HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Montana Supreme Court has reversed a $35 million judgment against the Jehovah’s Witnesses for not reporting a girl’s sexual abuse to authorities. The state’s high court said in a 7-0 decision Wednesday that the church is not required to report because its doctrine requires that clergy keep reports of child abuse confidential.
The ruling overturns a 2018 jury verdict awarding compensatory and punitive damages to a woman who said she was abused as a child by a member of the Thompson Falls congregation in the mid-2000s. Church attorneys say elders handled the allegations internally in accordance with church practices.
