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	Fort Lauderdale Church Denies Fault in Lawsuit That Alleges Sex Abuse of Girl on Campus By Jon Burstein South Florida Sun-Sentinel May 18, 2008 http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbcalvary0518xsbmay18,0,6619488.story Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale and its school face a multimillion-dollar lawsuit accusing church officials of failing to protect a teenager who was being sexually abused by her adoptive father. Church member Rodger Allen Thomas regularly visited his then 15-year-old adoptive daughter at Calvary Christian Academy, where he would kiss and touch her inappropriately, alleges the Broward Circuit Court case filed April 30. The lawsuit, brought by the girl's aunt, seeks at least $3 million in damages. Calvary Chapel officials said they learned of the allegations when Coral Springs police arrested Thomas in July 2006, charging him with sexually preying on the girl. Thomas, 43, was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison after pleading no contest to three counts of sexual battery. "Now, almost two years after the arrest, a relative of the teenager has brought a suit on her behalf against Calvary Chapel seeking millions of dollars because, she claims, Calvary should have known what was going on even when the rest of the family did not," church officials said in a statement. Church officials said that after an internal investigation, they determined they did nothing wrong and that they are prepared to fight the lawsuit. About 20,000 people regularly attend the mega-church on West Cypress Creek Road, and about 1,300 students attend the private school there. Ronald D'Anna, an attorney for the girl and her aunt, who now is the teenager's temporary custodian, said that well before Thomas' arrest, the girl's stepfather had raised concerns to church officials about Thomas' conduct with her. "The [church's] most egregious omission was handling the case 'in house' to the exclusion of secular authorities," he said. Calvary Chapel Family Pastor Doug Sauder said the church did everything possible to help the girl and that she was asked a number of times about her relationship with Thomas. She repeatedly disputed that anything inappropriate had happened, he said. The teenager had been at the center of a custody battle that spilled onto the church grounds because all four adults involved in the fight worked there, Sauder said. On one side were Thomas, who worked part-time setting up a paint-ball field, and his wife, a teacher's aide at the academy. On the other side were the girl's stepfather, who worked on the church grounds, and his fiancee, a teacher at the academy. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not naming the stepfather or his current wife because they share the same last name as the teen. Multiple accusations and custody issues were swirling, Sauder said. "As a pastoral staff we were trying to deal with every issue in a fair and objective way," Sauder said. The girl's mother died of a drug overdose in 2004 and her stepfather, who was battling a substance abuse problem, went to live at Calvary House, a program run by the church, according to court documents. The girl went to live with Thomas and his wife. The stepfather allowed Thomas and his wife to adopt the teen with the understanding that once he was clean, they would relinquish their adoption rights and allow him to adopt her, according to the lawsuit.The Thomases adop- ted the girl through 4KIDS of South Florida, a state-licensed adoption agency affiliated with Calvary Chapel. Sauder is president of 4KIDS. The girl's stepfather reported to church officials no later than early 2006 that he saw the girl in Thomas' bed, according to the lawsuit. The stepfather's then-fiancee also told church officials that Thomas' behavior toward the girl on campus was predatory, D'Anna said. "If nothing is done and this continues we are all at fault," the stepfather's future wife wrote in a May 4, 2006, e-mail to Sauder. The e-mail is included in the lawsuit. Sauder said he responded to the e-mail immediately. Attorneys for the church argue in court documents that the lawsuit marks the first time the teen has alleged Thomas touched her inappropriately on school grounds. All the sexual encounters she had reported to police allegedly were at Thomas' home or business, Calvary Chapel's attorneys argue in a motion to dismiss the case. In addition, the stepfather, who still attends Calvary Chapel, has given a sworn statement in which he said the church responded appropriately to his complaints, Sauder said. "As a church, we are deeply saddened whenever a child is not treated with the love and respect God intended, and this is all the more tragic when the abuse is at the hands of a parent," the statement from church officials said. "Calvary Chapel, however, is not to blame for the criminal acts of the adoptive father." Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4491.
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