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Child safeguarding · Claim record

The Watchtower of 1 January 1997 stated that 'a man known to have been a child molester does not qualify for a responsible position in the congregation' and cannot pioneer, while also stating that a repentant abuser may 'share in the field service' and that the congregation 'will not protect him' from state sanctions.

Claim ID claim-safeguarding-1997-known-molester-no-positionConcerns 1 January 1997Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 1 January 1997 Verified

The Watchtower of 1 January 1997 stated that 'a man known to have been a child molester does not qualify for a responsible position in the congregation' and cannot pioneer, while also stating that a repentant abuser may 'share in the field service' and that the congregation 'will not protect him' from state sanctions. The Watchtower, 1 January 1997

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation cites this article as evidence of a long-standing protective stance ( ch. 14 par. 4 cites w97 2/1 p. 29).

Show the evidence (1 source)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “Let Us Abhor What Is Wicked”

1 January 1997 · pp.26-29 · pars. on p. 29 (child molesters) · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“For the protection of our children, a man known to have been a child molester does not qualify for a responsible position in the congregation. Moreover, he cannot be a pioneer or serve in any other special, full-time service.”

The same article says: 'Depending on the law of the land where he lives, the molester may well have to serve a prison term or face other sanctions from the State. The congregation will not protect him from this.' It does not instruct elders to report; it also says a repentant abuser may 'share in the field service'. Courts later examined a 14 March 1997 letter to elders issued alongside this article (see Lopez and Padron).

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened wol.jw.org page (marker 'w97 1/1 pp. 26-29') and confirmed wording.

Corroborated by. src-cal-2016-0414-lopez-v-watchtower, src-cal-2017-1109-padron-v-watchtower, src-arc-2016-1000-cs29-report

Notes. Case Study 29 report p. 21 lists this article among the organisation's child-abuse policy documents.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-1997-0101-abhor-wicked

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-safeguarding-1997-known-molester-no-position/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.