Jehovah's Witness, named Jose Luis Martinez, of Fresno, California, who owned and operated Jose's Tires, and worked as a janitor at St. Agnes Hospital. In May 2006, Jose L. Martinez was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting three schoolgirls, ages 6 to 9, walking to and from Greenberg Elementary School, in Fresno, on three separate occasions, in April-May 2006. Police believed that Martinez was responsible for other sexual assaults against children, and eventually charged him with two additional assaults which occurred in 2005; one against a 5 year-old girl. At trial, police testified that Jose Martinez would pull up to the walking children and tell them that he knew their parents, and offer them a ride, and treats. Sometimes he would even buy them fast-food, before taking then them somewhere to "play games".

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NEW JERSEY v. DYKSTRA was a 2001-3 New Jersey murder court case. In August 2003, a 26 year-old Jehovah's Witness, named Cole Dykstra, son of a JW Mother, named Nancy Dykstra, plea bargained "guilty" to reduced charges of "aggravated manslaughter", and was sentenced to 28 years in prison, for the August 2001 murder of 16 year-old Arthur Trussell.

Cole Dykstra allegedly had recently served as a volunteer "Bethelite" at WatchTower Society world headquarters. Dykstra allegedly either had been kicked out of WatchTower HQ, or had suffered other organizational sanctions, due to alleged homosexual tendencies and/or activities. Dykstra reportedly thereafter attempted suicide. Around October/November 2000, a Ringwood, New Jersey Jehovah's Witness couple, named Terrence Trussell and Vicki Sue Trussell, invited Dykstra to live with them and their two teenaged sons, Andrew Trussell and Arthur Trussell, while he sorted through his personal issues.

It is not known whether the Trussells had known Cole Dykstra prior to his having volunteered at WatchTower HQ, or whether all these Jehovah's Witnesses were recent acquaintances at the West Milford Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. In any event, one can't imagine that the Trussells would have invited Dykstra to live with them and their two teenaged sons if they had known the reasons behind his recent failed suicide attempt. And, if they did not know, such raises even more questions as to why they had not been informed about such by their fellow JWs. Over the ten month period that Cole Dykstra, then 24, had lived with the Trussells, Dykstra had fallen in love with 16 year-old Arthur Trussell, and possibly had made such known via homosexual advances. On the evening of August 5, 2001, 16 year-old Arthur Tressell reportedly had gone out on a date with a female. Such apparently upset Dykstra, and Dykstra and Trussell reportedly argued after Trussell had returned home from the date. Later that night, in the AM hours of August 6, 2001, after Trussell had fallen asleep, Dykstra struck Trussell on the head with a beer bottle, and then stabbed the teenager in his stomach with an 8 inch kitchen knife. Terry Trussell and Vicki Trussell reportedly were alerted to trouble in their home when Dykstra stole and left in one of the family's autos.

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A federal jury convicted Brown of kidnapping and aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and the USDC sentenced him to concurrent terms of life in prison. Brown appealed his conviction on several grounds, including his claim that the government had violated his religious freedoms as a Jehovah's Witness when the USDC ordered that Brown submit a blood sample for DNA testing. The USDC had ruled that Brown did not sincerely hold the belief that donating a blood sample for DNA analysis violated the beliefs of the Jehovah's Witness religion. The USCA also ruled against Brown on this issue noting that a JW Elder testified for the prosecution that JWs did not object to giving blood samples or blood testing. Brown submitted WatchTower materials that suggested that some JW might possibly object to giving blood samples, but the court ruled that "Brown failed to show that forbidding blood samples is a 'central tenet' of the Jehovah’s Witness religion."

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CALIFORNIA v. JASON GLENN HALVERSON was a 2002 California appellate court case which affirmed the 2001 conviction of Jason G. Halverson on the charges of "sexual battery" and "assault with the intent to commit rape" for which Halverson was sentenced to two years in prison. This conviction related to 26 year-old Jason Halverson's April 2000 sexual assault on an 18 year-old LOWES co-worker at her apartment during her lunch break. Halverson apparently followed his co-worker home and made up an excuse to enter her apartment. There, Halverson repeatedly fondled her, and forced her to fondle him. The non-JW female reported the sexual assault to LOWES management as soon as she returned to work, and thereafter to local police.

