Why We Shouldn’t See the Elderly as Harmless Members of Society
Chronicles of the Secret JW Family — Story Ten
I am going to tell you a story about two elderly men. One is very religious. I will call him Henry for the sake of this story. Henry is an elderly Jehovah’s Witness man. He is well-dressed. He is seen walking down the streets in a small town carrying a bible. He is a father and a grandfather. He is in his early seventies. He knocks on doors to save people from the destruction of Armageddon. Likely when he is out and about preaching those around say “Oh what a nice old man.” Why? Why do people assume an elderly person is safe and nice? Henry caught my family's attention when my nine-year-old brother complained of being uncomfortable around him. My brother Brian was permitted to visit Henry, a widower, to keep him company. Henry was trusted because he was a Jehovah’s Witness. Mistake one. Trusting someone because they claim to worship your preferred god in your preferred religion is just reckless. Prisons are full of people who profess a belief in a god. It means nothing. Henry was permitted to spend alone time with my brother because he was elderly. Mistake two. Why would a person’s age deem them safe around children? Henry was elderly and could not perform sexually anymore. That’s ridiculous. A predator can offend with his words, his eyes, his hands, objects, and his ability to manipulate a child. Henry’s sex organs are irrelevant. My brother stated that Henry would follow him to the bathroom. While my brother was urinating, Henry would pretend to be fixing his hair in the mirror. Henry would suddenly have to wash his hands when my brother went to use the bathroom. The mirror and his eyes were what he used to try to glimpse at a young boy. My brother was being raised in a cult that does not call the police on predators. Henry was not allowed to have my brother over to his house anymore. The congregation was not warned. Months later Henry stopped coming to the Kingdom Hall. He was old. Maybe he was sick. It turned out Henry was in the custody of the county jail awaiting trial for the molestation of his own granddaughter. But he was elderly and nice? But he was a religious man? The outside world had to put cuffs on a child predator when a religious organization swept it under the rug. See, Henry’s granddaughter had “worldly” parents. They did not have to abide by the practices of protecting the Jehovah’s Witness religion by not calling the police. One more visit with this “nice” elderly man might have been a nightmare for my little brother. My brother knew something was very wrong and had the courage to tell the truth about Henry.
This second example is one much closer to me. This is a man who worked his butt off to support his seven children. He did hard labor for forty-six years to keep a roof over the heads of his family. This man is known in town to chit-chat and joke at local businesses. He even brings donuts to the car dealership staff sometimes. He stops in stores to shop and talks to strangers and is very friendly. He is likable. He is in his early eighties. He still drives and is in good health. He helps to care for his adult son who is unemployed. People in the town think he is such a stand-up guy. Little do they know that this man has molested multiple children starting from the time he was still a teenager. This man was a Jehovah’s Witness for many years walking onto people’s porches declaring God’s Kingdom. He was allowed into a religious organization just because he said he wanted to join. He wasn’t vetted as a safe person. All he had to do was say he wanted to be one of them.
The people of the town do not know that this man sexually abused his baby sister for years, waited for her to grow up then had seven kids with her. They don’t know he turned a r*pe victim into a wife for his own sick desires. Nice old fellow. That is what he is to those who do not know the real evil behind his elderly face. This man is my father. He is the man who told me when I was twelve that I would make men very happy one day with my nice butt. I wore long shirts from then on to cover my butt to disguise its shape. Is this man safe because he is in his eighties? He also has no sex organs that can harm anyone anymore. His mind is still sick. How do I know? One day three years ago he was in a Walmart with one of my siblings. They described an eighty-one-year-old man pointing out a girl. He said out loud “ What is she? Maybe 14? She looks like a nice snack.” He is a danger to children. He is a strong man. He can definitely overpower a child. Perhaps not that young lady he wanted at Walmart. He could overpower a younger child with no problem. Nobody in that store would guess that the old man was a danger to their children. He looks his age. He looks like a cute grandpa. My father also stated not too long ago that women who dress too provocatively deserve to be R-worded. They are asking for it. That is what he said. He may not be capable of overpowering a grown woman. The thing is he was when he was a young man working as a bricklayer. He was very strong then going around thinking women are asking to be assaulted. That is very scary.
He is not a safe person in society. He also has stated his opinion on daughters and fathers being together to one of his children. He said if a father and daughter want to be together then it should be allowable as long as they both agree to it. He thinks my mother consented as a nine-year-old girl when he was an eighteen-year-old man. Monsters walk out in the open in our society. You cannot tell who they are. Respect the elderly is what we are told. Why? Age does not change the mind of a predator. Age only takes away some of the ways in which they can harm innocent people.
Next time you are at a county fair or a zoo don’t think that young awkward guy has your alarm bells going off without also noticing the “nice old man” who just walked up and told a dumb joke to your family. Monsters were once young. They all have to age. Aging does not mean they are not still monsters. Many learn this the hard way. Being old is not a reason to respect or trust someone. These two stories of old men still posing a danger to society likely isn’t anything rare. It is a reminder. I have heard my own young daughter say “Oh, he’s so cute” when passing a very old man in public. Our children need to be taught a stranger is a stranger rather the person is seventeen or ninety. They can both be a real danger. Sadly, this is a part of our reality as parents.
