MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis-based Church of God in Christ has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a man claiming he was sexually abused by four different pastors at COGIC churches in New York as a child in the 1970s.
The suit claims the plaintiff, Warren Curtis, suffered abuse from about 1974-78, when he was about 12-16, after he joined a COGIC church in Albany, New York.
The lawsuit alleges the church engaged in a coordinated effort to conceal allegations of sexual assault and abuse by minors at the New York churches and other locations, and has adopted policies and practices intended to conceal sexual abuse.
“We believe that we will find out that this is a problem that is not unique, in the sense that the church was aware of issues dealing with the violation of children, and failed to take appropriate action,” said Curtis’ attorney Richard Serbin.
A spokesman for Church of God in Christ in Memphis said the church does not comment on pending litigation.
Serbin said he expects COGIC attorneys to file a response or objections, and those will be addressed during the litigation process.
The complaint states the abuse began when a pastor who was taking him home from choir practice began fondling him in his car. That later escalated to oral sex and sodomy in the car and a church parsonage. The victim was “embarrassed, scared and mortified but did not know how to respond.”
That pastor is also accused of assaulting the victim at a hotel during a church conference, where he said other church officials saw him but did not intervene, and at a funeral home.
Later, the suit claims, another pastor at the church began sexually abusing the boy. That pastor allegedly took the victim and two boys to a church revival in Mississippi, where they engaged in sexual acts with each other.
When the victim’s mother sent him to another location in Utica, New York, the victim claims the abuse continued at the hands of two more pastors, as well as one of the previous accused pastors.
In 1991 or 1992, the victim says he reported the abuse, but church leaders took no action except praying to remove the demons from him.
Two of the defendants are now believed to be dead. The two New York churches are named as defendants.
“Mr. Curtis has a great deal of courage because he’s made public these evil and heinous acts he suffered, which is not any easy thing to do, but his motive is unselfish,” Serbin said. “He hopes to stop the sexual exploitation of children and he believes there are many others out there like him that need a voice.”
