Oregon Church Sued for $5 Million after Second Child Molester Strikes
By Aimee Green
Attorneys for a girl who was molested by a church youth leader in The Dalles filed a $5 million lawsuit this week against the church -- claiming it should have learned how to protect children from sexual predators after a previous church leader molested a child. First Christian Church failed to develop child-protection protocols that might have stopped Michael Cele Stephens from molesting the girl starting when she was 12 or 13, the lawsuit says. Stephens was sentenced in April to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing the girl and five other girls, ages 13 to 15, according to a story in The Dalles Chronicle newspaper. The story quotes a prosecutor as saying Stephens met the girls through church or a 4-H Club and that a prosecutor said the girls reacted to the abuse with "cutting, drug abuse, suicidal thoughts." Stephens was 18 or 19 at the time he abused the girls. The girl in Thursday's suit is identified by the pseudonym Melissa Doe. She's the only one of Stephens' victims to have filed a lawsuit. The senior minister at the church told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he didn't know who Stephens was and declined to comment on the lawsuit. Portland attorney Peter Janci, who is representing the girl, said after the first church leader was convicted of molestation in 2013, the church shouldn't have allowed any child to be with an adult alone unless they were related. It's common for youth sports or other organizations to have policies that two adults must be present with children at all times, Janci said. "We know enough about pedophiles and how they operate," he said. "You can't identify these people by sight. It's often the nice-looking, trusted person who is abusing kids." In the first case of abuse, youth pastor Daniel Charles Chamberlain pleaded guilty during a March 2013 hearing to sexually abusing a girl six to seven years earlier. Chamberlain, who met the girl through church, received 30 to 60 days in jail and probation, according Chamberlain would have been 31 or 32 at the time of the abuse. The victim was about 15, according to her attorneys, who later sued First Christian Church. The teen and the church reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount. In the latest case, Stephens exposed the girl to "explicit text messaging, sexually explicit photos/videos, kissing, fondling (her) genitals, oral sodomy and anal sodomy," the lawsuit says. Janci said the abuse came to light after the girl's mother called police when she discovered the text messages. The girl, now 14, suffers stress and anxiety and has abused drugs and alcohol because of the abuse, the suit says. The suit doesn't list Stephens as a defendant. Janci said that's because Stephens will be in prison for years and has virtually no earning capacity. The civil courts system, however, allows for the church to be sued for allegedly failing to protect the girl with policies and oversight, he said. Read the lawsuit here. It was filed in Wasco County Circuit Court by Janci and Portland attorneys Steve Crew and Jacqueline Swanson. -- Aimee Green Contact: agreen@oregonian.com
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