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ERIN: THERE WAS A DAY THAT MICHAEL EWING COULDN’T EVEN BEGIN TO TALK ABOUT THE ABUSE THAT HE SAYS HE ENDURED WHILE GROWING UP. BUT NOW HE’S FINALLY TAKING CONTROL AFTER RECENTLY LEARNING HIS ALLEGED ABUSER LIVED AND WORKED JUST 50 MILES FROM HIM, IN SOUTHERN PALM BEACH COUNTY. >> TWO YEARS AGO I COULDN’T HAVE DONE THIS. SO, IT’S NOT AS DIFFICULT ANYMORE TO TALK ABOUT IT. IT SUCKS, I HATE THE FACT THAT IT HAPPENED, I WISH IT HAD NOT HAPPENED, BUT IT DID, SO HERE I AM. ERIN: MICHAEL EWING GREW UP A JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES. IN FACT, HE STILL PROFESSES TO BE A WITNESS. HE SAYS HIS HORROR STORY STARTED WHEN HE WAS JUST 14. SEXUALLY ABUSED, RAPED BY A STUDENT MENTOR IN THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESS CHURCH NAMED IN THIS CIVIL SUIT JUST FILED IN NEW YORK. EWING SAYS HIS PARENTS NEVER KNEW. IN FACT, THEY INVITED HIS ALLEGED ABUSER, MICHAEL RUST, ON A FAMILY VACATION. >> WHEN WE WENT ON VACATION TO NEW YORK WE STOPPED IN VIRGINIA, I WAS MOLESTED, RAPED AT A KINGDOM HALL IN VIRGINIA. YOU WOULD THINK PARENTS WOULD KNOW OR SOMEONE WOULD SEE SOMETHING, BUT NO. THEY WERE DEAD ASLEEP. YOU USED TO GROW UP THINKING YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE, I WAS IT, RIGHT? YOU HAVE ALL THESE DEMONS IN YOU AND YOU ACT OUT IN ALL THESE WAYS THAT ARE THAT AREN’T APPROPRIATE, BUT YOU DO. ERIN: HE TOLD HIS PARENTS YEARS AGO, AND HIS FAMILY REPORTED IT TO LEADERS OF THE CONGREGATION. THAT RESULTED IN BOTH EWING AND RUST BEING KICKED OUT OF THE CHURCH. NOW, 30 YEARS LATER, EWING SAYS HE KNEW HE HAD TO DO SOMETHING. HE WAS HAVING BREAKFAST WITH HIS WIFE AT A STUART DINER, AND IN WALKED A JEHOVAH’S WITNESS AND A YOUNG BOY. >> I STARTED SHAKING, I COULDN’T EAT, MY WIFE SAW IT. I STARTED GETTING REALLY VISIBLY UPSET. I TOLD MY WIFE, THAT IS EXACTLY HOW IT WAS FOR ME, THAT’S HOW IT STARTED. ERIN: EWING HIRED AN ATTORNEY, AND LEARNED MICHAEL RUST WAS WORKING AS AN ASSISTANT PASTOR AT THE CALVARY CHAPEL CHURCH IN BOCA RATON. RUST, THE GOVERNING BODY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES, AND OTHERS WERE NAMED IN THE LAWSUIT WHEN A WINDOW OPENED IN NEW YORK ALLOWING CLAIMS PREVIOUSLY BARRED BY THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS TO NOW BE BROUGHT UNDER THE CHILD VICTIMS ACT. WE TRIED TALKING TO RUST, BUT HE WAS NOT HOME, AND DID NOT RETURN MULTIPLE CALLS FOR COMMENT. WHEN WE ASKED THE CALVARY CHURCH ABOUT RUST, THEY SAID IN PART, HE WAS IMMEDIATELY REMOVED FROM ANY RESPONSIBILITIES AT THE CHURCH AS CALVARY CHAPEL TAKES ANY ALLEGATION OF ABUSE INCREDIBLY SERIOUS. HE IS NO LONGER EMPLOYED OR SERVING AS A PASTOR. THE CHURCH TAKES CHILD SAFETY VERY SERIOUSLY AND HAS A CHILD SAFETY POLICY AND A ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICY REGARDING INAPPROPRIATE BOUNDARIES AND RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHILDREN AND ADULTS. >> THIS LAWSUIT IS COMING NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE DAMAGE THAT HAS BEEN DONE TO ME, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE THAT HAS BEEN DONE. EVEN MY BELIEF STRUCTURE IS HARD TO CLING TO. IT’S ABOUT BRING A VOICE TO OTHER VICTIMS. MY HOPE OUT OF THIS WHOLE THIN IS PEOPLE SEE IT AND REALIZE WHETHER THEY ARE 20 YEARS OLD OR WHETHER THEY ARE 50 YEARS OLD, IT WASN’T OK WHAT THEY WENT THROUGH, AND THEY COME FORWARD. ERIN: OUR INVESTIGATIVE TEAM LEARNED THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES HAD SETTLED LAWSUITS FROM COAST TO COAST AS A RESULT OF SIMILAR ALLEGATIONS. I REACHED OUT TO THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESS ORGANIZATION. THEY DID NOT RESPOND ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR CASE BUT DID GIVE A GENERAL STATEMENT SAYING THIS -- JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES ABHOR CHILD ABUSE AS A SIN AND CRIME. OUR POLICIES ON CHILD PROTECTION COMPLY WITH THE LAW, INCLUDING ANY REQUIREMENTS FOR ELDERS TO REPORT ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD ABUSE TO AUTHORITIES. OUR ORGANIZATION WILL CONTINUE TO PROMOTE C

