Pennsylvania Men Allegedly Used Jehovah’s Witness Hall to “Get Access” to Victims of Sexual Assault

On Monday, a grand jury indicted five members of the Jehovah’s Witness community in Pennsylvania on various charges of child sexual abuse.

Acting Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said the five men preyed on young members of their families and communities.

“The details of these crimes are sad and troubling, and the facts are getting even more disgusting as the defendants used their religious communities or their own families to gain access to the victims,” Henry said in a statement on Monday.

According to the lawsuit, 65-year-old Mark Brown, a member of the Allegheny County congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, allegedly raped two girls whose legal guardian he was between 2004 and 2006.

He was charged with aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children, and corrupting minors.

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Abimael Valentin-Mathos, 42, is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old parishioner in Lancaster County.

Abimael Valentin-Matos, 42, allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl he courted when he was twice her age. (Acting Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry)

The victim testified to the grand jury that Matos, who was 30 at the time and twice her age, “promised that he would eventually marry her and that they would be able to court in the presence of an escort in accordance with the instructions of the elders.” at the request of the court.

During one meeting in a public park in 2004, Matos allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl.

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Three other men – Raymond Schultz, 74, Kevin Isovitch, 51, and Norman Aviles, 44 – were also charged with child sexual abuse.

Four suspects have been arrested and Aviles is still at large, officials said.

FILE PHOTO: Kingdom Hall congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

The charges come after four other male Jehovah’s Witnesses were charged with child sexual abuse last October.

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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who was Attorney General at the time, said “these kids deserve to be protected and raised in the world, not hunted down.”

“These cases are alarming, the allegations are hard to imagine, and they all have one thing in common,” Shapiro said in October. “The 19 victims and the four men accused of sexually harassing them are members of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”