A Houston area church is being sued by a mother who alleges officials at the church tried to cover up the sexual abuse of minors by a Youth Pastor.
The church, Champion Forest Baptist church is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, which the lawsuit alleges has a history of covering up abuse in its ranks. One of their ex-youth pastors even pleaded guilty to sexual abuse and sexual assault allegations back in 2018.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Harris County District Court last week (Case No. 2022-82730) alleges that the mother and her child were getting ready to attend a program that they attended every Monday. The child on this particular day suddenly expressed fear about going to church. When the mother asked why he was afraid of going, the child told her that the day before, one of the teachers, kept asking the child to go to a private restroom. The child refused to go to the restroom, and the teacher started to slap the child on the forehead multiple times before forcing him to go. The teacher then exposed himself to the child.
The lawsuit further alleges that the mother then tried to get church officials to do an official investigation after another teacher confirmed the allegations the child made in regard to the slapping on the forehead before forcing the child to go to the restroom with him.
Instead of conducting an official investigation, the lawsuit states that one of the church Pastors met with the mother and told her that the teacher admitted to slapping the child on the forehead and was "excessively rough" with the child. The Pastor then proceeded to tell the mother that the teacher justified his actions because he just found out his wife had cancer.
However, according to the mother's attorney, the Sunday School teacher was not fired and the church never informed the rest of the congregation about the alleged abuse.
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