What is more pertinent to this webpage was the trial level testimony of two Jehovah's Witness Females who alleged that Jason Glenn Halverson had sexually assaulted them three times in 1995 and 1996. What is especially INTERESTING is the fact that Jason Halverson was never charged in those incidents in which he allegedly assaulted fellow JWs.

Lindsay H. testified that in 1995-6, when she was 15 years-old, that she had attended a pool-party at the home of a fellow Jehovah's Witness. Jason Glenn Halverson (then approximately 22-23 years old) and his wife also attended. After Halverson's wife left the party, and the other JWs went inside to eat, Halverson got into the jacuzzi with Lindsay H. and proceeded to fondle her. He also forced her to masterbate him. Lindsay H. told her psychologist (why does a fifteen year-old JW need a psychologist?), who encouraged Lindsay H. to report Halverson to the police; which she supposedly did. CURIOUSLY, Jason Halverson was never prosecuted.

Andrea B. testified that in 1995, when she was 14 years-old, that Jason Halverson, who sometimes worked for her Jehovah's Witness Father, came to her house unexpectedly while she was alone, and talked her into going with him back to his house to see his new pet birds. After showing her those birds, Halverson showed her his other "bird", and forced her to perform oral sex on him. Andrea B. claimed that she did not tell anyone about that first incident because she was afraid she would be disfellowshipped, and that it would break up Halverson's marriage. Andrea B. alleged that Halverson continued to come to her home when her parents weren't there, but she would not let him in.

Andrea B. further alleged that, in August 1996, on a day when she was home alone, and while she had been smoking marijuana and drinking wine, that Halverson entered her home through an unlocked door. Somehow, the two JWs ended up performing oral sex on each other. Andrea B. testified that she EVENTUALLY confessed to her Jehovah's Witness Elders, and SOMETIME THEREAFTER reported the incidents to the police. Again, Halverson was never prosecuted. Does anyone else suspect that there is more to these accounts, and that the lack of prosecutions was not the fault of the police or the local Prosecutor's office?  Me suspects that Halverson's fellow JWs did not become anxious to nail Halverson until after Halverson was disfellowshipped after being publicly charged by his non-JW co-worker.

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FLORIDA v. JEWEL BARTHOLEMEW GRIER was a 2001-2011 Florida criminal court case which involved the "molestation" of four Jehovah's Witness teenagers by a then 30 year-old African-American Jehovah's Witness, named Jewel B. Grier. The four Jehovah's Witnesses were members of the Coconut Creek, Florida Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. The sexual encounters occurred over a period of several months in 1999-2000.  The four JW Female Teens (two were 17 years-old , one was 14 years-old, and fourth was ??) kept the sexual encounters quiet until telling their JW Parents in May 2001. Jewel Grier was charged with seventeen counts, including lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious conduct, attempted sexual battery, felony battery, battery, and sexual battery. Although there were four victims, the state only prosecuted Grier for crimes against three of the victims. Curiously, the fourth victim did not even testify in the prosecutions.

Sorting out this ten year old and still ongoing case is somewhat difficult because there were two prosecutions -- one with two victims, and a separate prosecution with a victim named Melissa Reynolds, a/k/a Melissa Holmes -- and multiple appeals in Florida Appellate Court and the Florida Supreme Court. The prosecutions may have been separated after the first conviction, in 2004, which was reversed on appeal, and had to be re-tried. Grier was finally sentenced to 15 years in state prison in 2008. He continues to appeal. Interesting excerpt:

The trial court severed the three counts involving one victim, M.R., and stayed the remaining counts involving the other victims. Prior to trial, the State made an ore tenus motion to present testimony from Grier's other alleged victims, L.R., L.H., and P.H., ... . The trial judge ruled that there were an "overwhelming number of points of similarity" between the testimony of the victim and the proffered ... witnesses. Specifically, the trial court noted the following similarities: all four met Grier through their association with the Jehovah's Witnesses; each girl started her "intimacy" with the defendant between the ages of fourteen and seventeen; Grier made comments on each girl's body; Grier was a family friend of each girl (except L.H.); each girl worked with Grier in some capacity; each girl testified that Grier touched her throughout her body; and the alleged molestations happened at both Grier's house and the girls' houses. ... ...

M.R. testified that Grier would kiss and fondle L.H. in her presence, and she related stories that Grier told her regarding L.H.  Grier told M.R. that he rubbed his p___ on L.H.'s body and e_______ on her neck.  M.R. also explained that Grier kept records where he would "rate" girls based on their looks, character, personality, and spirituality. One of Grier's records stated that M.R. was the "hottest thing on the planet" and asked rhetorically if he would "let things go with just a scratch or a sniff," i.e., whether he would pursue a more intimate sexual relationship with M.R.