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There have been damaging allegations against Jehovah's Witnesses in recent weeks. Our national investigative unit uncovered disturbing new accusations of child sexual abuse and cover-ups inside the organization. WPBF 25 News talked to a Stuart man who just filed a lawsuit naming not only the Jehovah's Witnesses organization, but also a Palm Beach County man. There was a day Michael Ewing couldn't talk about the abuse he says he endured while growing up.Now he's finally taking control after recently learning his alleged abuser lived and worked just 50 miles from him. "Two years ago, I couldn't have done this," said Ewing. "It's not as difficult anymore to talk about it. It sucks. I hate that the fact that it happened, but it did, so here I am."Ewing grew up a Jehovah's Witness and still professes to be a Witness. He said his horror started when he was 14. He said he was sexually abused and raped by a student mentor in the Jehovah's Witnesses organization. That man, Michael Rust, was named in Ewing’s civil suit just filed in New York. Ewing said his parents never knew. In fact, they invited his alleged abuser, Rust, on a family vacation."When we went on vacation in New York, we stopped in Virginia. I was molested, raped at a Kingdom Hall in Virginia," said Ewing."You would think parents would know or someone would see something, but no -- dead asleep," remembered Ewing. “You used to grow up thinking you are the only one."Thirty years later, Ewing said he knew he had to do something.He was having breakfast with his wife at a Stuart diner when a Jehovah's Witness and a young boy walked in."I started shaking. I couldn't eat. I started getting visibly upset. That is exactly how it was for me. That's how it started."Ewing hired an attorney and learned Rust was working as an assistant pastor at the Calvary Chapel Church in Boca Raton."Once we were able to say, 'Hey,' -- to Mike and that church -- 'this is what happened' and they eliminated his position, that's when the power started to shift."Rust, the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses and others were named in the lawsuit when a window opened in New York allowing claims previously barred by the statute of limitations to now be brought under the Child Victims Act.We tried talking to Rust, but he was not home and he did not return multiple calls for comment.When we asked the Calvary Church about Rust, employess they said in part: "He was immediately removed from any responsibilities at the church as Calvary Chapel takes any allegation of abuse incredibly serious. He is no longer employed or serving as a pastor. The church takes child safety very seriously and has a child safety policy and a zero-tolerance policy regarding inappropriate boundaries and relationships between children and adults. ""This lawsuit is done not just because of the damage that has been done to me, the physiological damage that has been done," said Ewing. "It's about bringing a voice to other victims. My hope out of this whole thing is people see, whether they are 20 years old or whether they are 50 years old, it wasn't OK what they went through and they come forward."Our investigative team learned the Jehovah's Witnesses has settled lawsuits from coast to coast as a result of similar allegations. We contacted the Jehovah's Witnesses organization. It did not respond about this particular case but did give a general statement saying: "Jehovah's Witnesses abhor child abuse as a sin and crime. Our policies on child protection comply with the law, including any requirements for elders to report allegations of child abuse to authorities. Our organization will continue to promote child protection education for parents."