Dutch Jehovah’s Witnesses suspect of sexual abuse

This 29 May 2018 video from the USA says about itself:

Tonight on A&E: Jehovah’s Witness Child Abuse Cover Ups. ‘Cults & Extreme Beliefs’

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Police raids at seven buildings in the Jehovah’s Witnesses abuse case

There were police raids at seven premises last month in the context of the investigation into sexual abuse within Jehovah’s Witnesses. The public prosecutor confirms this after reporting by RTL News.

The raids took place in, eg, Emmen, in the headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In addition, two community buildings – so-called kingdom halls – and four dwellings of the religious community were searched.

Police were looking for documents of internal ‘lawsuits’.

Internal trials

Jehovah’s Witnesses has an internal system for treating cases like abuse. A complaint arrives at a special committee, after which a procedure is started that is not public.

Possible perpetrators are tried by the society and not reported to the police. Reports of cases are not shared with law enforcement.

At the beginning of August, Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to hand over a document to the Public Prosecution Service in which the confession of a perpetrator in a child abuse case is said to be.