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AMANDA: 48-YEAR-OLD HEATHER STEELE OF WINTER GARDEN CLAIMS SHE SUFFERED OVER A DECADE OF SEXUAL ABUSE BY A MEMBER OF THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESS CONGREGATION HER FAMILY BELONGED TO IN UPSTATE NEW YORK. >> THAT ABUSE STARTED WHEN I WAS A TODDLER, STILL IN DIAPERS. AMANDA: STEELE SAYS SHE WAS ABUSED BY A MAN WITHIN THE CHURCH WHO BEFRIENDED HER PARENTS IN THE 1970’S. SHE SAYS THE ABUSE PROGRESSED OVER THE YEARS FROM FONDLING TO RAPE. WHEN STEELE WAS 11, A SEX EDUCATION CLASS AT SCHOOL LEAD HER TO TELL HER MOTHER WHAT WAS HAPPENING. SHE SAYS HER PARENTS WERE DEVESTATED, AND WENT TO THE ELDERS OF HER JEHOVAH’S WITNESS CONGREGATION TO REPORT IT. >> WE HAD SEVERAL MEETINGS WITH CIRCUIT OVERSEERS AND THE GOVERNING PEOPLE THAT WOULD COME AND TRY TO TELL US THAT IT WAS IN OUR IMAGINATION. AMANDA: STEELE SAYS DESPITE THE CONGREGATION’S DISMISSAL OF HER CLAIMS, HER FATHER WENT TO POLICE AND HER ABUSER WAS ARRESTED AND SENT TO PRISON FOR THREE YEARS. >> I KNOW HE WENT TO PRISON, BUT HE ONLY DID 3 AND HALF YEARS AND REALLY I DON’T FEEL LIKE I GOT ANY KIND OF JUSTICE FROM THAT. AMANDA: BUT NOW STEELE IS SEEKING NEW JUSTICE. THE WEEK IN NEW YORK STATE, THE CHILD VICTIMS ACT WENT INTO AFFECT AND OPENS A YEAR LONG WINDOW FOR ANY VICTIM OF CHILD ABUSE TO FILE A CLAIM, REGARDLESS OF WHEN THE ALLEGED ABUSE HAPPENED. SHE HAS JOINED AT LEAST ONE OTHER ALLEGED VICTIM IN SUING THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES HER LAWSUIT CLAIMS NOT ONLY WAS HER ALLEGED ABUSE BRUSHED ASIDE, BUT THAT THE ORGANIZATION ROUTINELY IGNORES ABUSE AND EVEN MAINTAINS A DATABASE OF CHURCH SEX OFFENDERS THAT’S KEPT SECRET. >> THEY KEEP IT UNDER WRAPS WITH THE ELDERS SO MUCH THAT THE OTHER MEMBERS OF CONGRETATION DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON AND THEIR CHILDREN ARE IN JEPORDY. AMANDA: STEELE SAYS HER ABUSE LEAD TO A STRUGGLE WITH ALCOHOLISM. SHE SAYS SHE HAS FOUND SOME HEALING THROUGH THERAPY AND HOPES SPEAKING OUT NOW WILL BRING MORE HEALING AND PROTECT OTHER CHILDREN FROM BEING HARMED. AMANDA DUKES, WESH 2 NEWS. SUMMER: WE’VE POSTED ALL OUR STORIES IN THIS SERIES TO OUR WEBSITE, WESH.CO

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A Central Florida woman claims years of abuse have been covered up within the Jehovah's Witnesses organization.Heather Steele, 48, says she was a baby when abuse from an elder started.She spoke to WESH 2's Amanda Dukes.Steele, of Winter Garden, claims she suffered over a decade of sexual abuse by a member of the Jehovah's Witness congregation her family belonged to in upstate New York."That abuse started when I was a toddler, still in diapers," Steele said.Steele said she was abused by a man within the church who befriended her parents in the 1970s. She said the abuse progressed over the years from fondling to rape."He would tell me how much he loved me, and I was his favorite, and I asked him, 'Well, my dad loves me, so how come he doesn't treat me like this?' And he would say, 'Well, that's a different kind of love,'" Steele said.When Steele was 11, a sex education class at school led her to tell her mother what was happening. She said her parents were devastated and went to the elders of her Jehovah's Witnesses congregation to report it."We had several meetings with circuit overseers and the governing people that would come and try to tell us that it was in our imagination," Steele said.Steele said despite the congregation's dismissal of her claims, her father went to police and her abuser was arrested and sent to prison for three years. "I know he went to prison, but he only did three and a half years, and really I don't feel like I got any kind of justice from that," Steele said.But now, Steele is seeking new justice. This week in New York state, the Child Victims Act went into effect and opens a year-long window for any victim of child abuse to file a claim, regardless of when the alleged abuse happened. Steele's lawsuit claims not only was her alleged abuse brushed aside, but that the organization routinely ignores abuse and even maintains a database of church sex offenders that's kept secret."They keep it under wraps with the elders so much that the other members of the congregation don't know what's going on, and their children are in jeopardy," Steele said.Steele said her abuse led to a struggle with alcoholism. She said she has found some healing through therapy and hopes speaking out now will bring more healing and protect other children from being harmed.