Appeals court scolds Jehovah's Witness organization over failure to turn over molestation records - The San Diego Union-Tribune

The governing body of the Jehovah’s Witness church received another rebuke this week by a state appeals court for “obstinately” refusing to turn over internal documents about knowledge of church leaders who have been accused of sexually abusing children.

The ruling, filed Thursday by the 4th District Court of Appeal, upholds a $4,000-a-day penalty against Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York for its failure to comply with a court order in a lawsuit filed by a man who claimed to have been molested in the 1990s.

“Here, Watchtower has abused the discovery process. It has zealously advocated its position and lost multiple times. Yet, it cavalierly refuses to acknowledge the consequences of these losses and the validity of the court’s orders requiring it to produce documents…,” the opinion concluded.

Appeals court scolds Jehovah's Witness organization over failure to turn over molestation records - The San Diego Union-Tribune

ADDENDUM::Addicting Info – Jehovah’s Witnesses To Pay $13.5 Million: Child Sexual Abuse Isn’t Just A Catholic Problem (VIDEO)

After I posted this story I received the following question via Twitter, "Is he still an alleged victim after the court ruling?" It was a question also posed in various comments, but no one seemed to have a definitive answer. My gut response, is that this "case" was a civil judgement not criminal based on the verbiage used in the article and attached news clip. So in essence, "alleged" is the proper terminology.

Since then, two new items came to attention that may help clarify. The first is from Frank Minero writing over at Addicting Info:

ABC 10 News was told by Attorney Irwin Zalkin that The Watchtower knew Campos had been accused of abusing children years before he even met Lopez. The Watchtower swept the sexual abuse under the rug.

Zalkin says six other people have settled sexual abuse cases with The Watchtower and another lawsuit will go to trial in June. He believes these cases are only the tip of the iceberg and “there are probably hundreds if not thousands of perpetrators.”

Nothing specific but does hint that there is a criminal aspect which has been thwarted by Campos fleeing to Mexico.

The juicy information can be found here:

In a video deposition taken in 2011 during a civil lawsuit, admitted serial pedophile Gonzalo Campos said he abused several children in his San Diego congregation from the early 1980's through the mid 90's.

"I did abuse him," said Campos in the video. "I touched his private parts."

His on-camera admissions and a confidential settlement worth millions, may have to be enough for his victims. The Jehovah's Witnesses never told police about Campos, who was a church elder. He's never been charged with a crime and he may never see the inside of a prison cell. He has fled the country and now is in Mexico. He also still is a member of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Regretfully, Lopez is only an "alleged" victim and may remain so for the foreseeable future.

Addicting Info – Jehovah’s Witnesses To Pay $13.5 Million: Child Sexual Abuse Isn’t Just A Catholic Problem (VIDEO)

Jehovah's Witnesses Ordered to Pay $13.5M to Bible Teacher's Alleged Victim | NBC 7 San Diego

A San Diego man who says he suffered "very aggressive abuse" as a child by his Bible study teacher was awarded a $13.5 million judgment Wednesday against the organization that oversees Jehovah's Witnesses churches.

Jose Lopez, now 35, was one of eight children who have accused Gonzalo Campos of sexually abusing them between 1982 and 1995, according to his lawsuit against the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the entity that oversees Jehovah’s Witness churches.

Campos served in the leadership of the Linda Vista Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Playa Pacifica Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Pacific Beach, Lopez’s attorney Irwin Zalkin told NBC 7.

[,,,]
He said punitive damages made up $10.5 million of the judgment, and were awarded as a result of how Watchtower responded to the accusations against Campos.

"Damages that reflect the reprehensible conduct of the Watchtower in how they covered this up for years and allowed multiple children to be injured,” said Zalkin. “They protected and harbored a criminal."

The Watchtower told NBC 7 it plans to appeal the judgment, saying the award given after a hearing at which it was barred from participating.

Jehovah's Witnesses Ordered to Pay $13.5M to Bible Teacher's Alleged Victim | NBC 7 San Diego