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.

"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're All Stocked Up Here."

I blog about a number of different things that catch my attention.  This page started off with the intent on discussing my day to day life with Tourette's and PTSD, but that became very depressing.  I found that I had to change it up very quickly.  So, I started to write on what I was passionate about.  Some days it's music.  Other times, I'll post about politics or gay rights.  Sometimes, I'll go for a week without posting anything but a movie trailer (sorry about those weeks).  The posts on this blog that seem to get the most attention, and many times the most comments, are the ones about Jehovah's Witnesses, and my experiences from within the organization.

I tend to have quite a few readers that are former JWs, and that find my site from Google searches, looking for information regarding the religion.  I have contemplated many times about making the blog an "ex-JW only" themed page, but have decided against it, because I would probably end up starting another blog just to write about everything else, anyway.

Because some of what I write about has to do with the gay community, I have chosen to moderate the comments at this time, so I can make sure nothing hateful or homophobic appears on the site.  So, every comment pops up in my email first, and gives me the option to either publish it, or delete it.  With that being said, one of the drawbacks of posting something Jehovah's Witness related, is having to subsequently deal with the comments.  I would say that about 95% of the comments I receive are positive in nature.  In some of them, the reader relates a story or an experience they had back in the day as a JW.  The other 5% however, is a mixed bag.  

About two months ago, I published a post entitled, "02/15/2011 Watchtower: Disfellowshipped/Disassociated Ones Are 'Demons'".  Many of you read it.  Quite a few of you commented on it on various Facebook pages.  Overall, readers seemed to have the same reaction to the Watchtower article as I did:  The organization had gone too far to show the requirement for Jehovah's Witnesses to shun their disfellowshipped family members.

Apparently, there are some that disagree with me.  I received a Facebook message on March 23rd.  Keep in mind, I do not publish my Facebook address.  I don't have any links to my Facebook account from my blog.  Someone TRACKED MY ASS DOWN in order to write me directly.  I'm not going to who the message is from, but I will print it, exactly as it appeared in my inbox:

"Hi Adam

I read your message on the wall regarding disfellowship people being class like demons. I read the article in question and feel that wasnt the message the society was trying to get across. The Elder was trying to comfort the mother. Explaning to her that Jehovah understands what she was going thru. Jehovah had sons that rebeled and so Jehovah had to protect the rest of his angel sons and human race and though it pained him him he get off association with his disobedient sons. So Jehovah understands our pain.

And no im not a Jehovah's Witness im disfellowship also. I knew what I was doing at the time. We are like children to Jehovah, and like all children if we do wrong and we dont listen to our parents then we are disciplene for our own good to bring us back to our senses. I dont mean to be rude or cause offence to you. Sorry for my bad spelling."

Honestly, I was dumbfounded.  Completely at a loss for words.  At a moment's notice, this was the only thing I could type back:

"Wow. I don't even know how to respond. Good luck. I'll just leave it at that." 

Now that I've had some time to think about a better response, let me just say.......

"Oh, no!"

"Stop drinking the Kool Aid, sister."  I can understand this if, say you've been disfellowshipped for a relatively short period of time, and your residual "Witness guilt" is getting the better of you.  Otherwise, let me fill you in on something.  It's complete nonsense.  Here's why.

In a nutshell, Witnesses disfellowship for two reasons, 1) to "protect the flock", and 2) as a way to encourage the "wrongdoer" to come back to the congregation.  From what has been reported by those trying to return to  the congregation in recent months, people have been told that they cannot look others in the eye, that they must sit apart from the congregation, and that they weren't allowed to stay for the final prayer.

Imagine being told that you're an alcoholic, and that the only way you're going to get better is by going to a 12 step program.  You show up at your first AA meeting and your told that you're not allowed to participate with the rest of the group.  You also have to look down at the ground, so as to not look anyone in the eye.  Then, the group moderator takes your folding chair and moves it into the room next door, and tells you that you have to get up and leave before the serenity prayer is said.  How much do you think that you'll get out of the program?  Do you think you will be on your way to sobriety just as quickly as the rest of the members of the group?  Of course not.

Do you honestly think that, as a disfellowshipped person, Jehovah's Witnesses give a shit about you?  If they really wanted to "encourage" you to come back, wouldn't your family and friends have an active role in doing so?  Why are you defending them?  They hate you!  They hate all of us.  How could you think any differently?  How can you still buy that bullshit that you've been spoon fed all of this time?

Moving on.  Another comment, about the same post.  This one received on the site itself.  This was left by an "Anonymous" reader last week.  Again, I am printing this, as is, unedited, word for word.

they go into the understanding of yehweh Yahweh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 329] states: “Jehovah (Yahweh), in the Hebrew you have to undershand they Je or Jeh or Jah means Lord or God Hovah Hoba and Hova means, like 20 words like, Wickedness, Naughty, and more words along these lines so really who is Jehovah, who is Lord or God of Wickedness..................... Yahweh Translates into Jehovah im sorry but it does................. now this is important THE!! hear me THE Shocking Implications of 'Jehovah' We now see how the first part of the Sacred Name "Yah" was changed to "Jeh" as the "J" developed and the "a" was replaced with "e" to hide the name. The suffix "hovah" is No. 1943 in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary and has the meaning of "ruin: mischief." It is another form of No. 1942, havvah, which is translated "calamity, iniquity, mischief, mischievous (thing), naughtiness, naughty, noisome, perverse thing, substance, very wickedness." Ok so who r they worshipping oh dear the god of wickedness also they preach from the new world order.. Sorry I mean translation same bible that once had 73 books but Constantine etc reduced to 66 books I'm strongly considering reading the Quran as 114 books are easily recited by children ad young as 8 in entire villages to prevent corruption and it tells u to believe in torah n Christ but be mindful of corruption Jesus spoke armaic n the word Allah is a translation of the word god their main sin is shirk associating others with the worship meant for the one and only creator

If someone has a Gary Busey to English translation dictionary, and could loan me their copy?  I would love to try to understand just what in the hell this person was trying to say.

