Five members of Jehovah's Witness congregations in PA charged with child sexual abuse

Five additional people with ties to Jehovah's Witnesses have been indicted on child sexual abuse charges stemming from a three-year, special grand jury investigation, according to the Pennsylvania attorney general's office.

Four of the men have been detained while a fifth, Norman Aviles, a 44-year-old Lancaster County resident, remains at-large.

Kevin Isovitsch, 51, of Butler County has also been charged with rape.

"These cases, as all of them are, are disturbing and sad," acting Attorney General Michelle Henry said Tuesday during a press conference. "But this one in particular digs deeper because, in this case, all of the defendants and all of the victims come from the same religious organization: the Jehovah Witnesses. Some of these defendants even used their faith communities to prey upon the victims, and others had to look no further than their own families."

The 49th Investigating Grand Jury first indicted four men connected to the religious organization in October. It's now brought charges against five men from Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lancaster counties whose victims ranged in age from 5 to 15 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.

Each of the men was charged with indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and corrupting a minor. Some of the suspects face additional charges as noted below.

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Aviles allegedly molested three children between the ages of 5 and 10 from June 1, 1998, until the end of 2004 while he was a member of both the Spanish-speaking east and west Jehovah's Witnesses congregations in Lancaster County. Aviles, according to Henry, was an elder in his congregation and therefore gained a rapport with many of the parents, which afforded him access to their children.

Lancaster Police investigated the claims in 2010, but the case was closed due to a lack of evidence, evidence that the grand jury was able to obtain.

Aviles also faces a charge of aggravated indecent assault.

Anyone with information about his case, or the cases of the other men, are encouraged to call the Office of Attorney General’s hotline at 888-538-8541. Anyone with information about child sexual abuse should report to ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313.

The other suspects, charged and detained as part of the investigation, are:

Kevin Isovitsch, 51, of Butler County. Isovitsch, who is associated with the Chicora congregation of the Jehovah's Witnesses, is accused of sexually assaulting his 9-year-old niece when she was at his West Sunbury home playing with her cousins. The abuse occurred in Isovitsch's bedroom but was interrupted when his wife returned home. The victim later told her brother about the incident. The victim disclosed the alleged abuse to her parents when the subject of sexual contact came up during family worship. Isovitsch was in his 30s at the time of the alleged assault.

In addition to the other charges, Isovitsch also faces charges of rape and aggravated indecent assault.

Abimael Valentin Matos, 42, of Lancaster County. Like Aviles, Matos was also an elder at his Lancaster church, the "east" congregation, when the alleged abuse occurred. The victim reported that in 2004 her mother moved her and her two sisters into Matos' home to save money to buy their own house. The victim reported that Matos abused her during this time. Matos allegedly took a romantic interest in the teen, who was half his age at the time, and he hoped to eventually marry her. Church elders noticed his interest in the girl and approved of it under the condition that he vowed to marry her and that a chaperone be present during any such courting of the victim.

During the course of the grand jury investigation, the victim also reported being among Aviles' victims.

Marc Brown, 65, of Allegheny County. Brown allegedly assaulted two sisters ages 10 and 13, for whom he was the legal guardian, between 2004 and 2006. The abuse occurred frequently in the house when their mother was at work.

"He threatened the older sister that if she did anything to stop him or if she told anyone he would sexually abuse her younger sister, when in reality that was already happening," Henry said. "He was already doing that to her. She didn't know it."

In addition to the other charges, Brown also faces a charge of aggravated indecent assault.

Raymond Shultz, 74, of Beaver County. Shultz is accused of molesting two female relatives when they visited his home. One of the girls was between 6 and 9 years old at the time, which ranged from 2004 to 2007. The other victim was allegedly abused between 2000 and 2005, when she was between the ages of 5 and 10. Both victims said they received checks from their grandparents in the amount of $2,500 after a family member relayed to Shultz's wife that they were in counseling.

In addition to the other charges, Shultz also faces a charge of aggravated indecent assault.

How it started:Jehovah's Witnesses reportedly under investigation by Pennsylvania attorney general

Henry, noting that it was her first time speaking on charges involving child abuse charges since Gov. Josh Shapiro appointed her acting attorney general, said she wanted to "underscore" her commitment to addressing such cases.

"It is my solemn pledge that I will be here to help survivors," she said. "Much of my career spent as a prosecutor prior to joining this office was focused on prosecuting those that sexually abused children. I'm deeply aware of the impact these kind of cases have on the victims, have on the victim's family. And it is our duty to seek justice, to be their voice, to hold these individuals accountable so that they may have some hope of moving forward in life."

Matt Rink can be reached at mrink@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Five more Jehovah's Witnesses charged with child sexual abuse in PA