Lawsuit Says Warren Church Officials Turned "Blind Eye" to Sexual Abuse of Boy

Detroit Free Press
October 23, 2012

http://www.freep.com/article/20121023/NEWS04/121023051/Lawsuit-says-Warren-church-officials-turned-blind-eye-to-sexual-abuse-of-boy

A lawsuit claims officials at a Warren church should have stopped a former pastor from influencing a 15-year-old boy he later sexually assaulted.

The civil suit filed against the Antioch Baptist Church and Academy in Warren also claims Christopher Settlemoir shouldn’t have been hired because officials knew about his pedophilic tendencies.

Settlemoir last year pleaded no contest to charges he sexually assaulted the boy and accosted another. The 29-year-old former Warren resident is serving a seven- to 15-year prison term.

The Macomb Daily reported the suit filed Friday in Macomb County Circuit Court by “John Doe” seeks more than $25,000 in damages and claims a minor child was assaulted “dozens of times” while staff turned a “blind eye.” Senior Pastor Doug Brandenburg declined comment, the newspaper said.