Following M.R.'s testimony, the State presented the testimony of the two ... witnesses, L.R. and L.H.  L.R. testified that she met Grier at the age of ten when Grier started working with her mother. L.R. explained that she looked up to and trusted Grier as a devout member of her faith. ...

That last statement possibly indicates that Grier had a position and title in the Coconut Creek Florida Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

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FLORIDA v. HAUCH and FLORIDA v. HAUCH were two 2007 Florida criminal court cases. In June 2006, a 14 year-old Jehovah's Witness female told family members that a Jehovah's Witness ELDER at the Titusville Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, named Henry William Hauch, age 41, of Mims, Florida, had had sex with her in 1999, when she was only 8 years old. She alleged that the assault had occurred when she had stayed the night with, and slept with, Henry W. Hauch and his wife, Aurora Hauch. Police were initially unable to obtain an arrest warrant based on the testimony of the 14 year-old Jehovah's Witness female, but in January 2007, a second female came forward and alleged that Henry Hauch also had sexually molested her. Outcome of both cases unknown.

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FLORIDA v. ALTON MCJUNKIN was a 1993-4 Florida criminal court case. In October 1993, Alton Gene McJunkin, age 47, the PRESIDING OVERSEER of the DeBary Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses was accused by an 18 year-old female of sexually assaulting her multiple times between 1986 and 1992. Outcome unknown. Alton McJunkin was a lifelong JW who had been prosecuted during the Vietnam War for refusing to be drafted into the military.

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FLORIDA v. ROTELLA was a 2006 Florida criminal court decision. In October 2006, Anthony Wayne Rotella, of Jensen Beach, Florida, pled "guilty" to one count of solicitation to tampering with evidence, and received a 5 year prison sentence. Although the details are unclear, in December 2006, Anthony W. Rotella either again pled guilty, or was convicted, of lewd or lacivious conduct with a minor, which was the original charge for which Tony Rotella was arrested. The additional sentence is not known.

In April 2005, Anthony Rotella, 42, was arrested for offering $20.00 to a 10 year-old boy to have sex with him in the restroom of a Port St. Lucie Super Wal-Mart. During the subsequent investigation, Rotella's computer was seized and found to contain child pornography. During the subsequent months sitting in the Martin County Jail awaiting various hearings, Rotella began to solicit the theft and destruction of his computer hard-drive from the property-evidence room. Rotella also discussed the possible solicitation of the murders of the 10 year-old boy and a former attorney whom Rotella had fired (for which prosecutors considered filing charges, but eventually did not do so due to having been unable to collect sufficient evidence -- see below). Rotella's solicitations came to the attention of the Sheriff in October 2005, and Rotella's visitation sessions and telephone calls were monitored and recorded.

In February 2006, during a series of telephone calls to his sister, Janet, Rotella attempted to use a cryptic "numbers-equal-letters" code, based on the text on page 3 of the January 15, 2006, issue of the WATCHTOWER magazine, to relay a message to his brother, John Rotella, to give a $300.00 money order to the supposed "crooked" Deputy, who Rotella had been led to believe would arrange to steal Rotella's hard-drive from the property-evidence room, and then destroy such.

Although Rotella's mother reportedly nixed the scheme, at least one local media source quoted a local law enforcement official as claiming that Rotellas's siblings wanted to follow through with it, but none of Rotella's family were ever charged. (The "Rotella family" were described as "Jehovah's Witnesses", but the membership status of the aforementioned individual Rotella family members is not known. Notably, Tony Rotella's coded message to his sister required that both he and his outside family members have possession of the exact same back-issue of the WATCHTOWER magazine.) It was the nixing of the scheme to have Rotella's hard-drive stolen and destroyed that prevented the Sheriff's "sting" to continue to its next stage -- the purported murder solicitations -- during which it might have been possible to collect sufficient evidence to charge Rotella with soliciting two murders.

