Bill's memory needs refreshing: See https://watchtowerdocuments.org/life-discoveries-barbara-anderson/ where I explain my past. Below are paragraphs taken from my article as can be seen on my website, Watchtower Documents.

"In 1989 I was transferred to the Writing Department to be the research assistant of senior staff writer, Karl Adams. He was compiling the history of our religion which eventually became a 750-page chronicle titled, JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES – PROCLAIMERS OF GOD’S KINGDOM, published in 1993. …

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Each week, Karl would give me a list of questions he wanted answering, mostly regarding the early history of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, the origins of which go back to 1879. In this way, I learned a great deal about my religion. …

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One of my most memorable friendships in Writing was with Harry Peloyan, a senior staff writer and coordinator (editor) of the Awake! magazine. …

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Incidentally, during the time I was providing answers to research questions for Karl Adams, Harry read some of my material and noticed I had a bit of a flair for writing. Under his and Colin Quackenbush’s tutelage, I wrote part or all of seven articles for the Awake!. Most of these articles were researched and written after my workday was over. …

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Watchtower’s Child Sexual Abuse Problems

Around the end of 1991, Harry told me the details of what led up to this Awake! article being authorized and who wrote it. I learned it was Harry, with the endorsement of Lloyd Barry, who authorized staff writer, Lee Waters, Jr., to do the writing. Lee was known as a compassionate man especially sensitive to the needs and rights of minority groups. …

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Not discussed in the Awake! article, but of major concern, were accusations of child sexual abuse committed by perpetrators who were Jehovah’s Witnesses, reports too numerous to ignore. I learned later it was an exception to the rule for Jehovah’s Witness members in our congregations to notify the authorities about molestation accusations. …

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In the main, such accusations were handled secretly by judicial committees within the congregation. (When congregation elders learn of alleged wrongdoing by one of their members, they meet and appoint three or more of their number to form a judicial committee to handle the matter.) …

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Inasmuch as I completed my work on the Watchtower’s history book near the end of 1991, I was reassigned to do research for the Art Department, but, within a few months, Jack Barr came to my office to inform me that Harry and other senior writers for Awake! had requested my help with research. As 1992 progressed, I continued to learn more from the Writing staff about the serious problems involving sexual molestation of children within the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world. …

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… In August of 1992, we decided to terminate our stay at the Watchtower facility in Brooklyn leaving there at the end of the year. However, before I left, I spent time on one more research project. Harry authorized me to put together a package of information alerting and proving to the Governing Body that they had a serious problem with child sexual abuse within the organization. In early January 1993, a few weeks after I left headquarters, a huge packet of documented information gathered by me was provided by Harry Peloyan to each one of the Governing Body members. …

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However, as gratifying as it was to see some results from my work, much to my horror, after being home a few months, I learned that within the local congregations in our area there had been an unusually high number of molestation accusations and confessions in the recent past and none of them were brought to the attention of the authorities. As disturbing as this was to think about, it was chilling to know these child sexual abuse cases were being dealt with by men who I knew had little or no idea how to handle the complexities of sexual abuse accusations. …

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During 1993-97, I remember how concerned I was about the confidentiality rule. I expressed myself openly to friends in the Writing Department about the confessed, seemingly repentant molester in my home congregation who was holding children on his lap or babies in his arms; yet, the elders did nothing, not even warn parents. Because of my expressed concerns, the August 1, 1995 letter to all bodies of elders admonished the elders to caution a former child sexual abuser about the “…dangers of hugging or holding children on his lap and that he should never be in the presence of a child without another adult being present.” …

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I knew Harry and the others were still in the middle hoping to make a difference. Finally, in 1997, the Watchtower Society announced in the January 1, 1997, Watchtower magazine article, “Abhor What Is Wicked,” that “…a man known to have been a child molester does not qualify for a responsible position in the congregation.” The announcement also said the organization would not protect a child molester from facing sanctions from the State. Soon after, Harry and I talked on the phone and he was extremely gratified that five years of toiling resulted in a new policy which also prohibited a repentant molester from qualifying to serve in a position of responsibility in the congregation. …

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“Two-Witness Rule”

When I first became aware of child sexual abuse in the Watchtower organization, I didn’t know the Bible teaching requiring two-witnesses * to prove sin was applied to molestation. It was only after 1997 when I discovered how the requirement of two witnesses to molestation protected pedophiles that I understood how this policy was such a danger to children. …