According to Pennsylvania law, religious leaders are mandatory reporters of child abuse. Leaders of Jehovah’s Witness congregations in Pennsylvania who failed to report child sex abuse could face felony charges.
In fact, according to a report by WGAL News in Lancaster, a complaint has been filed with the Pennsylvania attorney general, who could issue subpoenas for church documents and initiate a criminal prosecution. This would be in addition to the church’s civil liability. According to the report, the Jehovah’s Witness church allegedly failed to report 775 instances of sexual abuse from 1997 to 2001 alone.