This wasn't too surprising, really.  The comment came in the morning after the Memorial.  As many of my ex-JW readers can attest, the Memorial season "brings out the crazies".  I remember as a kid, every year there was always that one brother in the congregation that you wouldn't see all year would be rocking back and forth and talking to himself.  Or, there would be the homeless looking guy that would partake every year, and you'd never see him again.  Or, there would be that family with the three daughters that were in their thirties that still lived at home, and made their own dresses and looked like fundamental Mormons that haven't bathed in 6 months.  Only the old timers in the congregation knew their names, and you would only see them on Memorial night.  They were the Boo Radleys of the Kingdom Hall.

Then you have the troublemakers.

I had another person, this time a Jehovah's Witness, track me down on Facebook and send the following message in response to my post about a local elder I knew, getting arrested on molestation charges.

"Are u saying this to stumble others?U will not succeed.Why did the pope travel to UK?Tell me the reasons.Do you know what has been happening to ur so called pastors,priests,popes and other people who claim to be worshiping the true God?"

I replied, stating that my intent wasn't to "stumble"(a term Witnesses like to use, meaning to shove them off the right path) anyone at all, but rather to share a story.  That story happened to be that an elder that I used to know liked blowing 14 year old boys and got caught.  This individual is from Ghana.  I'm not being racist, by any means, but just making an observation.

As a Jehovah's Witness, it is against the religion to read material from an "apostate", or someone that has left the organization and is writing things contrary to the religion's teachings.  It is also against the religion to speak to, or write to, such an individual.  Doing so can get yourself, as a Jehovah's Witness, kicked out of the church.  I have noticed, in recent months, among my blog and other ex-JW pages on the web, there is a lot of activity by Jehovah's Witnesses from Africa, particularly Ghana and Kenya.  I get at least a dozen page views a day between the two countries, and I imagine they're not reading about the 'Hangover 2' trailer.  I have seen so called "brothers", openly taunting former members of the church on other websites.  It's almost as if the "don't talk to the disfellowshipped" rule doesn't apply to that continent.  Here's this "brother's" response to mine.

"I can only compare u to those in the past.Eg. Like Hitler,didnt he say he will wipe out all witnesses,where is he now and how many witnesses are now in Germany.Dont believe in God and do whatever u like in life and u will see ur end.Even those u had depended on them believe in God.Dont think i will argue with Satan.Mind u i wont read ur reply."

What a nice guy, comparing me to Hitler and all.  I write a blog.  Hitler killed 6 million Jews.  Same thing, I guess.  Same level of evil.  Of course, he did the standard Witness retort in any debate:  "Hit you opponent like a girl.  Get the last word.  Then, run like hell with your fingers in your ears yelling, "I can't hear you."

Finally, is the pièce de résistance.  This one takes the meter way past logical thinking....past conspiracy theories...and enters the territory of sheer lunacy.  It's so mad, I'm not even going to share any details as to who it's from, their website, or any of the text I received.  You're going to have to Google it.


I received a comment a couple of months ago from someone.  It seemed simple enough.  It was along the lines of, "Great post.  I can relate.  Oh yeah, by the way.  I have an ex-JW blog too.  Check it out".  And, there was a link posted for me to follow.  What I read was so "out there", that it made the conspiracy theories of Bigfoot being the second shooter behind the grassy knoll that killed JFK seem plausible.


OK, some back story.  The Jehovah's Witnesses despise the United Nations.  In fact, they think the bible book of Revelation prophesies that the U.N. will be instrumental in bringing about the events that lead to Armageddon.  They, supposedly, want nothing to do with it.


A few years ago, some documents surfaced that suggested that they were an Associate Member of the United Nations Department of Public Information.  From February 1992, until October 2001, they held an NGO (Non Governmental Organization) status with the United Nations, until the day when The Guardian newspaper published a story about their U.N. involvement.


The blog I was linked to states that the reason that the Witnesses were involved with the U.N. was because of.....extraterrestrials.  That's right, aliens.  Keep in mind, when it comes to the bible, the Witnesses are literalists.  They do not believe in evolution, and they DO NOT believe in life on other planets.  However, this blog claims to "prove" that we have been "visited" before, and that, not only are the world's governments aware of it, but they are making plans in the event of an alien invasion.


His reasoning is this:  If life is proven outside our planet...if an alien spacecraft lands in the National Mall in Washington D.C. tomorrow afternoon, people aren't going to be calling their Senator.  They're going to freak out, and head straight for their local church.  Supposedly, the higher ups at the JWs joined the U.N., along with all of the other religions of the world, to develop a contingency plan on how to handle their followers, when and if that day ever occurs.


Puts a whole new meaning to, "The "truth" is out there", doesn't it?

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.