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STATE v. RAYMOND BAGLEY was a 2007 Connecticut appellate court decision. Around 2004/5, in a jury trial, a Connecticut Jehovah's Witness, named Raymond Bagley, was convicted of sexual assault in the fourth degree and risk of injury to a child. In July 2001, an unidentified female minor, who was visiting a male minor at Bagley's apartment, fell asleep on Bagley's bed. She awoke to find Bagley sexually molesting her. On appeal, Raymond Bagley did not dispute his guilt, but rather disputed whether he was legally competent to stand trial. Both prior to, and during his trial, Bagley had refused to discuss his case with medical staff or his attorneys. Bagley claimed that his Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs prevented him from participating in his own defense. When questioned, Bagley generally remained silent. When he did answer, he would cite Bible passages which supposedly supported his decision not to assist his defense.

In April 2002, Bagley was initially found incompetent to stand trial, and he was committed to Connecticut Valley Hospital for 50 days. At the end of the initial period, the staff reported that he had been uncooperative with their attempts to evaluate his competency, and suggested that he remain for another 60 days. At the end of that second period, he was deemed "competent", and released from the hospital. In December 2003, Bagley was again found "incompetent" to stand trial, because he refused to discuss his case, or assist his attorneys in preparing his defense. In January 2004, Bagley was again found "competent", because his refusal to communicate with his attorneys was deemed to be a "deliberate choice", rather than a "function of any psychiatric impairment". Bagley would cooperate and openly talk with everyone, so long as the topic was not his defense. Thus, his refusal to participate in his defense was judged to be his choice, and that he fully understood the situation. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision to find Bagley legally competent to stand trial. Sentence unknown.

"Kimberly Jones-O'Brien, a police officer at G.S.'s school, testified that G.S. told her that (1) Smith began sexually abusing G.S. when G.S. was five years old, (2) Smith would enter G.S.'s bedroom in the middle of the night and fondle ... , (3) the abuse stopped when G.S. was about 14 years old, and (4) Smith physically abused G.S. throughout her childhood. Jones-O'Brien also testified that G.S. appeared afraid because Smith 'was still showing up at Kingdom Hall' and that G.S. felt that she had been stalked by Smith.

 

"G.S.'s two siblings testified that they never witnessed any physical abuse of G.S. and that G.S. never told them about the abuse. Further, Sallie Sonntag, a close friend of the family, testified that she had personally been abused as a child and that G.S. never reported any abuse to her and she saw no signs that G.S. had been abused.

... ... ... ....

 

"... G.S.'s siblings and Sallie Sonntag, who testified for the defense. G.S.'s siblings testified that they never witnessed any physical abuse of G.S. and that G.S. never told them about the abuse. Sonntag testified that she had been sexually abused by a neighbor when she was a child and that she was 'very conscious of the character that strangers, or even familiar people may show ... especially toward young girls.' She stated that she 'did not see at any time [G.S.] showing any signs of that.'   ... ... ...

 

"Third, Smith claims that defense counsel should have objected to testimony that Smith violated a restraining order at the Kingdom Hall. But on redirect examination of Smith, after the prosecutor had asked about the restraining order, defense counsel asked whether any referee found that Smith violated the order. Smith replied, 'None whatsoever.' Defense counsel also asked whether Smith obeyed the order even though he did not agree with it. Smith replied that he did. ... ... "

''Some he would fondle,'' said officer Warren Hardison, spokesman for North Miami Beach Police. ''I think with some of the victims there was penetration.''

Bus driver Cesar Gonzalez-Rubio of North Miami Beach was denied bond Friday on charges he sexually abused four of his young passengers. Police later announced they would charge him with additional counts of child abuse after interviewing more children.

''One child gives us names of other kids. This just keeps mushrooming,'' said Hardison. ''Picture an organizational chart. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger.''

The FBI has joined the investigation into Gonzalez-Rubio, who was arrested Wednesday for sexually abusing four girls on his bus route. He is scheduled to be arraigned April 7 on charges of sexual battery, lewd and lascivious behavior, and threatening a witness.

Gonzalez-Rubio was arrested Wednesday for molesting the girls he would shuttle around in a large yellow bus to and from public schools in North Miami Beach.

Police interviewed at least 13 students after parents contacted police fearing their children were abused at the hands of Gonzalez-Rubio, who owned and operated Ceasar's Bus Service.

''It's possible it could be a large scale investigation,'' Hardison said. ''We have to check the 13 thoroughly. We've got to make sure definitely that these victims are victims.''

These aren't the first such charges against him. In June, Miami-Dade Police charged Gonzalez-Rubio with lewd and lascivious acts on an 11-year-old, but he accepted a plea bargain to a reduced charge for his prior offense.

