$35 mil awarded in church lawsuit

Late last Wednesday, the civil trial against the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization came to a close with $35 million being awarded to a woman who was sexually abused by a member of the church as a child.

“This is a case about protecting children,” attorney Neil Smith said in his closing argument on Sept. 31. “Their childhood was destroyed by a known child molester and by a church that let them down and violated the law.”

The jury awarded Alexis Nunez $4 million in compensatory damages and $31 million in punitive damages, finding that Watchtower New York, the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (CCJW), the Thompson Falls congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Nunez’s mother, Ivy McGowan-Castleberry, were negligent in the case. In the case, Judge James Manley determined that Montana’s Mandatory Reporter law was broken when, in 2004, church reported to elders at the Thompson Falls congregation was not reported to local authorities.

About a dozen members of the Thompson Falls congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses were present throughout the three-day civil trial. During the trial, representatives of the local and national Jehovah’s Witnesses organizations argued that the report of sexual abuse in 2004 was kept confidential as an established church practice, and therefore the church was exempt to the Montana mandatory reporter law.

A second plaintiff, Holly McGowan, was also included in the case. The jury was tasked with determining whether or not a 1998 report of abuse by McGowan actually happened, and also if the statute of limitations had expired in McGowan’s case. The defense attorneys argued that McGowan knew of ongoing injuries caused by the abuse prior to September 2013, the first date allowed under the statute of limitations for civil action in McGowan’s case.

The three-day trial included testimony from a representative of Watchtower and CCJW, the two victims, family members of the victims and an elder in the Thompson Falls congregation.

The jury was tasked with determining the percentage of negligence for each of the defendants. They determined that Watchtower was 80 percent responsible, CCJW 15 percent, the Thompson Falls congregation 4 percent, and Alexis’s mother 1 percent. The jury also determined that the national organizations acted in malice by not reporting the abuse, awarding the punitive damages. The $31 million in punitive damages will include $30 million from Watchtower and $1 million from CCJW.

The state’s mandatory reporting law states that if professionals and officials, including clergy, teachers, medical professionals and others, “know or have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is being abused or neglected … they shall report the matter promptly to the department of public health and human services.” In the Jehovah’s Witness faith, elders are considered members of the clergy.

The defense maintained that the organizations were exempt from the law because of an exemption that states, “a member of the clergy or a priest is not required to make a report under this section if the communication is required to be confidential by canon law, church doctrine, or established church practice.”

Nunez and McGowan testified Tuesday that they were sexually abused by Max Reyes (Nunez’s step-grandfather and McGowan’s stepfather) when they were children. McGowan testified that she first reported the abuse to church elders in 1998. Don Herberger, an elder with the Thompson Falls congregation, testified earlier this week that the abuse was not reported until 2004, when McGowan’s brother came forward with allegations of abuse against Reyes. Nunez came forward in 2015 with allegations of past sexual abuse by Reyes, her step-grandfather.

During closing arguments on Sept. 31, attorney Smith asked the jury to consider damages of a value that “reflects stolen innocence. What amount would fairly compensate Lexy (Nunez) and what she’s been through in the past and in the future?” he asked the jurors. Smith said that elders in the Thompson Falls congregation did everything by the books. “The elders behaved exactly how they had been taught to behave,” he said.

“Religion is a very powerful thing,” Smith continued during his closing argument. “When Watchtower put that controlling structure in place, things like this happen. Montana’s law must apply equally to all religions and to all children.”

During the defense closing arguments, attorney Kathleen DeSoto encouraged the jury to keep the Jehovah’s Witnesses religion in the back of their minds. “Just because it’s different, doesn’t make it wrong,” she said, noting that the religion has a communal approach to handling serious sin. DeSoto also argued that McGowan-Castleberry was at fault in the case. “A parent has a duty to protect their kids,” the attorney said.