Judge Refuses to Dismiss Lawsuit Filed against Tulsa Church Accused of Covering up Girl’s Rape

Washington Post
January 7, 2013

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/tulsa-megachurch-says-mother-of-raped-13-year-old-girl-is-not-entitled-to-claim-75k-damages/2013/01/07/2b8e63e4-58d0-11e2-b8b2-0d18a64c8dfa_story.html

A judge has refused to dismiss a civil lawsuit that accuses a Tulsa megachurch of trying to cover up the rape of a 13-year-old girl by a worker on the church’s campus.

The Victory Christian Center had argued that the girl’s mother, who filed the suit, was not entitled to any relief under the law. A judge on Monday rejected the church’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.

Ex-janitor Chris Denman was sentenced to 55 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple sex-related charges. Denman admitted raping the teenage girl in a stairwell on church property.

The lawsuit accuses employees of not reporting the August rape to the authorities while the church conducted an in-house investigation.

The mother is seeking more than $75,000 in damages.