After 18-year Wait, Women Tell Jury They Were Sexually Abused by Happy Valley Pastor

By Rick Bella
The Oregonian
April 16, 2015

http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2015/04/post_181.html

Happy Valley pastor Mike Sperou, accused of sexually abusing young girls in his church, briefly joined a meeting with the prosecution, the defense and Judge Cheryl A. Albrecht (right) during his trial in the Multnomah County courthouse on Apr. 14, 2015 in Portland. Randy L. Rasmussen/Staff

Women who waited 18 years to accuse their former pastor of sexual abuse got their day in court Thursday.

One by one, five women who grew up in the communal North Clackamas Bible Community told a Multnomah County jury that Pastor Mike Sperou regularly took advantage of them in the 1980s and 1990s, when they were as young as 4.

Jessica Watson, now a Southeast Portland photographer, testified that she once fell asleep on Sperou's bed after the two had watched a movie on his big-screen television, then woke up to him rubbing against her.

Afterward, he inserted his finger into her vagina, said Watson, now 33.

"He talked to me, telling me things like, 'Doesn't that feel good?' "

In an unusual turn of events, Watson is not the alleged victim in Sperou's criminal case. Instead, Judge Cheryl A. Albrecht is allowing her and five other women to tell their own tales of abuse -- in addition to Shannon Clark, the alleged victim in the case. However, the jury is to consider the six women's testimony only to decide whether Sperou may have touched Clark accidentally or if it was part of a pattern.

Defense attorney Steven J. Sherlag said he intends to base an appeal on Albrecht's ruling in the event Sperou is convicted.

Sperou, 64, has been charged with three counts of first-degree sexual penetration for allegedly placing his fingers inside Clark. If convicted on all counts, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of eight years, four months in prison.

Thursday marked the third day of Sperou's trial. Prosecutor Chris Mascal plans to call police officers and a social worker before Sherlag presents his defense.

The seven women who grew up in the church went to police with their allegations in 1997, but Sperou was not charged. Prosecutors reviewing the girls' claims rejected the case, saying there were inconsistencies and even denial of the abuse. The case was reinvestigated last year and charges were filed only regarding Shannon Clark. The statute of limitations had expired on the other complaints.

Watson said that was because they were raised to revere Sperou, who led a congregation of about 60, many of whom lived in communal houses straddling the city limits of Happy Valley and Southeast Portland.

"As a child, I loved Mike and wanted to protect him," Watson said. "Part of me knew it was wrong, but by then, it was so ... normal in our lives."

Another woman, Rachel Schackart, 29, of Milwaukie said Sperou held her over him in bed one time when she was in the second grade, rubbing her against him as he masturbated.

"I believe it was dry sex, people would call it," said Schackart, a retail buyer.

Another woman, 35-year-old Amy Robinson, said that while she was in middle school, she awoke after she was invited to spend the night with Sperou, to find his fingers inside her.

He also would put her hand over his crotch, "over his underwear," said Robinson, now a mother of four in Saugus, Massachusetts.

During cross-examination, Sherlag homed in on any small inconsistencies he heard from Robinson or her cousin, Emily Bertram, 33, of Northeast Portland, who now works with at-risk students. However, both women remained composed and stuck to their testimony.

Bertram said the girls -- daughters of church families -- were flattered when Sperou invited them to visit him in his daylight basement apartment, with two large televisions. But there, Bertram said, the closeness often became uncomfortable.

"I remember being down in his basement and him touching my chest under my clothes," Bertram said. "And I remember him touching me under the back of my pants. That happened quite often."

Jennifer Olajuyin of Cedar Hills, who now works in insurance, said the girls were so cowed that they didn't tell their parents.

"I didn't feel like it was an option," said Olajuyin, 32. "Mike was in complete control."

The Oregonian/OregonLive generally does not disclose the names of possible sexual abuse victims. But Clark and other women connected with the case have come forward, asking that their stories be told.

The trial is expected to run two weeks.