A new lawsuit alleges that Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California, a prominent nondenominational church once led by John MacArthur, aided and abetted a child abuser.
A plaintiff identified as Jane Doe and three minors identified as “J.J.,” “A.J.,” and “R.J.” filed a complaint for damages against GCC and an individual named Clinton Jung in the Superior Court of the State of California in Sacramento County back in September.
According to the complaint, a copy of which was provided to The Christian Post on Nov. 17, Doe was married to Jung and had reported to Grace Community leaders in early 2021 that he had sexually abused their toddler-aged daughter.
Doe alleges that GCC leadership attempted to conceal Jung’s abusive behavior despite being legally required to report such abuse to authorities and told her to “submit” to Jung’s authority as he continued to abuse her and their children.
“At numerous points, the Church colluded with Clinton to force Plaintiff to remain in the home with him and under his control despite knowing he had engaged in domestic violence and was likely to do it again in the future,” the complaint claims.
“Clinton was emboldened to repeatedly engage in his conduct, including by sexually abusing his toddler again and again — conduct that a single report by the Church to proper authorities, at any of the numerous points during which the Church became aware of suspected abuse, could have prevented.”
Additionally, according to the suit, when Doe and her children finally left Jung, church leaders testified on his behalf in support of being allowed weekly supervised visitation.
On one of these weekly visits, Jung allegedly forced J.J. to touch his penis. While at another visit, he allegedly took J.J. to a hotel bathroom and forced her to look at his penis.
The complaint alleges childhood sexual abuse, negligence, domestic violence, and aiding and abetting domestic violence, and demands a jury trial for the proceedings.
Following what the complaint called “a lengthy investigation,” a district attorney could not file charges against Jung “due to an inability to prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The lawsuit also cites a 2023 letter from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office to investigating officers, which involved rebuking the church over the alleged incident.
“[T]he pastor and elders at Grace Community Church muddled what could have been helpful evidence as to [Clinton’s] intent,” states the letter, which is quoted in the suit.
“Their arrogance in attempting to handle such a delicate — and potentially criminal — matter, in house, and without the due diligence that certainly would have triggered their mandatory reporting edicts, hinders our ability to use the prior events to ascertain the suspect’s intent.”
Shounak Dharap, an attorney and partner at the San Francisco, California-based Arns Davis Law, who is representing the plaintiffs, told CP in an interview on Friday that the complaint was in the process of being served to GCC.
Grace Community Church accused of ‘aiding and abetting’ abuser | Church & Ministries
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