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Montana Court says Jehovah’s Witnesses need not report child abuse

Montana Court says Jehovah’s Witnesses need not report child abuse

Montana Court says Jehovah’s Witnesses need not report child abuse

The Montana state Supreme Court has reversed a jury verdict of $4 million in compensatory damages and $31 million in punitive damages awarded to two children who were sexually abused by a member of a local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The children had claimed that the Congregation had a duty to report the abuse to the state when it was reported. The Court said that reporting is not required if a communication is required to be confidential by canon law, church doctrine, or established church practice. Several members of a single family reported to an elder of the Congregation that they had been abused by a family member over a period of years. In the first case, because the girl had...

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