Abuse cases cause discord for Jehovah's Witnesses

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- As a pillar of his church, William Bowen sat in judgment of fellow Jehovah's Witnesses who went astray. On a few occasions, Bowen supported the ultimate punishment -- expulsion from the tightknit religious group.

But now the lifelong Jehovah's Witness awaits judgment himself from fellow members of the denomination.

The 44-year-old former church elder is among four Jehovah's Witnesses threatened with excommunication -- or disfellowship, as the denomination calls it -- for sowing discord in the denomination by speaking out against the church's handling of allegations of child molestation.

Bowen complains that child-sex allegations are generally not reported to secular authorities because of the church's closed nature and its insistence on handling problems internally. The Jehovah's Witnesses shun the outside world in many respects. They refuse to bear arms, salute the flag or participate in secular government. They also refuse blood transfusions.

Bowen is to appear before a judicial committee today at his church in Draffenville, a small town in far western Kentucky.

Two others, Carl and Barbara Pandelo of Belmar, N.J., had their hearing this week and are awaiting a decision.

Barbara Anderson of Normandy, Tenn., has also been summoned to appear before a committee. Anderson has said she learned about the church's handling of abuse cases while she worked at its headquarters in New York City.

Motivation is silence

Like Bowen, the Pandelos say the real motivation is to silence them within the denomination, which claims about 6 million members worldwide, including about 1 million in the United States.

In a statement issued from their headquarters, the Jehovah's Witnesses said that church leaders are "required by the Holy Scriptures to see to it that the congregation remains clean and unified."

J.R. Brown, a spokesman for the denomination, said the church doesn't punish parents for going to the police first in cases of child molestation.

He said people found guilty of molestation by a church committee is removed from all positions of responsibility and cannot evangelize door-to-door without being accompanied by a fellow Jehovah's Witness.