Women Accuse Happy Valley Pastor of Sexual Touching While They Were Young Girls

By Rick Bella
The Oregonian
April 16, 2015

http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2015/04/post_180.html

Two women who grew up in Happy Valley Pastor Mike Sperou's communal church confronted him in court for the first time Thursday, accusing him of sexually abusing them in the 1980s and 1990s.

One 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 in her vagina.

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

Robinson is one of seven women accusing Sperou of abuse in the cluster of homes the North Clackamas Bible Community rents in Happy Valley and Southeast Portland. However, Robinson is not the victim in Sperou's criminal case.

Amy Robinson

Instead, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl A. Albrecht is allowing six women to tell the jury about their own tales of abuse - in addition to Shannon Clark, the alleged victim in the case. 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.

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 is the third day of Sperou's trial. Prosecutor Chris Mascal plans to call police officers and a social worker before Sperou's attorney, Steven J. Sherlag, can present his case for the defense.

Emily Bertram

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

Bertram said the girls -- daughters of church families -- felt 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."

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.

-- Rick Bella rbella@oregonian.com

503-294-5915; @southnewshound