Top Plaintiffs' Verdicts by Impact - Doe v. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc.

What attorneys involved now call the first verdict in the nation against the Jehovah's Witnesses - and the largest nationwide for an individual victim of child sexual abuse in a religious setting - came as somewhat of a surprise to the plaintiff's lawyer, Richard J. Simons.

"You never expect anything," he said. "I've been in the system 40 years and have had a lot of trials, and I never know what to expect. So you just wait and see what their take on things is."

The verdict came in response to a complaint filed by Candace Conti, a 27-year-old former Jehovah's Witness who claimed that as a child she was sexually assaulted by a member and former office member of Jehovah's Witness of Fremont. She alleged that church leaders failed to publicize or ostracize the member of child sexual abuse that occurred prior to the assault on Conti. Doe v. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc. et al, HG11558324 (Alameda Super. Ct., filed Jan. 28, 2011)

Conti also stated that she told the church about her abuse in 2009 after learning that the man who sexually abused her was a registered sex offender. Conti said she pleaded with church leaders in Los Angeles and Fremont to make that fact publicly known. But the church, she claimed, did nothing.

Even with what Simons' categorized as a strong case, the verdict was far from certain, he said. But the jury sided with Conti - to the tune of more than $28 million. Jurors even made a point to add their own signatures to the verdict, Simons said.

"I asked for $21 million in punitive damages, and they awarded $21 million and one, because they said it needed an exclamation point."

Simons, who has represented victims of sexual abuse by members of religious institutions, said plaintiffs' success is usually determined by a few factors: the severity of the abuse, the plaintiff's notice to the institution and the institution's policy changes to protect victims of sexual abuse.

The Jehovah's Witnesses hadn't made such changes, Simons said. "They were defiant."

Since the verdict, however, the church has implemented a change to its policy. Now, according to Simons, if two separate victims approach the church, leaders will ban the accused member from the congregation. In the past, an eyewitness was necessary for such a ban.

"In lawsuits, we always focus on the money, but in this lawsuit, the money was really the way to force the Jehovah's Witnesses to come into the 21st century with regards to protecting children," Simons said.

The case is currently on appeal.

- HAMED ALEAZIZ

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