A new report has come to light about the coverup of a minor who was sexually abused back in 2018 from another church attendee at Gateway Church.
On April 18 of this year, Gateway settled on the case that was filed back in 2020 on behalf of the minor who attended Gateway Church and claimed to have been assaulted by another Gateway Church member around March 14, 2018.
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In the lawsuit, posted by the Christian Post, five ordained pastors from Gateway are named as defendants who knew about the incident: Samantha Golden, Sion Alford, Kelly Jones, Rebecca Wilson and Mondoe Davis. Logan Edwards and Kathryn Edwards are also named as defendants.
In the Gateway Church lawsuit, one of the defendants, Logan Edwards, a youth leader at the church, was aware of the situation early on.
“Conversations with the alleged perpetrator and other youths that attended Gateway by virtue of his role as a youth leader within the church. On or around March, 19, 2018, Logan approached the alleged perpetrator and conversed on the topic of the incidence of sexual assault.”
The document further recognizes that: “Defendant Logan shared the information he had been provided by the youths, alleged perpetrator and Plaintiff Doe with Plaintiff Kathryn and various other pastors of Gateway and named Defendants.”
“Defendants Samantha, Sion, Kelly, Rebecca, and Mondoe were all informed of the sexual assault accusations to which Plaintiff Doe subjected to as being the central leadership of Gateway. Although Defendants were made aware of the sexual assault accusations made by Plaintiff Doe, a minor, none filed a formal complaint with the necessary child protective agencies, law enforcement agencies, or even alerted Plaintiff Doe’s mother, to the existence of the alleged assault.”
The suit says that the named defendants engaged in conversations with the alleged offender and their parents. The plaintiff’s mother also reported the incident to the Haltom City Police Department. It is noted that the defendants of the case tried to conceal the truth behind this case.
“The Defendants who were ordained pastors of Gateway, embarked on a concerted campaign to conceal, misconstrue and discredit the assault accusations while the active criminal investigation was ongoing,” the suit reads.
“Defendants encouraged other members of Gateway to ostracize Plaintiff and had her removed from the various ministries of which she had served dutifully.”
The settlement to the case came on April 18, which states that “Defendant Gateway Church shall pay of have paid on their behalf to the Minor the sums set forth in the confidential Compromise Settlement and Release Agreement which has been presented to and approved by the Court.”
The exact amount that the plaintiffs of the case requested was over $200,000 but not more than $5,000,000.
You can read the lawsuit here and the settlement here.
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Abby Trivett is content development editor for Charisma Media.
Abby Trivett is copywriter for Charisma and an editorial intern.