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SHIELDS GAZETTE - DAILY MAIL ONLINE    - THE JOURNAL    - THE SUNDERLAND ECHO "CHURCH officials hushed up a child sex scandal in their ranks and refused to co-operate with police." Over the years the Watchtower Society has been accused over and over by hundreds of child abuse victims and their advocates of enforcing policies upon congregation elders that result in concealing crimes and protecting child predators from exposure. The response [...]

Over the past 10 years the Watch Tower Society has been rocked by allegations of covering up child sexual abuse among Jehovah’s Witnesses. After paying out millions in low-profile out-of-court settlements, in 2012 the Watchtower lost a widely publicized lawsuit in what has amounted to the largest dollar judgment in any case of this kind – being socked for a staggering $28 million. A jury found that the leadership of the organization instituted policies that provided cover for a known sex offender.

In the aftermath of that massive judgment against them one would imagine that Bethel would change their policies and try to be more proactive in preventing these horrific crimes from being committed against the children of Jehovah's Witnesses under their watch. But according to the latest communiqué with the elders in the United States, not much has changed. Here is an excerpt from the attached PDF:

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Since the rebellion in Eden God’s purpose has been to produce a seed. Because of his faith Abraham was chosen as the one through whom the seed would eventually come. Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel, had twelve sons that produced the twelve tribes of Israel. For that reason in later centuries God referred to the nation as “Jacob” and more commonly “Israel.”

Eventually, Judah produced the Christ and after that others were anointed to become part of the seed along with Jesus. Because they are to be the actual seed of blessing God promised would come through Abraham, the Christian seed is the real Israel of God. Paul explained these things in his letter to the Galatians.

At any rate, the Christian Israel of God became corrupt too, just like Israel had before it – even as the founding apostles foretold would occur. But before the conclusion of the system a new generation of anointed persons would appear in the world, thus constituting the Israel of God in modern times. Since its inception the Watchtower Society has been the seedbed for anointed Christians (and consequently the weed patch as well) first called the International Bible Students and since 1931, Jehovah's Witnesses; making Bethel a sort of capital city for the spiritual nation that has formed.

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It is being called an unprecedented ruling. And it has gone against the Watchtower Society.

A California jury has ruled against the Fremont North congregation elders, and also against the Watchtower in New York, and awarded damages totaling $28 million to Candace Conti, who was sexually abused by a congregation member when she was nine years old.

Jim McCabe, the losing attorney for Jehovah’s Witnesses, said he was stunned and called the ruling “outrageous” - vowing to appeal. However, in a press release Bill Bowen, the founder of Silentlambs, called it “a watershed moment for children’s safety in the Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

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