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	Lane County Man Sues Seventh-Day Adventist Church for $5.25 Million, Alleges Sex Abuse By Lara Takenaga The Oregonian February 23, 2011 http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/02/lane_county_man_sues_seventh-day_adventist_church_for_525_million_alleges_sex_abuse.html A Lane County man filed a $5.25 million lawsuit Wednesday in Portland against the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its international conference for alleged sexual abuse by a former Junction City youth group leader. The 49-year-old man, referred to as C.B. in court documents, claims Les Bovee abused him multiple times over several months in 1975. He is suing for sexual battery of a child, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence in Multnomah County Circuit Court. His attorneys, Peter Janci and Steve Crew, said C.B. was 12 or 13 when the abuse began and that the boy told a church official after the first incident. Crew said the church investigated, but Bovee, now 66, was allowed to continue working with the Pathfinder Club, a coed Seventh-day Adventist organization similar to Scouting groups. During a campout after the investigation, Bovee "told my client verbatim, 'They didn't believe you,'" and abused him again, Crew said. The suit alleges that the church did not report Bovee to police or tell parents about the victim's abuse claims. Bovee, who lives with his brother in Myrtle Point, could not be reached by telephone for comment. Richard Whittemore, a Portland attorney representing the Seventh-day Adventists, said he had not seen the suit yet and couldn't comment on specific claims. "However, the Seventh-day Adventist church condemns child abuse, and the church is saddened by the possibility of abuse potentially occurring within its ranks," he said. Steve Vistaunet, a spokesman for the Seventh-day Adventists' Northwest headquarters, said in a written statement that the church "will do all we can to resolve this appropriately." Bovee was prosecuted and convicted of molesting a minor in 1979 and 1980 in two separate cases, according to Lane County Circuit Court records. While the 1979 case was pending and Bovee was out on bail, he sexually abused another child, the court documents show. C.B. was not involved in any of the cases. C.B. is seeking $5 million for the suffering caused by the alleged abuse and an additional $250,000 for counseling and psychiatric treatment, the suit says. His lawyers said he decided to come forward after reading about the Boy Scout sexual-abuse cases last summer and realizing the long-term impact of Bovee's actions. "He's definitely suffered from depression and anxiety and self-esteem issues, relationship issues." Crew said. "I think he's just now beginning to delve into that."
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