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	Lawsuit Accuses Pleasant Hill Church of Ignoring Teacher's Abuse of Student Fox Reno October 1, 2009 http://www.foxreno.com/news/21177471/detail.html PLEASANT HILL, Calif. -- Attorneys filed a civil lawsuit in Contra Costa County Thursday accusing the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists of failing to prevent or report a teacher's alleged physical and sexual abuse of a middle school girl in Pleasant Hill in the mid-1990s. The 59-page complaint alleges that former bible teacher Andrew McPherson, now 41, abused a former student of the Pleasant Hill Junior Academy, now called the Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy, for three years beginning in 1993 when the girl was 12 years old. The lawsuit alleges that McPherson, who was the girl's teacher and volleyball coach, grabbed, stroked, fondled, kissed and made sexually explicit comments to the victim on multiple occasions. The alleged abuse ended in 1996 when McPherson allegedly became angry with the victim, pushed her into a chair and throttled her neck. He allegedly let go when he heard someone approaching, but the attack left marks on the girl's neck, according to the complaint. The victim was suspended for three days and McPherson was transferred to a different Seventh-day Adventist school in Reno, Nev., where he was arrested two years later and convicted of sexually abusing students at that school, Lisa Sapcoe, one of the victim's attorneys, said at a news conference in Martinez today. Media reports in 1998 said that McPherson was accused of having sex with two 15-year-old students, but later pleaded guilty to one count of statutory sexual seduction and one count of open and gross lewdness. McPherson now lives in Nampa, Idaho, where he is registered as a convicted sex offender for the two convictions. According to court records, McPherson was never charged with any crimes in Contra Costa County. Sapcoe said the victim in this case reported the physical abuse to Pleasant Hill police and later spoke with investigators from Reno, but did not report the sexual abuse because she was embarrassed and didn't think anyone would believe her. Sapcoe said people who knew McPherson described him as "very charismatic and friendly." His father is a prominent official in the Idaho Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Some adults, however, have said that they thought McPherson was too friendly with children. He often invited them over to his house and spent a lot of unsupervised time with them, warning signs that the victim's attorneys say the school had a duty to act on. In the lawsuit, the victim's attorneys claim that staff members at the school knew or should have known that McPherson was abusing students and should have taken action to report and prevent the abuse. They claim that staff members at the school had information as early as 1993 or 1994, including multiple complaints from parents, to suggest that McPherson's behavior toward students was inappropriate and should have reported it to police. In California, teachers and school officials are legally required to report incidents of suspected child abuse to law enforcement. Kelly Clark, a second attorney for the victim who has represented more than 200 victims of childhood sexual abuse, said that his experiences with the Seventh-day Adventist church seem to suggest that the church has an unwritten policy not to report suspected abuse to law enforcement. He said that if enough evidence comes out about the case, he would consider filing a charge against the church of conspiracy failure to report suspected child abuse. Criminal charges can't be brought against McPherson in this case because the statute of limitations has run out, Clark said. The victim is seeking $5 million in general damages and an additional $250,000 in economic damages. Unless it gets thrown out, the case is expected to go to trial in about a year, Clark said. Attorneys for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists were not immediately available for comment. "It's our policy that we don't comment on pending litigation," Stephanie Kinsey, spokeswoman for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said Thursday afternoon. McPherson does not have a phone number listed under his name. Clark urged anyone who may have been a victim of abuse by McPherson or who witnessed abuse of students to contact them. Clark can be reached at (503) 306-0224 and Sapcoe can be reached at (510) 433-1830.
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