My Former Elder Sentenced On Molestation Charges

On a personal note, I have been holding onto this story for a while.  The news came out more than a week ago, but I've had quite a hard time trying to figure out how to discuss things.  As I have spoken about the nature of Dave Nelson's crimes, it is only right that I speak about what has happened since.  The entire story brings up a slew of uncomfortable feelings that I would rather not deal with.

If you recall, shortly before I left the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, I was a member of the Squaw Peak congregation.  At the time, I was seriously questioning my faith.  It was the first time that I was living on my own.  David Nelson was the Presiding Overseer (Chief Elder) of my congregation.  He took me under his wing.

Looking back, he took all of the young guys under his wing.  In addition to myself, there was Patrick and his cousin Steve.  And off the top of my head, I can think of two ladies that had "non believing" husbands.  One had a fifteen year old son.  The other had two - one about eighteen, one about fourteen.  At the time, I was twenty.


Seems Dave had a thing for teenage boys.  Last November, he was booked on 6 counts stemming from an encounter he had with a 14 year old Witness kid back in 1980.  The local media kept referring to him as a "former" Jehovah's Witness.  But, I found out (through multiple local sources) that he only resigned as an elder, and disassociated himself from the organization, four days before his arrest, knowing that authorities were looking for him.  His victim, still one of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Phoenix area, managed to get Nelson to confess to the molestation on a taped phone conversation, which was later turned over to police.  That was the beginning of a shocking series of events.

Old Magazine Ad: "Don't Let Daddy Lick Me Again!"

This commonplace ad (from the 50s, I presume), is so downright disturbing today that it wouldn't even be considered for print.  First, it's an ad for a child's laxative.  And, to get the point across that it tastes good, they show that you don't have to physically abuse your child with the back of a hairbrush to make them take it.

Talk about "beating the shit out of your kids".  My, how advertising has changed.  To think, if half of the country freaked out over pink nail polish, how would they have reacted to this?

Phoenix Jehovah's Witness Elder (And Former Acquaintance) Arrested On Molestation Charges

I learned of this a few days ago, but I've had a difficult time trying to work out how I was going to write about it.

Child molestation within the Jehovah's Witness organization is nothing new.  A group of dedicated former Witnesses have been tracking hundreds of JW pedophiles in the news since 2001.  At Silentlambs.org, they have not only kept track of crimes against children within the church, but have also received thousands of letters from individuals telling of their stories of sexual abuse from elders and other members of the congregation.  

Recently, I had the opportunity to listen in on a conference call with someone who works at the headquarters for Jehovah's Witnesses, also known as Bethel by those in the organization.  There is a department there that does nothing but handle incoming correspondence from elders in the congregation, and from victims, regarding molestation and abuse claims from within the congregation.  Some of it is forwarded to their legal department.  Some of it is simply thrown away;  shredded and destroyed.  He told us that based upon a number that he was told (this is second hand information), there may be as many as 23,000 abuse claims on file at the Witnesses New York headquarters.

So, when I read a story of a JW elder accused of molesting a member of his congregation, it comes as no surprise to me.  When I read the following story, however, I was a bit stunned.  This time was different from the rest.  This time, I knew the guy in the picture.  He was MY elder.

On November 3, 2010, David (or Dave, as I knew him) Nelson, 63, was arrested by Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies and charged with 2 counts of sexual conduct with a minor, 2 counts of sexual molestation, and two counts of public sexual indecency.  The charges stem from when he molested a 14 year old boy, who was also a Jehovah's Witness, back in 1980.

I'll be honest with you.  The article I read regarding his arrest was quite graphic regarding the sexual acts involved in the molestation.  If you would like to read it, you can catch it here.  To summarize what happened, he started playing strip poker with the boy, and, as time went on, the games got more and more "adventurous".  Before it was all said and done, Nelson ended up performing oral sex on a 14 year old boy twice.

From what I have read, the victim has struggled with the encounters for the last 30 years.  According to news reports, he had only recently told his wife of the abuse and was looking for a way to get Nelson to admit to the molestation.  He secretly recorded a phone conversation between himself and Nelson and brought up the incidents.  Nelson admitted to them and apologized for them.  The victim then took the tape to the police.

The media is saying that he was a "former Jehovah's Witness minister".  Don't be fooled, people.  It is believed that "Brother" Nelson only stepped down as an elder and left the church a mere week before his arrest.  He knew his arrest was coming, and he is trying not to make the Jehovah's Witness organization look bad.

