An Oklahoma woman who revealed sexual abuse by elders in the Jehovah's Witnesses has found herself bombarded by creepy and threatening graffiti, Reveal reports.
Debbie McDaniel, now 46, had been ousted from the Jehovah's Witnesses because she is gay and had become sexually active, according a Reveal story. McDaniel told the publication in a separate article that in retaliation for telling her story, members of her former chapter vandalized her home. Both stories were published Thursday.
One of the messages read, "Watch Tower knows all." Another said, "We'll be watching you in Mexico too!" referring to a trip she was planning. According to Reveal, the reference to Watch Tower may relate to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, the parent corporation of the Witnesses. The Watch Tower is also the name of the publication often distributed by the group that recruits by going door-to-door.
"They wrote on my bedroom door window, 6 feet from where I was sleeping, 'JW’s for the final win,'" McDaniel told Reveal.
Because McDaniel is gay, local police are treating the vandalism as a hate crime, Reveal reports. But McDaniel has been facing backlash for years.
According to Reveal, she has been shunned by the Witnesses -- which includes her family -- after elders basically spied on her and kicked her out in 1987, or "disfellowshipped" her for being sexually active.
During a tribunal about her sex life, McDaniel told Reveal they asked her prying and personal questions.
"Not just did you have sex with this person, but did you have an orgasm? Did you enjoy it? Where did he touch you? Where did you touch him?" she told Reveal.
One of the elders who harassed, questioned and ultimately kicked her out was Ronald Lawrence, who McDaniel said molested her when she was 8 years old. The abuse continued for five years.
"I thought it ironic that the man who had molested me was now going to oust me to keep his congregation clean." she told Reveal.
Reveal reports the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society had instructed leaders at its 14,000 congregations keep cases of child abuse secret to avoid costly litigation. The abuse is covered up, even from law enforcement.
McDaniel is treated as an outsider by people she has known for years who still call her abuser "Brother Ronnie," she told Reveal.
"In their mind, Ronnie’s a forgiven pedophile," she said. "But I've committed the unforgivable sin of speaking out against the organization about child abuse."
McDaniel has written a memoir about her experiences as a Jehova's Witness, called Out with Consequences: A Journey Out of Jehovah's Witnesses, published in February.
The religion was founded in the late 19th century in the United States and has 6.9 million active members in 235 countries, according to the BBC. They are perhaps best known for door-to-door evangelizing and adhere strictly to Bible text, do not celebrate holidays and birthdays and their beliefs are heavily apocalyptic.
Watch McDaniel discuss her experience in the first 20 minutes of this video produced by The ONE Church in Jesus Christ here:
