Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., and its present and former leaders are named defendants in two lawsuits filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court Dec. 3.
The Southern Baptist church has made headlines for more than a year now, amid allegations of sexual abuse of minors by a former assistant children’s minister and a volunteer youth leader. Former pastor Steven Smith resigned earlier this year as accusations mounted that he mishandled the supervision of these leaders and the response to allegations of abuse.
Once the largest Southern Baptist church in the state, Immanuel has lost hundreds of members and remains in turmoil as it attempts to adopt bylaws for the first time. In the absence of bylaws, there was no clear path to hold the pastor accountable for his alleged failures in responding to abuse allegations.
The Arkansas church has become a prominent exhibit in the larger issue of sexual abuse in the SBC, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Attorneys for Jane Doe and John Doe in these cases attempt to link Immanuel’s problems to this larger culture of denial.
The Arkansas church has become a prominent exhibit in the larger issue of sexual abuse in the SBC.
The plaintiff in one case is a woman, identified only as Jane Doe, who claims while she was a minor at the church, former Assistant Children’s Minister Patrick Stephen Miller groomed her and abused her in 2014 and 2015. The suit alleges church leaders gave Miller unfettered access “to spread his web of sexual assault across a generation of prepubescent girls.”
The plaintiff in the other case is a man, identified only as John Doe, who claims while he was a minor at the church former youth lay leader Reagan Gray “groomed him over months culminating in sexual abuse and sexual assault while he was a 15-year-old boy.”
Both these cases have been highlighted in previous reporting both by BNG and by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. What’s new is the legal filings that make formal accusations.
The allegations against Gray appears to be isolated to one known victim, while the allegations against Miller span multiple children.
“For some girls, including Jane Doe, that web manifested in criminal sexual assault on Immanuel’s grounds,” the suit states. “For others, including daughters of several deacons, that web manifested itself in grooming so Miller could normalize and prep further victims for his sexual assaults.”
Jane Doe, the suit says, seeks “to shine further light on what happened to her and to others, to hold accountable those who were charged with protecting her and others who failed to protect them, and to seek compensation for the devastating effects and damages Immanuel’s negligence caused her.”
John Doe, the suit says, seeks “to make an example that will deter churches in the future from similarly turning a blind eye to child sexual abuse by clergy and staff.”
He alleges Gray “used her position as a certified volunteer in the middle school, high school, and music ministries, and agent of Immanuel, to sexually abuse and engage in sexual contact with John Doe when John Doe was a minor child and was under the care, custody, and control of Immanuel.
“While Gray was sexually abusing John Doe, Immanuel knew or should have known that Gray posed a danger to John Doe and others. Despite Immanuel’s knowledge, Immanuel failed to take reasonable steps to protect John Doe from the danger of being sexually abused by Gray.”
Those failures include not reporting abuse to local law enforcement authorities, the suit states. Pastor Smith’s “failure to act led to further acts of sexual abuse by Gray onto John Doe.”
Both Miller and Gray are currently facing criminal charges related to the incidents at Immanuel.
Attorney Joseph Gates represents both plaintiffs in these cases. A news release from his law firm stated: “Immanuel fostered an environment where abuse could occur unchecked. Further, when church leaders were confronted with reasonable suspicion that child sexual abuse was occurring, they failed to report and failed to act, which caused the sexual abuse to continue. Despite extensive efforts to resolve the matter outside of the courtroom, negotiations came to a standstill, prompting the decision to move forward with litigation.”
Gates said: “Church leadership has refused to acknowledge and accept the full extent of their responsibility in allowing these heinous acts to take place. As a result, we have been left with no choice but to bring these lawsuits.”
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