Five members of a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Pennsylvania were indicted by a grand jury on Monday on various charges of child sexual abuse, authorities announced.
Acting Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said the five men preyed on young members of their own families and communities.
“The details of these crimes are sad and disturbing, facts made all the more heinous because the defendants used their religious communities or their families to gain access to the victims,” ​​Henry said in a statement Monday. Henry said in a statement on Monday.
Mark Brown, 65, was charged Monday with multiple counts of child sexual abuse. (Pennsylvania Acting Attorney General Michelle Henry)
Mark Brown, a 65-year-old member of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Allegheny County, allegedly sexually assaulted two girls for whom he was the legal guardian between 2004 and 2006, according to court filings.
He was charged with aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and corruption of minors.
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Abimael Valentin-Matos, 42, is accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old member of a group in Lancaster County.
Abimel Valentine Matos, 42, allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl he was marrying when he was twice her age. (Pennsylvania Acting Attorney General Michelle Henry)
The victim testified before the grand jury that Matos, then 30 years old and twice her age, “promised that he would eventually marry her and that he would marry her in the presence of a chaperone as instructed by the elders.” Court can”. According to court filings.
During a meeting in a public park in 2004, Matos allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl.
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Three other men – 74-year-old Raymond Schultz, 51-year-old Kevin Isowitz, and 44-year-old Norman Avles – were also charged with various counts of child sexual abuse.
According to authorities, four suspects have been arrested, while Aviles remains at large.
File Photo: The Kingdom Hall of the Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
The indictment comes after four other male Jehovah’s Witnesses were charged with child sexual abuse last October.
“These children deserve to be safe and to grow up in peace, not to be victimized,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was attorney general at the time.
“These cases are disturbing, the allegations are difficult to imagine, and all have a common tie,” Shapiro said in October. “The 19 victims and the four men charged with sexually assaulting them are all Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
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