Termed a “pedophile paradise,” in a recent New York Times article, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been rocked by accusations of sexual abuse that have been ignored or even punished by church Elders...

For those conservatively dressed men and women ringing doorbells in neighborhoods nationwide, this news is not good: 

“The Watchtower Society is a cult,” says Dan Clark, author of the unsettling new book The Jehovah Witnesses--An Insider's Story.  “And victims of sexual abuse don’t want to speak up for fear of being shunned by the community.”

“When I was ten my mother was committed to a mental institution for the first time,” explains Clark, now considered dead by his family for leaving the faith. “She had been sexually abused by her father and suffered all her life from the torment the memories brought her.” 

The victims, primarily women and girls, who step forward risk disfellowshipping (shunning) as they go public with harrowing tales of molestation and rape by family members, according to reports by The New York Times and Dateline NBC. 

“Few victims speak up,” says Clark, “because going public would mean going against our church and community, which is something that we are taught must never, ever happen.”  

The New York Times article points out that:

• The Jehovah's Witnesses are a denomination of over one million members in the U.S. and six million worldwide
• The Church keeps a database of more than 23,000 members and associates who have been accused or found guilty of child abuse in the United States, Canada and Europe.
• Religious Studies experts say that groups that are tight-knit and in-grown historically have a higher incidence of sexual abuse and incest
• Ex-Witnesses say the church's own policy of requiring three witnesses to the abuse conspires to protect the abusers