The father of a sexual abuse victim has accused his church of abandoning his family and attempting to "minimise losses" if his son sought compensation, a royal commission has heard.
Giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the man, given the pseudonym ALD, said Australian Christian Churches tried to protect its assets rather than the victim.
"The church instead worked to minimise potential losses in case the victim should seek compensation," he said. "Insurance was checked, consideration given to possibly shifting assets to other entities."
The royal commission heard ALD's son, given the pseudonym ALA, was sexually abused for two years from the age of 13 by a youth pastor at a Queensland church.
The abuse, which started in 2004, occurred on and off church premises.
Youth pastor Jonathan Baldwin, the son-in-law of the church's senior pastor Ian Lehmann, was convicted over the offences in 2009 and sentenced to eight years jail but has since been released.
In a message read out to the royal commission, ALA said the abuse continues to plague him.
"The pain, thoughts and considerable suffering haunt me every day," he wrote.
"People say it gets easier with time; no. That's a lie. It never goes away and it doesn't get easier with time."
His father told the commission the family heard nothing from ACC, the umbrella body for the Pentecostal movement, for years after the abuse.
When ALA commenced civil proceedings in 2010, ALD said ACC sent its insurers.
"The church clearly prioritises so-called important people, money and assets far above victims of abuse under their watch," he said.
Frustrated by the lack of response from the ACC, the man sent an email entitled, A cry from a father's heart for his son, to a large number of people in 2011.
"Jesus said, 'Suffer the little one to come unto me'," he wrote. "We brought our little ones to him and now our youngest suffers and suffers and suffers."
The ACC state clerk emailed the following day: "We are not sure if this is a legitimate email or spam."
It was not until 2012 that a senior ACC staff member contacted the family, the commission heard.
The public hearing is examining the response of Australian Christian Churches and affiliated Pentecostal churches to allegations of child sexual abuse.
The hearing before Justice Jennifer Coate continues.