A 26-year-old man who claims he was sexually abused by his elder in the San Dimas Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses when he was just 6 years old is suing the world organization.

Kevin Ramirez said the alleged abuse occurred on numerous occasions including during and after church events from 1999 to 2001, when he was 8. Ramirez said he was forced to fondle his elder and to be touched by the man, which his family was discouraged from reporting to authorities.

“He would tell us these are the things we would need to do or if we don’t do them then we wouldn’t make it to what they call paradise,” Ramirez said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit Tuesday, Aug. 20, at the offices of Zalkin Law Firm in Los Angeles.

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the San Dimas congregation names various levels of the organization’s hierarchy, including the eight-member governing body for the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The suit filed Aug. 15 alleges negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment and seeks unspecified damages.

According to a statement provided Tuesday by Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, U.S. Branch, the Watchtower, the nonprofit corporation that supports Jehovah’s Witnesses and their work, “does not comment on the details of pending litigation.”

“Watchtower’s stand on the subject of child abuse is very clear: we despise child abuse in any form. Our hearts go out to anyone who suffered as a result of child sexual abuse. Over the years, Watchtower’s publications have addressed this topic with a view to equipping parents to protect their children,” the statement reads.

Ramirez said the abuse began when he started attending Bible study led by a congregation elder, a position equivalent to a priest. The abuse also allegedly occurred when the duo would go out on field service.

In 2001, Ramirez told his parents about the alleged abuse. They then reported it to congregation elders, he said.

Irwin Zalkin, one of the attorneys representing Ramirez, said the elders conducted a judicial committee and essentially ex-communicated the accused elder. In cases like that, the congregation is never told why someone has been ex-communicated nor is it reported to the police, Zalkin said.

“This young man never really received the justice he deserves,” Zalkin said.

According to the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, U.S. Branch’s statement, the “Watchtower’s practice is to always follow the law, and we support the efforts of elders in congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses to do the same.”

Zalkin and attorney Ross Leonoudakis with the Texas-based law firm Nix Patterson said their firms both have experience dealing with child sex abuse cases involving Jehovah’s Witnesses. The firm Nix Patterson won a $35 million judgement in 2018 for a sex abuse survivor in Montana.

The attorneys say there is a pervasive and a severe problem of child sexual abuse within that organization, which it has been covering up for decades.

“They do have what I refer to as a crisis of silence in the organization, they’re extremely secretive and keep themselves insulated from the outside world,” Zalkin said.

On Tuesday, Ramirez said he is now atheist and has not seen or driven by the San Dimas Kindgom Hall in a long time.

But there are constant daily reminders of the abuse, he said.

“Practically every time I drive by a Kingdom Hall I feel disgust because you never know what’s going on behind closed doors. You never know if kids are going through the same thing,” Ramirez said.

In those moments, he also feels angry, he said, but he decided to speak up to encourage others to do the same.

Zalkin said victims of childhood sex abuse suffer with lifelong consequences.

“We are going to do our best to get Kevin a fair financial resolution to help him the rest of his life,” Zalkin said. The effects of the abuse, he added, are “insidious and it appears and rears its head at different times in a human’s life and causes havoc.”