I knew this man.  I knew his family.  I left the church in August of '96.  Before leaving, I decided to give things one last chance.  I wanted to go to a new congregation on the other side of town.  One where I didn't have the influence of my mother or any of my lifelong family friends.  I wanted to make sure I was doing it for me and not everyone else.  I started going to the Squaw Peak congregation.  They met at a smaller Kingdom Hall on 16th Street, just South of Glendale Avenue.  Dave Nelson was what we called the "Presiding Overseer", that is the term given to basically the number one elder in the congregation.  I didn't have a car at the time.  Him and his family took me in.  He picked me up for every meeting.  I had dinner at his family's house regularly.  I've even stayed overnight at his place a number of times.

He seemed like a wonderful man.  For a time, he was even a bit of a father figure for me.  It's hard to believe how someone like that could do something so.......wrong.  I was 20 at the time that I knew him, almost 21.  At that time, there were a number of guys in the congregation that looked to him as a mentor, that were 15 or 16 years old, that were either in a single parent house, or there dad wasn't a Witness.  Looking back, I wonder if he got to them.  It's a thought that makes me nauseous.

August of '96 came, and I realized that I had wasted too many years pretending to be someone I wasn't.  I stopped going to the Kingdom Hall.  A short time later, it was sold.  It's now a Buddhist temple.  I'm not sure what happened to the Squaw Peak congregation.  I think it was split up and reassigned.  Dave Nelson and his family moved to the Madison Park congregation.  Evidently, according to the news article, that's the congregation they were still in at the time he got arrested.

Phoenix Police are asking anyone that has information about any other victims to call.  I will keep everyone posted with any additional information.

My Brain Won't Let Me Forget Him

I had a really bad flashback a few days ago. Probably the roughest one I've had yet. I have been having nightmares pretty regularly, but flashbacks have been few and far between. When one comes up, it almost takes the air out of my lungs. It wholly catches me off guard. This one really shook me up.

I was getting dressed a few mornings back and I grabbed my belt. I grabbed it by it's ends, with the buckle and the holes touching. It dropped down by my side. Suddenly, I was in a room getting beat by my father. It was so clear, it was as if I was 9 or 10 years old all over again. My thighs felt the pressure of being pressed up against the end of my bed. I saw him. Standing there with his belt, held in the way mine was seconds earlier. His fat, sweaty face looking down at mine. Hell, it was so real, I could even smell his breath.

The entire episode lasted all of 15 to 20 seconds, but it felt like an hour. When I realized I was standing in my bedroom, an adult, and completely safe, I started shaking. I haven't seen my father in five years, and, since having these nightmares and flashbacks, I don't think the time will ever come where I will want to again.

I think I have said some of this before, I don't know. My dad's weapon of choice was his belt. He reminded me of a baseball player in a lot of ways. My mom would use whatever was handy. A wooden spoon, a switch, a ping pong paddle. My dad's belt was like his favorite bat. He was faithful to it.

When I was younger, I would get "whipped" while clothed, and, if I was lucky, with pants on instead of shorts. As time went on, my dad realized that the clothing cushioned the blow, so to speak. I was also able to tense up my ass muscles without him noticing. That made the spanking hurt less. As a consequence, all spankings were done bare assed from that point on.

My ass became his field of dreams, and let's just say he swung for the fences. He had a way of swinging the belt much like the way a ball player would swing at a pitch. He used two hands, one holding the belt together at the buckle, the other stretching it out straight at the end. He would then take a step forward and swing. The fucker actually would swing at me like he had a baseball bat in his hands. Occasionally, he would get a little too close and I would get part of a belt buckle or a fist across my backside. If I tried to stop him, or if I tensed up, or put my hands behind my ass to block the whacks, I would get more. So, I took the buckle and fist hits.

I got beat this way until I was 14 or 15, until my ass was hairier than my dad's and it became embarrassing for him to whip me bare assed. My dad was 5'10". By then I was well over 6' tall. At that point, it came to shoving matches and threats of punches. I think he punched me once, but I punched him back. By that time, the whole "Honor your father and mother" stuff had long gone out the window.

I don't know what caused my parents, but mostly my dad, to whip us like he did. I know he was beaten by his dad. Believe me, I'm not trying to make excuses for him. He had always felt that we thought we were better than he was. He dropped out of school shortly after the sixth grade and wasn't an educated man by any means. He had provided for us simply because he was a hard worker. In a way, he was right. All my life, I had never respected him, and, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't beat the respect into me. Now, no matter how hard I try, my brain won't let me forget that fat ignorant fucker. So, I guess he got the last laugh after all.