The 11-year-old girl in the June case initially claimed that the bus driver had inserted his hand into the waistband of her uniform skirt and fondled her. She later changed her story, and that affected how the system treated Gonzalez-Rubio.

''We probably wouldn't have let him drive a school bus'' had he been a convicted sex offender, said John Edwards, circuit administrator for the state probation and parole office. ''He would have been under a much more stringent set of rules.''

The deal meant Gonzalez-Rubio was allowed to go back to driving the bus. The father of two alleged victims is surprised the bus driver could continue working.

''I can't believe he still had a license,'' the father said in Friday's editions of The Miami Herald.

Although the father talked to his 7- and 11-year-old girls about telling a trusted adult about improper touching by strangers, the girls promised their alleged molester that they would not tell.

Both girls struggled with breaking the pledge and stopping the abuse that had gone on for more than a year until the younger girl let a recent incident slip.

Their father's call to authorities led police to set up surveillance that caught Gonzalez-Rubio Wednesday as he coaxed a little boy with candy into performing sexual favors for him.

Once news of Gonzalez-Rubio's arrest became public, parents began calling police.

''With the guy going on the news, people started saying 'I think my child may be a victim,''' Hardison said.

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FLORIDA v. MARTIN and FLORIDA v. MARTIN were related 1994 Florida criminal court decisions. In February 1995, a Jehovah's Witness Elder, named Hugh Benjamin Martin, then age 61, pleaded "guilty" to the charge of lewd and lascivious behavior with a child under the age of 12, and was sentenced to a mere two years of house arrest, followed by 13 years' probation. Hugh Benjamin Martin was an Elder at one of the Clearwater Florida Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. On June 24, 1993, during the 1993 summer WatchTower Convention, held in St. Petersburg, a fellow Jehovah's Witness GrandMother, who had known Hugh Martin for over 30 years, allowed Martin to take her fidgety 9 year-old grand-daughter for a stroll around the ThunderDome. Martin allegedly fondled and twice digitally penetrated the child while she was in his care at the stadium. Hugh Benjamin Martin was separately charged for the same offense, later that same day, at his home in Clearwater. Outcome unknown. Apparently, the JW GrandMother allowed Martin to take the girl home with him?

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ILLINOIS v. ROLOFSON was a 1995 Illinois criminal court decision. In December 1995, a Jehovah's Witness, named Louis Paul Rolofson, Jr., 51, of Dewitt, Illinois, was convicted on aggravated criminal sexual assault charges, and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Louis P. Rolofson was among several JW adults who took a group of youngsters from the Clinton, Illinois Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses on a congregation field trip to Grant's Farm and Six Flags near St. Louis, Missouri. Apparently, Rolofson was rooming with the two sons of a divorced JW Mother, named Barbara Harris, when he sexually assaulted the younger ten-year-old. The ten-year-old testified that the assault occurred at the Collinsville, Illinois Holiday Inn, in August 1994. Typically, the ten-year-old was forced to give "unshakable testimony" at the trial, because numerous Jehovah's Witnesses from Louis Rolofson's congregation lined up to testify in his behalf. 

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ILLINOIS v. JENKINS was a 1995 Illinois criminal court case. Incomplete details. In January 1995, a 28 year-old Jehovah's Witness, named Derrick A. Jenkins, was charged with molesting a 12 year-old boy in the boy's apartment. Allegedly, Derrick Jenkins had first made the acquaintance of the 12 year-old boy while Jenkins was selling WATCHTOWERs door-to-door in the boy's Chicago area apartment building. The alleged molestation supposedly occurred a couple days later when Jenkins performed what JWs refer to as a "return visit". Outcome of prosecution unknown.

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NEW JERSEY v. MADRID was a 1995 New Jersey court case. Incomplete details. In 1995, 36 year-old Edgardo Heriberto Madrid, a/k/a Eddie Madrid, of Prospect Park, New Jersey (originally from Honduras), pleaded guilty to charges that he had sexually exploited, molested, assaulted, and/or raped 19 minors, ages 9 to 14, including only two females, whom he purposefully befriended at a abandoned quarry swimming hole, from 1989 through 1991. Madrid Police first charged Madrid in 1991, and he apparently was even released on bail, but the more that police investigated, the more victims who turned up. Interestingly, Madrid decided to plead guilty during the middle of his then ongoing criminal trial. Madrid declared that he had had an epiphany, and had become a Jehovah's Witness, stating: "I can prove I changed my life around and I'm different now." Although unclear, there are "hints" that Madrid was being influenced by one or more family members, who may have been JWs, which has the "smell" of Edgardo Madrid possibly having had previous JW association.

