Abuse Suits Accuse Jehovah’s Witnesses
By Neal P. Goswami
Two sisters are suing a Vermont congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, its parent organization and a congregation official, alleging sexual abuse about 20 years ago. Annessa Lewis, 27, and Miranda Lewis, 23, say they were abused as children by Norton True, who was serving as a “ministerial servant” for the Bellows Falls Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The suit also names as a defendant the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the governing body of the congregation. Miranda Lewis and her mother, Marina Mauvoleon-Folsom, attended a Burlington news conference Tuesday with two attorneys to announce the lawsuits. The sisters are represented by Irwin Zalkin of The Zalkin Law Firm in San Diego and New York City, and Jerome O’Neill of Gravel & Shea PC in Burlington. O’Neill is known for winning millions in sexual abuse judgments against Vermont’s Roman Catholic diocese. Miranda Lewis, speaking at the news conference, said True first abused her at her former congregation’s meeting place in Bellows Falls. She said True took her hand and held her back after a meeting had ended and congregants were departing. The incident occurred between 1995 and 1996, she said. “He waited for the room to clear out, and that’s when the abuse started,” she said. “It’s difficult to put to words the effects sexual abuse has had on me. Throughout my life I have struggled with depression, anxiety, self-identity and countless other issues I now realize stem from my sexual abuse.” She said she is coming forward now because “confronting these people is an essential part of my healing process that I hope will prevent future abuse to other children.” Annessa Lewis’ suit alleges she was abused earlier, while True was baby-sitting her on his property; it wasn’t clear Tuesday how old she would have been then. The suit alleges he touched her while they were in his barn. Both lawsuits allege that True sexually abused the sisters on “multiple occasions.” Phone numbers for both Norton True and the Bellows Falls congregation were not in service Tuesday. A message left with the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York’s media department was not returned Tuesday. Zalkin said his firm has filed more than 20 similar cases against the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization. Six of the cases involved a single alleged abuser in California and were settled. “Six of the cases they settled about a week before trial,” he said. “The amounts are confidential, but pretty substantial.” A California case, the only one against the church that has gone to trial, ended with a $28 million verdict. Zalkin praised the sisters Tuesday for going public. “These young women, these very courageous and brave young women, have decided that they need to do something about what happened to them as children that has been kept silent by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, as they always do when it comes to what is an insidious and epidemic problem within the Jehovah’s Witness organization throughout this country — indeed, throughout this world,” Zalkin said. He said the cases have shown that the religious organization has “a policy that is grounded in a code of silence when it comes to the protection of children.” Zalkin said, “They are more concerned about scandal and the avoidance of scandal than they are of protection of children that are entrusted to their care.” The sisters’ mother said she reported the abuse to the congregation’s elders, but they took no action and did nothing to warn other congregants of what had occurred. “They wanted me to be quiet about what had happened,” Mauvoleon-Folsom said. “Because they were not willing to do anything within the congregation, they allowed us to move to another congregation.” She said the family left the Bellows Falls congregation immediately and joined one about 30 minutes away. They remained with that congregation for several years before leaving the religion altogether. “The religion is your whole life, and it takes quite awhile to sort everything out, and I think that’s why it took us — took me as a parent — so much time to eventually leave,” Mauvoleon-Folsom said. “I feel wonderful not being a Jehovah’s Witness any more,” she said. “I feel the world has more compassion and higher standards and loves children more than the Jehovah’s Witnesses did mine.” Zalkin said the Jehovah’s Witnesses employ a policy known as the biblical two-witness rule. It requires any report of abuse or wrongdoing to an elder to be validated by either a confession by the abuser or two eyewitnesses of the event. No action is taken if that standard is not met, he said. “When and how often do we believe that a sexual pervert is going to admit what they’ve done, and how often are there eyewitnesses to that sexual abuse?” he said. “Virtually never. So, by their own policy they can rarely or ever take action.” Congregations are run by a body of elders. A ministerial servant, which True was at the time of the alleged abuse, is someone who has been identified as a future elder, he said. It is unclear if True is still associated with the congregation or religion. Much like the sexual abuse cases against the Catholic Church, the Lewises’ cases could hinge on what records, if any, were kept by the church. Zalkin said he believes there are documents that will prove the church was aware of the alleged abuse. He said Watchtower issued a “body of elders letter” in 1997 to all congregations in the United States “telling them they are to provide to the Watchtower all of the information that they have in their confidential files of anyone who has ever been accused of child molestation.” Zalkin said, “There’s documentation. I guarantee you there’s documentation.” However, Watchtower has yet to provide such information in all the previous lawsuits against it. “We have made a document production request for those records in every case that we have with the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Zalkin said. “They refuse to produce that documentation.” In one case in California the trial court dismissed the group’s defense and entered a default judgment against it for refusing to abide by the court’s order to produce the information, according to Zalkin. That ruling was contested before the California Supreme Court and upheld, he said. In cases that were already filed, the church has indicated it will not produce any documents, he said. “They have issued a writing to our law firm saying, ‘Under no circumstances will we ever produce these records,’” Zalkin said. “So, we’re going to see what that’s going to mean for them in these lawsuits, because I don’t think courts are going to let them get away with that.” O’Neill said that based on his experience, he believes Vermont courts will also compel Watchtower to turn over records. The suit involving Annessa Lewis is being filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington because she lives in Texas, according to O’Neill. The case involving Miranda Lewis will be filed in Woodstock civil court because she lives in Chester. Both sisters are seeking unspecified damages and a trial by jury. Mauvoleon-Folsom said the alleged sexual abuse was reported by a therapist to the state in September 1996. The girls were interviewed, she said, and the case involved what is now the Department for Children and Families and investigators from the Vermont State Police in Rockingham. The allegations were substantiated by the state at one time, but the decision was reversed shortly after, according to Mauvoleon-Folsom. Zalkin said such cases often do not end up involving criminal charges. “These cases are very difficult with young children, when young children are making the allegations,” he said. “Corroboration is always the challenge. It’s not uncommon for law enforcement to not pursue these cases vigorously. They’re just tough cases for them. They have a high standard, a high burden of proof. It’s very different than the civil cases.” Child victims can bring an action until the age of 18 plus the length of the statute of limitations, which in these cases is six years, O’Neill said. Victims can also sue within six years of when they discover they have difficulties arising from the abuse, he said. In Annessa Lewis’ case, which is beyond the statute of limitations, if based on when the alleged abuse occurred, the question of whether she can still sue based on her awareness of harm will be settled in court, O’Neill said. “We feel confident we will not have any difficulty overcoming that issue, but it will be an issue,” he said.
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