UNITED KINGDOM
Gazette Live
A Jehovah’s Witness accused of sexually abusing three young girls told a court he had been ostracised by the church ever since the allegations arose.
Paul Shields, 57, who was living in Guisborough at the time of the alleged abuse, said that no-one within the organisation would talk to him because of the accusations which he insists were untrue.
York Crown Court heard that it was Jehovah’s Witness policy for church members to shun those who have wronged in such a way.
Even family members who are Jehovah’s Witnesses are told not to speak to the wrong-doer.
Shields, who vehemently denies any abuse took place during the 1990s, said even his mother, who is a Jehovah’s Witness, had not spoken to him since the allegations were made in 2014.
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