Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Haven Sued over Alleged Sexual Abuse

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
New Haven Register
October 1, 2014

http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20141001/jehovahs-witnesses-in-new-haven-sued-over-alleged-sexual-abuse

Three women and one man are suing the New Haven East Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, claiming they were sexually abused by a church leader as children.

At a press conference Wednesday, attorneys Thomas McNamara of New Haven and Irwin Zalkin of San Diego announced plans to file four lawsuits in Superior Court in New Haven on behalf of their clients.

The four plaintiffs claim they were sexually abused by Orlando Afanador, 50, of New Haven, who is on the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection’s sex offender registry for an unrelated 2010 conviction for sexual assault of a child in Nebraska.

In addition to the local congregation, the lawsuits also name the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc. as a defendant.

“These four individuals have been through a lot of struggle in their lives, but they have recently decided they need to come forward,” Zalkin said.

Two of the four plaintiffs, both female, attended the press conference in New Haven. While the plaintiffs are named in court documents, the New Haven Register is not publicizing their names. All are now in their 30s.

The women indicated they eventually reported the abuse to congregation leadership, but were discouraged from going to authorities.

“They did nothing to protect us, and they allowed a known perpetrator to interact with children,” one of the plaintiffs said Wednesday. “We would like other victims to know they are not alone. We can prevent another child from having to live with the consequences of such trauma.”

The Office of Public Information with the Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York did not respond to a request for a comment Wednesday.

Afanador, who could not be reached for comment, is described in court documents as having been an ordained minister within the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization at the time of the alleged abuse.

According to the lawsuits, Afanador on at least three occasions offered to babysit the male plaintiff at Afanador’s home. It alleges Afanador instructed the male, then a minor, to take off his clothes and then sexually molested him.

The male plaintiff and two of the females are siblings. According to the litigation, Afanador moved into their home after their parents’ divorce to help babysit them, and sexually abused the male plaintiff on a weekly basis. It further claims Afanador sexually abused the male plaintiff at Afanador’s apartment on about 25 occasions, showed the youth pornographic material, and took pictures during the abuse.

One of the female plaintiffs, the male plaintiff’s sister, claims Afanador babysat her when she was about eight years old, and she claims he would enter her room and sexually molest her on an almost nightly basis for about a year.

A third sibling, a female, claims in her lawsuit that she was under the age of six, shared a room with her sister, and was “forced to hear her older sister sexually abused repeatedly.” This plaintiff also claims Afanador touched her inappropriately.

A fourth female plaintiff, who is not related to the other three plaintiffs but was a member of the same congregation, claims in her lawsuit that when she was between the ages of nine and 11, Afanador sexually abused her on about a weekly basis.

“A place of religion should be a place of complete safety for children,” Zalkin said. “In this case, innocent children had their lives ruined by a trusted congregational leader and by a religious organization that blatantly ignores abuse of children under its care.”

The lawsuits claim the defendants were negligent, and failed to adequately supervise Afanador and his conduct toward minors. It also alleges they failed to immediately remove him from any position within the congregation when they knew, or had reason to know, he was a danger to minors. It claims they failed to properly investigate claims of sexual misconduct.

The plaintiffs continue to suffer emotional injuries and need psychological counseling, according to the lawsuits, which seek monetary and punitive damages.