Lawsuit Filed against Church, Youth Minister in Alleged Sexual Abuse Case

Bakersfield.com
May 29, 2012

http://www.bakersfield.com/blogs/breaking_news/x243435149/Lawsuit-filed-against-church-youth-minister-in-alleged-sexual-abuse-case

Jessica Prater Bohman, holding a picture of herself when she was five, listens to her attorney Anthony M. De Marco speak about her sexual abuse story at news conference outside of Kern County Superior Court. Also speaking and supporting Prater Bohman at the news conference was Joelle Casteix, Western Regional Director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, right.

An alleged case of sexual abuse more than 20 years old has been resurrected by the filing of a lawsuit in Kern County Superior Court.

Plaintiff Jessica Prater Bohman went public Tuesday as she stood outside the courthouse with her attorney and relatives to announce the lawsuit and discuss what she said happened to her when she was 4 years old.

The lawsuit says Bohman, now 29, was molested by a youth minister at Bakersfield Dayspring Foursquare Church from 1987 to 1990. The lawsuit identifies Damon Young, who was 15 when the abuse first began, as the minister who assaulted her.

Investigative reports filed by Bakersfield police and provided by Bohman's attorney say Young admitted in 2010 to molesting Bohman and two other girls. According to Bohman, the case went to juvenile court but Young could not be held criminally liable because the statute of limitations had expired.

There's no listing of a Damon Young on the Kern County Superior Court website, possibly because records would have been sealed.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Pafford said he could not comment on juvenile court cases. He did, however, say that someone who committed a crime while a juvenile would still be tried in juvenile court even if the person's crimes came to light as an adult.

No one could be reached at Foursquare church's Terrace Way location, nor could a representative at the church's Pacific Coast and Valleys District headquarters. Young also could not be reached for comment.

Bohman's attorney, Anthony M. De Marco, said Bohman first reported the abuse to her parents when she was 14 years old. Her parents spoke to the pastor and other church officials and were told not to go to police, De Marco said.

Neither Bohman's parents nor the church reported the abuse to law enforcement, according to De Marco.

Bohman said she finally decided to tell law enforcement about the abuse in 2010. She'd gone through a string of bad relationships and extensive therapy and had finally become convinced she needed to do something.

"Basically I had my own type of mid-life crisis," Bohman said.

Part of the reason she came forward now, Bohman said, is in the hopes that other victims come forward. It's possible there may be a victim who can still file criminal charges in which the statute of limitations hasn't run out, she said.

The lawsuit, which does not specify the amount Bohman seeks, was originally filed March 13, and an amended complaint was filed Tuesday naming Young and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel as defendants. A trial date has not been set.