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In the wake of continued obfuscation of abuse by the Catholic Church, the Westminster pedophile dossier, sexual abuse in Hollywood and on; information that money, power and influence allow yet another institution to commit, conceal, ignore and enable one of the most heinous crimes on the books shouldn't be news yet here we are again.

Reveal, the podcasting arm of the Center for Investigative Reporting, recently did a multi-article expose on child sexual abuse within the Jehovah's Witnesses they called Hidden Abuse Under the Watchtower. Their flagship for the series being a ~50 minute episode of their podcast called: Secrets of the Watchtower

For the past two years, Reveal reporter Trey Bundy has been uncovering how the Jehovah’s Witnesses hide child sexual abuse in their congregations – in fact, it’s official policy. The religion’s leaders have been going to extreme lengths to keep the details from public view.

On this episode of Reveal, we track down people who know the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ secrets and expose stories behind a religion with 8 million followers across the globe.

We begin in San Diego, where Trey meets an attorney trying to get access to a Jehovah’s Witnesses database containing the names and whereabouts of likely thousands of accused child abusers within the organization – living freely in communities across the U.S.

Later in the hour, we hear from a victim who tells us how the threat of being banished from their communities keeps members from reporting abuse.

Trey’s investigation also takes him to the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, the Watchtower, where the culture of secrecy goes far beyond child abuse – it’s a core part of life. Watchtower leaders have refused to talk to Trey, but a former insider told him some of their secrets.

Finally, host Al Letson sits down with Trey to talk about why the FBI or police haven’t just stormed the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ headquarters and taken their child abuse files by force.

Note: This episode deals with sexual abuse and might be disturbing for some listeners.

It's an episode I encourage everyone who can stomach it to listen to, as well as viewing the links under it, because continuing to be in the dark is one of the reasons these events still propagate. A mix of elements from Scientology to the Catholic Church are utilized by the Watchtower. Abusers are spirited away sometimes to more prominent positions where they only gain more access to families and their children. The justice system is made to look like a child begging for sweets when they request documentation of the abuse. Those abused are made to feel like they're at fault and are shunned by former friends and family for blasphemy against the faith. It's all there, all uncomfortable and sickening and it needs a brighter spotlight put on it.