BATON ROUGE, La. – A Louisiana woman, decades after suffering alleged sexual abuse at the hands of church members, filed a federal lawsuit against the church and its leaders.
Plaintiff Jane H.C. Doe filed her lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
According to her 11-page complaint, her name and address are not contained in the filing to protect her privacy and identity “as she incurred injuries and damages of a sensitive nature as a result of the intentional and negligent acts and failures” of the defendants. She is in her mid-50s, based on information in her lawsuit..
John Doe Church, John Doe Church Corporation, John Doe Ward 1, and John Doe Ward 2 are the defendants in the suit. Their names, too, are not contained in the filing. However, she claims John Doe Church is based in Salt Lake City.
According to the complaint, John Doe Church Corporation “operates, maintains, and manages” the church’s properties, including those in Louisiana.
The church, the filing explains, is divided into “geographical wards, stakes and areas.”
“Each ward has a presiding Bishop who guides and directs Elders for Defendant John Doe Church, Each presiding Bishop, and the Church Elders, serve at the pleasure of and are subject to the direct and absolute control of, Defendant John Doe Church,” the complaint states.
John Doe Ward 1 is located in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The plaintiff claims she was a member of the ward from birth until she was 8 or 9 years old. Starting at 3, she alleges she was abused by its members.
“These abuses were made known to Defendant John Doe Ward 1’s highest leader within the ward, its Bishop, who failed to report the abuses, and failed to protect Plaintiff from further abuses,” her filing states.
John Doe Ward 2 is located in Denham Springs, Louisiana. The plaintiff claims she became a member after moving to Louisiana when she was 8 or 9 years old. There, again, she alleges she was abused by its members.
“In weekly Sunday church services at Defendant John Doe Church, Plaintiff was instructed to sit on the laps of various John Doe Church members. During the Church services, Plaintiff was fondled and vaginally penetrated by Church Members,” the complaint states.
“Plaintiff’s abusers organized themselves in a group called the ‘Elders Quorum’ and would meet each month at homes and locations outside the Church with the children and ‘pass them around.’”
She alleges she was raped on the premises of John Doe Ward 2 by “a man who was not her father” when she was cornered in a Sunday School room by a member of the Elders Quorum before a Sacrament meeting.
At the time of the alleged rape, the plaintiff was not yet 11 years old.
The plaintiff alleges that at age 12 – “empowered by recent knowledge about ‘good touch and bad touch’” and “exhausted” from years of abuse – she confronted her father about the abuses. She allegedly told him to confess to her mother, or she would tell her directly.
Soon after, her mother allegedly contacted John Doe Ward 2’s bishop, who visited the home. But no reports were made to local authorities, and the bishop took no action.
“After several weeks of seeing no action by John Doe Ward 2 to report Plaintiff’s father for the abuses, Plaintiff’s Aunt reported the abuse to local authorities,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff’s father was arrested along with other John Doe Church members and charged with child sex abuse. Plaintiff’s father was tried and sentenced to prison.”
The alleged abuse, she contends, forced her to run away from home and marry at 15 years old. She also did not finish high school, but eventually earned her GED. She never was able to attend college, a dream of hers, she claims.
“As Plaintiff’s abuse occurred at such a young age, she repressed the memories of the facts for the majority of her life,” the lawsuit states. “Only approximately 50 years after the abuse did she have a more complete recollection of the facts of her abuse, leading her to attempted suicide.
“She continues to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and is currently in therapy treatment to address the consequences of the abuse.”
The plaintiff contends she has suffered “devastating and life-long emotional trauma” as a result of the psychological harm caused by the alleged abuse.
She seeks damages, attorney fees and court costs.
Motley Rice LLC in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, is representing the plaintiff in the action.
