Former conviction of Jehovah’s Witness elder sparks new lawsuit against organization
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A former elder at the Fort Kent Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, convicted last year of child sexual assault, is serving the maximum sentence for his crimes. Now, a new lawsuit linked to the same Kingdom Hall is seeking accountability on a larger scale.
Ernest Fyans spent years holding one of the highest positions in For Kent’s Kingdom Hall, an elder. During those years, he sexually abused at least two children. Fyans now sits in prison, serving a 20 year sentence for those crimes. Meanwhile, the case that put him there continues to have a ripple effect.
Shannon Simendinger wasn’t one of the victims in the case that led to Fyans’ prison sentence, but she did testify against him during the trial, recounting her own allegations of abuse. “It made me feel not as scared anymore,” Shannon said, explaining how those moments on the witness stand emboldened her to seek her own justice.
“I wish I could have done it sooner. I tried to do it sooner,” she said. Around 1985, when Shannon was six years old, she says three men within the Fort Kent Kingdom Hall began sexually and physically abusing her. She said two of the men were elders, including Ernest Fyans.
Shannon tried to speak out, telling her mother, who then reported it to the police. However, Shannon said it ended up doing more harm than good. Her mother was punished by the congregation and Shannon said she was blamed for her own abuse.
“We were told to go to the Kingdom Hall the next day and sit at a table with the elders, including a couple of them that had assaulted me, and they made me pray for forgiveness.”
Content retrieved from: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/former-conviction-of-jehovahs-witness-elder-sparks-new-lawsuit-against-organization/ar-AA1xXUTU?ocid=BingNewsVerp.
