Church enters settlement in alleged sex abuse case

Aug. 23--In an effort to eliminate future legal fees and end any doubt of innocence regarding what it refers to as unsubstantiated allegations, Temple Baptist Church in Kokomo has entered into a "nuisance" settlement with a former member.

That woman claimed church officials did not take proper action when they discovered allegations of sexual abuse against her that took place nearly 30 years ago.

During a hearing on the civil case last month in Cass County Superior Court II, Judge Richard Maughmer actually ruled in favor of Temple Baptist, stating there was an absence of evidence to support the woman's allegations, a church press release stated.

The nuisance agreement -- which essentially means the plaintiff won't be able to take the church back to court for this matter in the future -- came as a result of a recommendation by the church's insurance company, a Temple Baptist press release stated.

According to the release, Temple Baptist's insurance company is set to pay the woman $7,500 for attorney fees and related expenses, and any remaining balance will be paid to the woman's creditors as she filed for bankruptcy prior to filing the civil lawsuit.

"We intended to see the process through and continue defending what was being said about our church," Temple Baptist Pastor Dr. Mike Holloway said in the release. "After much deliberation, we eventually decided to accept our insurer's decision, which allows us to return to a singular focus of reaching our community for Christ and continuing to spread the Gospel around the world."

In February 2017, the plaintiff in this case went public with a statement claiming she was sexually abused by her father, who was a member of the church at the time, when she was a child in 1978, the release noted. The woman, who was not directly named in the lawsuit, claimed the church knew about the abuse and still did not attempt to limit her father's exposure to other children within the church.

The release also stated the church first became aware of a potential family dispute in 1989, but authorities did not bring any action against the family at that time, and it wasn't until two years later that Holloway was made aware of the alleged abuse.

Church officials claimed the pastor then immediately sought legal counsel and alerted the Christian Law Association, while also restricting the alleged abuser from access to all children and youth programs, the release noted.

And for the next 16 years, Temple Baptist received no additional complaints until the woman's public comments in 2017.

According to the release, several people took to the internet after those comments were made public and attempted to "damage the church and its long-standing reputation in the community," even claiming Temple Baptist encouraged the plaintiff's mother to stay with the alleged abuser despite apparently knowing what was taking place.

The nuisance settlement payment currently is awaiting approval from the bankruptcy court, and a website created by those detractors is no longer active online, the release stated.

"As a church in operation for more than 50 years, we understand some people disagree with our beliefs, and we accept that detractors will sometimes provide information critical of our church and those beliefs," Holloway noted in the release.

"However, the campaign far exceeded all decency in an attempt to ruin the lives of innocent people and the testimony of the church. ... I am grateful for the steadfastness of our church members and supporters during this time. Let us continue to show sympathy to those involved, while being grateful that our church has been vindicated."

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