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CALIFORNIA v. BURNS was a 1992 California juvenile court decision. In February 1992, an 86 year-old Jehovah's Witness Male, named Luther Louis Armstrong, Sr., was found stabbed to death in his Modesto area home. Armstrong's neighbors and fellow JWs decried the murder of this elderly man, whom they described as "gentle", "easy-going", "religious", and "thoroughly devoted to the Jehovah's Witnesses". Within a few days, a 14 year-old girl from Los Banos, California, named Virginia Burns, was arrested and eventually convicted of Armstrong's murder. Given the nature of this case, few details are available. However, it was disclosed that "Ginny" had once lived in Armstrong's neighborhood when she was younger. In fact, in 1988, Ginny had reported to Modesto authorities that she had been sexually molested by Armstrong. Although a warrant had been issued for Armstrong's arrest, that warrant had never been served. The family's move from the neighborhood possibly influenced such???  Burns was sentenced to to the California Youth Authority presumably until she reached majority.

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NEBRASKA v. HALCOMB was a 1990-3 Nebraska criminal court case. In 1991, a 28 year-old African-American male, named Anthony L. Halcomb, of Omaha, Nebraska, was convicted of  first degree sexual assault upon two different 5 year-old girls whom he had babysitted in the summer of 1990. Anthony Halcomb was found to be a mentally disordered sex offender, and was sentenced to 10-20 years. Halcomb was released in September 2000. At trial, a psychiatrist testified for the defense that Tony Halcomb suffered from multiple personality disorder, and that it was the demon persona that had committed the assaults and later confessed to all who inquired about such. The psychiatrist stated that this demon persona had emerged when Halcomb was seven years old, and that this personality most likely emerged in opposition to the strict Jehovah's Witness upbringing Halcomb had as a child.

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ILLINOIS v. CARLSON was a 1990 Illinois murder court case. In October 1992, an 18 year-old Jehovah's Witness, named William Carlson, pleaded "guilty but mentally ill" to charges that he had murdered his parents, and was sentenced to 90 years in prison. In October 1990, then 16 year-old Willie Carlson murdered both of his Jehovah's Witness Parents, Paul Carlson, 35, and Sandra Carlson, 41, at their home in Wildwood, Illinois. Carlson "rented" a .357 handgun from one of his fellow high school students, and then went home and waited for his parents to arrive.  Willie's father was the first to arrive home. Willie shot him in the back of his head shortly after he entered the dining room. Willie then fired a second shot into the forehead of his fallen father. Sandra Carlson arrived home about an hour later, and Willie shot her in the face. Willie Carlson then sexually assaulted his JW Mother's corpse. After thoughtfully returning the "rented" murder weapon, Willie fled to Canada in the family car. He surrendered to police a week later. William Carlson was described by teachers and fellow students as "very studious", "very nice", and "very clean-cut". However, Carlson was also described as being fearful, shy, and timid. Some of Willie's classmates told reporters that Willie had complained about all the WatchTower prohibitions that totally governed every facet of his life. Willie's "Elder" and "Elderette" parents reportedly were known to be even more strict than the average Jehovah's Witness Parent, and allegedly punished William Carlson for mere "pittances".

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CALIFORNIA v. VERSE (1988), CALIFORNIA v. VERSE (1989), CALIFORNIA v. VERSE (1990), and CALIFORNIA v. VERSE (1992) were California criminal court decisions which involved an African-American Jehovah's Witness homosexual named Cary Verse. Although older criminal convictions, Cary Verse received an avalanche of media coverage from 2003 until 2007 due to his extremely controversial "supervised conditional release" in 2004. Many such media reports insinuated or even outright stated that Cary Verse was an adult "convert" to the Jehovah's Witnesses during his supposed rehabilitation, with much adoo made of Verse's baptism in 2003.

However, Cary Verse had been reared as a Jehovah's Witness by a strict Jehovah's Witness mother, named Tonnie Verse, of Oakland, California, who had married a career military husband after she was divorced from Verse's father. Verse wrote in 2004 that he first realized that he was a homosexual one day when he was 8 or 9, while looking at other boys while at a swimming pool. Verse wrote that later that same day:

"I continually asked Jehovah for forgiveness as I took that long walk home. I knew that he was glaring his powerful eyes down upon me. I knew from my [Jehovah's Witness] upbringing that gay people were wicked and doomed to fiery destruction. I didn't want to die like that. What was I going to do? I couldn't possibly be gay! I kept this experience to myself."

