Clergy Misconduct: $1.75 Million Paid to Abuse Victims

The Assemblies of God, which defrocked prominent preachers Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart in the late 1980s because of sexual infidelity, has reached an out-of-court settlement in a child sexual-molestation suit brought by five men.

The denomination paid part of the $1.75 million settlement last month, as did three codefendants: its Southern California district, the 190-member Good Shepherd Worship Center in Carlsbad, and its former senior pastor, Dalton Webber, Sr.

James E. Boyd II, now 27 and living in Beverly Hills, filed the original suit in January 1993, claiming Webber had sexually molested him more than 100 times in eight years, beginning when he was nine years old. The suit contended that Webber had forced Boyd to perform sexual acts in motels, church camps, and the pastor’s office and home.

The other plaintiffs, now ages 25 to 32, told similar stories of repeated molestation between 1971 and 1985. The plaintiffs ranged in age from 7 at the beginning to 22 at the end.

“He lured them to all sorts of places,” says Patricia Taylor, Boyd’s attorney. “He was a very sophisticated pedophile.”

Webber, now 65, preached at the church from 1967 to 1989. He then spent three years operating an independent children’s ministry before moving in 1991 to Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where he is a bookkeeper.

Accusations did not surface until 1991, when Boyd told his therapist, who urged him to contact denominational officials. The Assemblies of God yanked Webber’s ministerial credentials after Boyd’s mother, Marie Swan, contacted them.

“No amount of money can erase the trauma they’ve experienced,” says Swan, 55, of Oceanside. She says an adopted son, Charlie, also was molested, starting when Webber arranged to bring the 13-year-old and other orphans to the United States on a missions trip to South Korea. Boyd also claims sex abuse occurred on similar trips to Mexico. Swan says.

“The man is a charmer, and we put our complete trust in him,” Swan says. “We didn’t think anything like that could happen. The thing he did is the very thing he preached against.”

Taylor says the case is the first time the Assemblies of God has ever been part of such a settlement. She criticizes the church for failure to question Webber’s locking of his church office doors with boys inside.

John Kaniewski, attorney for the denomination in the suit, says Webber admitted sexual contact only with Boyd. The settlement of the other claims is not an admission of guilt, he says, but the best way of avoiding costly trial proceedings. The church’s insurance carrier made the decision to settle three days before trial.

“We were thoroughly prepared to go to trial and convinced that we would have been completely vindicated,” says Kaniewski, of Irvine. “This is absolutely an isolated case.” He says no criminal charges will be filed because the statute of limitations has expired.

“No evidence was offered to show that anything was obvious or blatant,” says Barbara Bollero of Tustin, attorney for the Assemblies’ district. “The unfortunate reality is that this happens in church. Nobody suspected it could 20 years ago, but everyone is more cognizant today.”

By John W. Kennedy.

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