WGAL News 8 - child sex abuse claims at the Jehovah's Witness Yorkana Congregation, Pennsylvania, US

[Jack Ryan]

TV NEWS REPORT - WGAL News 8 - child sex abuse claims at the.mp4

 

For context, this congregation is one over from the Red Lion Congregation. Both Congregations were mentioned in the Philadelphia Inquirer article. People go back and forth between the two like the wind. It's absurd that police weren't called on these levels of abuse going on. And that's just (2) incidents that are being covered in the local news.

[Jack Ryan]

Video Transcript

Ron: New tonight, a WGAL News 8 exclusive. A York County man has turned himself in for charges related to sexual assault of a 4-year-old, dating back 13 years.

Janelle: And there are questions tonight about whether clergy at the Jehovah’s Witness church in Red Lion knew about the abuse, and failed to report it. WGAL News 8's Beccah Hendrickson has been investigating this story for weeks.

Beccah: Abby Haugh’s mom and dad tell me they wish they’d gone to police when they learned their daughter was sexually assaulted in church, but instead, they say they went to the people they trusted most, the clergy of their Jehovah’s Witness congregation. I have to warn you, the story you’re about to hear is disturbing.

>> "So I followed him into the back and he sat on the chair and pulled me onto his lap and he touched me in places that were inappropriate."

Beccah: This was 2005. Abby was just 4-years-old. Her father says he walked in on his nephew molesting Abby in their Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in Red Lion. Police arrested John Logan Haugh Wednesday in connection with that alleged assault, 13 years after Abby’s parents claim they told the spiritual leaders of the church, known as elders. Pennsylvania law requires clergy to report suspected child abuse to police. The elders, the Haugh's say knew of the abuse, are listed on the affidavit that led to Haugh’s arrest. After weeks of me trying to contact them both visiting the Red Lion Kingdom Hall and calling them I finally got a response just hours after John Logan Haugh turned himself in to police. They refused an on camera interview instead sending me this letter which was posted on the International Jehovah’s Witness website 3 weeks ago. It says in part they abhor child abuses and view it as a crime, and the elders do not shield any perpetrator of child abuse from the authorities. The Haugh’s say they believed at the time telling secular authorities was going against their church.

>> "We still believed Armageddon was right around the corner, that all 7 billion people would be killed, only the 8 million Jehovah’s Witnesses would live on the earth. So, if we left the organization, we would die in Armageddon. So we were scared. I was scared to go against the organization."

Beccah: The Jehovah’s Witness letter goes on to say, victims and their parents have the right to report an accusation of child abuse to the authorities and elders do not criticize anyone who chooses to make such a report. The Haughs say they broke with their congregation and went to police in 2017.

>> "I wrote a letter to everybody saying why I was leaving, why I was done, and I emailed it to everyone. So of course, nobody contacted me. My dad has been an elder for decades."

Beccah: The Haugh’s say since they’ve gone to police and left the congregation, they’ve also lost the only family they’ve ever known.

>> "My brother told me they acted like we were dead."

Beccah: The church’s position on child abuse posted online this month says elders strive to treat victims of child abuse with compassion, understanding, and kindness and that the alleged abuser will be kicked out of the church if he is not repentant. The Dagsboro, Delaware Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses told me that John Logan Haugh is a member there. Haugh is being held in York County Prison on $20,000

UPDATE: John Logan Haugh has posted bail since Beccah's initial report.

http://www.wgal.com/article/jehovah-s-witnesses/20897421?src=app

 

[Matthew9969]

The parents should be arrested as well.