Types of Sexual Abuse | Sokolove Law

Institutions & Abuse

For decades, powerful religious institutions have shielded predators instead of protecting victims. Rather than reporting abuse, leaders often covered it up by moving abusers to new locations, handling claims internally, and silencing survivors.

Religious institutions facing child sexual abuse lawsuits include:

Jehovah’s Witnesses
Southern Baptist Convention
The Catholic Church
The Church of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Scientology
Gateway Church

This is not a complete list. Many religious institutions have been accused of concealing or mismanaging thousands of sex abuse cases, often placing their reputations above the safety and well-being of children.

What Is a Clergy Abuse Lawsuit?

Clergy abuse is the sexual abuse of minors by religious officials, such as priests, elders, ministers, or other clergy members. This is an institution-wide problem involving sex crimes that impact survivors for their entire lives.

The child survivors who suffered sexual assault should have been protected by the institutions that claimed to have their best interests at heart — but for thousands, this was not the case. Now, families nationwide are filing clergy abuse lawsuits.

Religious institutions have been able to commit abuse for decades because predators have not been held accountable. Instead, abusive leaders were often protected by their supervisors and institutions.

This means that although churches and other religious organizations were typically the first to know about acts of abuse, they permitted it to continue with little or no consequences.

If you or someone you love experienced childhood sexual abuse by clergy members, we encourage you to take action. Reporting abuse and talking to a clergy abuse lawyer about your legal options may help give you some peace of mind — and prevent future abuse.

How the Watchtower Handles Abuse by Jehovah’s Witnesses

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has come under intense scrutiny for its handling of child sexual abuse allegations. Rather than protecting survivors, the organization has been accused of enforcing policies that prioritized secrecy and protected abusers.

Key internal practices that kept abuse hidden include:

Internal database of suspected abusers: Elders were directed to report abuse allegations to the Watchtower headquarters, not to the police. Using this information, the organization kept a database of suspected abusers but failed to take action to prevent future abuse.
Judicial committee: Elders held closed-door disciplinary hearings where survivors were forced to confront their abusers face to face. These proceedings retraumatized survivors and rarely led to consequences.
Two-witness rule: This rule requires two eyewitnesses to an incident before elders will take disciplinary action. It allowed abusers to go unchecked, as sexual abuse rarely occurs in front of others.

“The way that Jehovah’s Witnesses handle matters within the congregation, it’s a closed shop. I know for a fact now that there are parents that haven’t done anything about the abuse of their children by others because they don’t want to bring reproach on Jehovah’s name.”
– John V., Jehovah’s Witness Abuse Survivor

Many survivors were shamed or ignored, while abusers stayed in the congregation, sometimes in leadership roles. These internal practices are central to Jehovah’s Witnesses sexual abuse cases seeking accountability from the organization.

Who Can File Jehovah’s Witness Sexual Abuse Cases?

You may be able to file a Jehovah’s Witness sexual abuse case if you were sexually abused by a Jehovah’s Witness elder, ministerial servant, congregation member, or someone in a position of trust within the organization.

Thanks to recent legislation, many survivors can now take legal action even if the abuse happened decades ago. In New York, for example, survivors who were abused as children can file a claim until they turn 55 years old.

It’s never too late to speak out. Survivors deserve justice, no matter how much time has passed.

Contact Sokolove Law now to see if you may be eligible to file a Jehovah’s Witnesses sexual abuse lawsuit. There’s no pressure to move forward unless you’re ready.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Abuse Statistics

Jehovah’s Witnesses have a widespread presence across the United States, with more than 11,850 congregations nationwide. This has raised concerns that sexual abuse may be both more common and more hidden than previously acknowledged.

Jehovah’s Witness abuse statistics help highlight the scope of this problem:

In Pennsylvania, the birthplace of this religion, an ongoing investigation that started in 2019 has led to 17 arrests and 11 convictions.
A British watchdog group reported that Jehovah’s Witnesses organizations were aware of at least 67 allegations of child abuse between 2009 and 2019.
In Australia, a national government inquiry found that the Jehovah’s Witnesses failed to report more than 1,000 instances of child sexual abuse to law enforcement.
In the United States, the church has paid over $100 Million in Jehovah’s Witnesses sexual abuse settlements and trial verdicts to survivors.

“You realize it’s not just a seed, and it’s not just a little personal thing — it’s rooted all the way up to the headquarters.”
– Jehovah’s Witness Abuse Survivor

Many survivors remain silent out of fear, shame, or distrust — but coming forward can be a powerful first step toward healing. Our sexual abuse lawyers believe every survivor deserves justice.

Latest Jehovah’s Witness Abuse News

Over the past several decades, a growing number of survivors, advocates, and government agencies have exposed how the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization mishandled and even actively concealed allegations of child sexual abuse.

These findings have led to criminal investigations and civil sexual abuse lawsuits. Find out about key developments that have brought the issue of sexual abuse among Jehovah’s Witnesses to light:

May 2026: California Jehovah’s Witness sex abuse attorneys have filed a lawsuit on behalf of a 26-year-old man against the organization. Filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the Jehovah’s Witness lawsuit accuses an elder at the Kingdom Hall in San Dimas of molesting him from 1999 to 2001, beginning when he was just 6 years old.
November 2025: A former Jehovah’s Witness ministerial servant at Kingdom Hall in Kenai, Alaska pleaded not guilty to 20 felony counts of sexually assaulting minors. Aaron “Scott” Merritt was indicted after police reopened a 2002 investigation with new evidence. The alleged abuse occurred between 1998 and 2002, involving four girls ages 5 to 14.
October 2025: A judge denied a motion for a new trial from former Jehovah’s Witness member Shaun Sheffer, who was previously convicted of child sexual abuse. Sheffer’s attorneys argued that questions about his religious affiliation and the church’s internal practices shouldn’t have been raised during his trial.
July 2025: Timothy Willochell became the 17th member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to be arrested for child sexual abuse as part of an ongoing investigation into the church in Pennsylvania. The abuse reportedly took place between 1989 and 1997.
June 2025: Shaun Sheffer, a former Jehovah’s Witness member, was sentenced to up to 34 years in prison for sexually abusing a child between the ages of 7 and 12 in Pennsylvania in the 1990s. A grand jury found that Sheffer exploited the victim’s age and mental disability.
January 2025: David Balosa was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison for using his position in a Philadelphia Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation to gain a child’s trust before sexually assaulting them in 1998.
March 2025: Marc Brown, a Jehovah’s Witness from Pittsburgh, was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for abusing two children between 2004 and 2006. He pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges after a grand jury investigation.
June 2024: Former Jehovah’s Witness elder Norman Aviles-Garriga was convicted of sexually abusing three children from 1999 to 2003 in Pennsylvania. Prosecutors said he used his status in the church to access and discredit victims. Though briefly expelled from the church, he was later reinstated.
July 2023: Pennsylvania’s attorney general charged five Jehovah’s Witnesses with child sexual abuse following a years-long investigation. The accused gained access to their victims, all children within the church, through their roles in the religious organization.
March 1997: The Watchtower instructed elders to report those accused of child sexual abuse to their headquarters by mailing a form in a special blue envelope. The information was used to maintain a database of suspected abusers.

These Jehovah’s Witness abuse cases represent only a fraction of the abuse allegations tied to the organization. By bravely sharing their stories, survivors may continue to hold the organization accountable for failing to protect them.