When Sara Poission suspected her husband was abusing their daughters 20 years ago, she took her fears to the leaders of her Jehovah's Witness congregation in Wilton. Poisson regrets deeply that she followed the advice she says she received: Pray more, be a better wife and keep quiet.

"I was a puppet," said Poisson, now of Claremont. "It was 'God says you are a screw-up, so fix yourself and it will stop.'"

The church never reported Poisson's former husband, Paul Berry, to state officials. A school teacher did, after noticing one child's injuries, and Berry is serving 56 to 112 years in state prison for physical and sexual abuse. The church publicly supported Berry during his trial. Poission said she was kicked out of the church for cooperating with investigators.

Her daughters, now in their 20s, are suing the church in a case that is pending before the state Supreme Court.

Poisson's story contradicts the church's written policy for dealing with child abuse. But her allegation that the church ignored her complaint has been repeated by nearly 60 other former members nationwide in lawsuits against the church over similar accusations. And critics say the church's official policy, even when followed, puts children at risk because it allows molesters back into the congregation with a guarantee that their crime will not be reported to the congregation.

Those critics say it's time the Jehovah's Witness church, which counts about 4,000 members in New Hampshire and 1 million in the United States, faces the same scrutiny the Catholic Church endured for harboring abusive priests.

"This has not captured the public's attention because (the Jehovah's Witnesses) are a small church," said Jeff Anderson, a lawyer from Minnesota who has represented victims of abuse within the Catholic, Mormon and Jehovah's Witness churches. "But anytime anyone learns of (how the church handles abuse), they are as alarmed by it as they are by the Catholic church cases."

The Jehovah's Witness policy requires two eyewitnesses to abuse - or a molester's confession -before the church sanctions a molester. A young child cannot be his own witness. When someone is found guilty by the elders, the rest of the congregation cannot be told because doing so would be a sin, according to the church's interpretation of the Bible. A molester may be allowed to remain an active member, if he repents. In some cases, molesters have been appointed as church leaders again.

"These people make the Catholics look like saints," said Bill Bowen of Kentucky, a former Jehovah's Witness leader who started a Web site in 2001 to monitor child abuse inside the church after he says he caught the church in a cover-up. "I think the Catholic Church has made great strides in publicly apologizing and establishing polices to prevent molestation in the future.

"I think (the Jehovah's Witness church) is living in total denial and refusing to admit what they've done in order to protect themselves legally," Bowen said. He has been excommunicated from the church for his public statements and "disfellowshipped"- a total shunning by even his own parents.

Members of the local congregations in Concord, Franklin and Laconia either could not be reached or referred calls to the church's national office in New York. J.R. Brown, a spokesman there, said church leaders are told to report all abuse allegations if their state requires them to do so (New Hampshire and about 40 others do). But they are also advised to take advantage of clerical exemptions, which excuse clergy in New Hampshire and about 30 other states from reporting abuse if it's revealed in a spiritual setting.

Brown could not say how many cases the church has reported to the authorities.

"As a spiritual shepherd, your main goal is to save a sinner from eternal destruction at God's hands,"said Brown, who explained that the policy and all the church's beliefs are based on a literal reading of the Bible. "You want people to turn around and go the right way. When you have that point of view, you can see why confidentiality of the confession is important. If the person knows it's going to be out (publicly), they may be very reluctant to come."

As for what that could mean for the safety of potential victims, Brown said the church expects parents, teachers and others to report the abuse to the state authorities. He said it is against church policy to discourage parents or others from reporting the abuse and added that if a church elder had done that, it was a mistake.

Advice posted on the church's official Web site, however, questions the wisdom of going outside the church. "Some legal experts advise reporting the abuse to the authorities as soon as possible," read an article titled "Protect your children!""In some lands the legal system may require this. But in other places the legal system may offer little hope of successful prosecution."

Single page