Five women in California have filed a lawsuit alleging that a non-denominational Christian organization covered up cases of child sexual abuse and placed financial pressure on members to the point that some took their own lives.
The lawsuit filed late last month names the five plaintiffs as sisters Darleen Diaz, 33, and Bernice Perez, 31. Ashley Ruiz, 31, Salud Gonzelez, 30, and Elena Peltola, 23, are also named.
The women allege that the International Churches of Christ (ICOC) and affiliated organizations, including Hope Worldwide, Mercy Worldwide, International Christian Church and City of Angels International Christian Church, “indoctrinated” and isolated them while sexually exploiting and manipulating them. through a strict belief system, according to Rolling Stone.
The lawsuit also names as defendants leaders Kip McKean, the church’s founder, and the estate of the late Charles “Chuck” Lucas. The women allege that church leaders set up a system of exploitation that extracts everything it can from members.
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The women allege that the International Churches of Christ (ICOC) and affiliated organizations abused them.
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The lawsuit further claims that church members were pressured to fund special mission trips twice a year and tithe 10% of their income to the church to the point that some were driven to depression and suicide.
“If the tithing budget was not met, leaders or ‘disciplers’ were either forced to contribute to the financial shortfall themselves, or members were asked to locate the offending member who did not tithe and sit on their porch. until he got home in an attempt to get his tithing funds before the end of Sunday night,” according to the lawsuit.
“The pressure to comply with the rigid demands of the church was a source of anxiety and depression for many members,” according to the lawsuit. “So much so that several former members committed suicide.”
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The Diaz and Perez sisters named convicted pedophile David Saracino as their abuser and claimed the church failed to adequately protect them from him.
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Church members were also reportedly charged a fee for bringing more members into the organization, apparently in order to collect more tithes.
The Diaz and Perez sisters named convicted pedophile David Saracino as their abuser and claimed the church failed to adequately protect them from him. His alleged crimes include telling the girls “that they needed a bath,” which they say he used as an “opportunity to fondle their naked bodies while bathing.” Ruiz claimed that Saracino performed a sexual act on her.
When their mother spoke to church leaders about Saracino’s abuse, the sisters say they told her about the allegation so she could evade authorities.
Saracino was ultimately sentenced to 40 years in prison for raping a 4-year-old boy. A judge told him that he is the type of person maximum sentences are designed for.
David Saracino was sentenced in 2012 to 40 years in prison for raping a 4-year-old girl. A judge told him that he is the type of person maximum sentences are designed for.
González claimed that she was sexually assaulted by a Sunday school teacher over a period of five years beginning at age 4. She also alleged that she was abused again in a church-connected rehab program when she was 15, and again when she was 17. According to Gonzelez, the abuse she experienced led to a suicide attempt because she lacked the support of the church.
Peltola also reported being raped in 2012 during a mission trip to Honduras by an ICOC member when she was just 13 years old. She alleged that when she reported the rape of her, ICOC and Hope Worldwide leaders “victim blamed” her and called her a “slut” for several months before finally expelling her, claiming it was a “liability.”
“Although the sexual abuse happened to me at the ICOC around the age of five and robbed me of my childhood, the trauma also followed me into adulthood, where I feel like I’m always in survival mode,” Ruiz told Rolling Stone. “Having some sort of legal closure and acknowledgment of what happened to me as a child…will be tremendously helpful!”
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A lawyer said that “ICOC/ICC members and their affiliates groomed and sexually abused children as young as three years old.”
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“For decades, ICOC/ICC members and their affiliates groomed and sexually abused children as young as three years old,” Bobby Samini, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“Instead of reporting the sexual abuse to law enforcement, ‘church’ leaders blatantly attacked and blamed survivors, warning them they ‘risked losing their salvation’ unless they forgave their abusers,” Samini said. “The lawsuit…will expose perpetrators in the ICOC/ICC and its affiliates who claim to be pious, while enabling the sexual abuse of children.”
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ICOC did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by press time, although a member of the church’s New York City branch told The Christian Post that churches in ICOC are united only by their beliefs. and they are not governed by a power station. authority.