Reportedly, 11 year-old Cary Verse "bribed" a 6 year-old boy to fondle him. The victim reported the incident, but the boy's military parents would not press charges. When he was 12 years-old, Cary Verse forced himself sexually on another boy, but was caught. The DA's office offered Verse counseling rather than prosecuting him.When Cary Verse was a 17 year-old high school student, he "fell in love" with a 14 year-old male teammate on his high school track team. Verse invited the teammate to spend the night. While "wrestling", Verse pulled a knife and forced the teammate to allow Verse to kiss and fondle him. The teammate reported the assault, and Verse was finally prosecuted. Verse was confined to a juvenile detention camp for that 1988 conviction. Cary Verse befriended a 17 year-old inmate, who Verse convinced to escape.  However, once the pair had escaped, Verse then sexually assaulted the 17 year-old inmate. Verse, who was 18 years-old by then, was sent to county jail, where he tried to sexually assault a cellmate. For that assault, Verse was sentenced to a 44 month prison term, in 1990, but Verse was paroled in February 1992.  In March 1992, Verse, 21, beat up, tied up, and attempted to sexually assaulted a 22 year-old homeless man, while they both were in a Richmond, California homeless shelter. Verse was sentenced to 12 years in prison for that 1992 conviction.

Verse spent six years in prison before being sent to Atascadero State Hospital to join the Sexual Offender Commitment Program. There, Cary Verse made friends with another Jehovah's Witness inmate, and the pair apparently "spiritually-upbuilt" each other. After Verse's release in 2004, controversy followed Verse everywhere he tried to live. No one wanted Verse living in their neighborhood -- that is, except for Verse's fellow Jehovah's Witnesses. To make a point, one or more of Verse's fellow JWs even allowed Verse to be alone with their teenaged son -- something that violated the terms of his release, and eventually got his release revoked. At one 2004 hearing, one Jehovah's Witness, named Birgitta Ericsson, testified on Verse's behalf, stating in part:

"There is a danger in knowing Cary Verse. The danger is that you will need to come to know yourself. You will need to come face to face with your own sins. ... I have known Cary for some time. I respect him, and the way he carries himself through these trials. ... I have never met a man who has come so close to walking as Jesus did."

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COMMONWEALTH vs. JOHN DOE was a 1979 Massachusetts appellate criminal court decision. Sketchy details. "John Doe" was an adult male member of the Hampden, Massachusetts Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Doe was convicted on charges of rape and abuse of a child under sixteen years of age, incest, indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen years of age, and being a lewd, wanton, and lascivious person in speech or behavior. Specifically, John Doe was convicted of engaging in (possibly four) acts of intercourse with his then eleven year old adopted daughter, and in sexual activity falling short of intercourse with his then eight year old natural daughter. The criminal prosecution was for acts which were alleged to have occurred in 1976. John Doe's wife, the children's mother, was killed in an automobile accident in latter 1976. John Doe even attempted to commit suicide when he was indicted in April 1977. Apparently, Doe was convicted primarily due to the testimony of his by-then twelve year old adopted daughter. On appeal, Doe unsuccessfully contested the exclusion of testimony at his trial, by a by-then 17 year old JW male, who supposedly would testify that Doe's two young daughters had supposedly falsely accused to the deceased mother that the then 15 year old male JW teenager had raped the then ten year old daughter, when he had babysat for the pair and two other JW children, in 1975. I certainly would like to know more of the trial details which led the jury/judge to convict, because the sketchy details in the appellate opinion certainly raise more questions than they answer.

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NEELY v. DIRECTOR was a 2003-11 California criminal court case in which William Stewart Neely was convicted and imprisoned for sexually assaulting over a period of years his three step-daughters, whom were being reared as Jehovah's Witnesses by their JW Mother, Kumcha Neely. Although this legal opinion does not indicate that William Neely was a JW, it does indicate that he initially was a very strict parent to these step-daughters after marrying their mother. It is also a fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are highly discouraged from marrying non-JWs, although it is not known whether the Mother was a JW at the time of marriage. Does anyone know whether William S. Nelly was ever associated with the Wilton, California Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses?

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