In a ground-breaking case, the governing body of the Jehovah's Witnesses has been ordered to pay £275,000 in damages to a child sex abuse victim. The young woman was between the ages of four and nine when she was molested by a ‘ministerial servant’ who took advantage of his position.
The woman, aged in her late 20s, had been abused on a weekly basis over a five-year period and had endured grave psychiatric consequences since. Her abuser had subsequently been jailed for sex offences against two other children. The woman had complained to the police the year after his release but he died before a criminal investigation could get underway.
In upholding the woman’s claim against the Trustees of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the High Court found that it was 'fair, just and reasonable' that they should bear legal responsibility for the man’s wrongdoing. Local elders were aware that he had previously sexually assaulted another child and had failed in their duty to warn the congregation, particularly parents, about him.
The abuse he perpetrated was only possible because he had the actual or ostensible status of a ministerial servant and that meant no one who saw him questioned his being alone with the girl. As well as the damages, which were agreed in the light of the Court’s decision, the Trustees were ordered to pay the legal costs of the case, which were likely to exceed £1 million.