Another former Jehovah’s Witnesses member has been convicted of sexually assaulting a child after a statewide investigation charged multiple members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith with abusing children, some for over a decade.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office says Shaun Sheffer of Butler County was convicted of sexually assaulting a pre-teen child in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Sheffer was convicted of three counts of rape — including rape of a person with a mental disability — and three counts of indecent assault.
“This defendant sexually assaulted a victim who was wholly vulnerable due to their age and mental disability,” Attorney General Henry said. “I commend the grand jurors, the trial jurors, and, of course, the brave victim for ensuring a predator did not escape justice.”
The charges stem from the 49th Investigating Grand Jury and were filed and prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General. Since February 2023, more than a dozen men have been charged in connection with the investigation into Jehovah’s Witnesses members.
In November 2024, Norman Aviles-Garriga, who was a Jehovah’s Witness elder in Lancaster County, was sentenced to 11.5 to 23 years in prison for the sexual abuse of three children. Luis Manuel Ayala-Velasquez, of Reading, was sentenced to up to 46 years in prison in July.
