A defendant accused of sexually abusing a minor while serving as a Jehovah’s Witnesses leader in New Orleans in the 1990s has acknowledged he had an “inappropriate relationship” with plaintiff Barry Davis, according to newly released court transcripts.
Davis’ lawsuit, which was filed last year in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court, is proceeding in the wake of recent state laws that revived legal actions related to sexual abuse of minors subject to previous statutes of limitation. Defendants in the case also include Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York Inc. and Uptown Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Orleans.
The March transcripts in the case cover testimony of the former Jehovah’s Witnesses elder, Joseph Fitzgerald Hall, who allegedly groomed and sexually abused Davis when the latter was 11 and Hall was 25, according to the Lamothe Law Firm.
“The lawsuit says Davis reported Hall's sexual abuse to JW church elders in 1998, which led to a JW ‘judicial committee’ deeming Davis's claims credible and ‘disfellowshipping’ Hall for 11 months before reinstating him, while also punishing Davis with limited church privileges and urging Davis to stay silent about the abuse to protect the church's reputation,” the law firm reported.
The church elders and other officials were obliged to report any suspected child abuse to police or the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services in accordance with state law, according to the lawsuit. The elders breached that responsibility, the complaint says, indicating that such failures are punishable as a crime.
Hall “subjected (the) plaintiff … to inappropriate and nonconsensual sexual conduct, including sharing a bed together naked, hugging, kissing, showering together, oral sexual battery and anal rape,” the lawsuit states.
Hall continues to be a member of a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Charlotte, N.C., according to the transcripts. He also invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked whether he had been “disfellowshipped” in the past for abuse of a minor.
One of the plaintiff’s attorneys, Kristi S. Schubert, said discovery is continuing in the case and that a trial has yet to be scheduled.
“We have not yet obtained any documents from the Jehovah’s Witnesses regarding their investigation and judicial committee that was formed in 1998 in regards to Mr. Davis’ allegations against Hall,” Schubert told the Louisiana Record in an email. “Unfortunately I cannot comment on whether criminal charges are expected.”
The lawsuit seeks damages for Davis’ pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, cost of past medical care and treatment, permanent psychiatric damage and disability, and lost wages.
Hall continues to perform about 10 hours of “field service” for his Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation per week, according to the law firm. Field service typically involves preaching the JW faith door to door or on street corners.
“It's unfortunate that the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society doesn't care about the decades of trauma that I've had to live with that was caused by one of their elders,” Davis said in a prepared statement. “Instead of attempting to right a wrong that happened, they would rather defend an admitted pedophile and blame this abuse on my deceased mother by implying that it's her fault for allowing him to study the Bible with me.”