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Family files lawsuit against East Austin pastor accused of sex assault
By Katie Hall
An ousted former pastor who is criminally charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child is now responsible for a lawsuit brought against his former East Austin church. A mother who says her daughter was molested by former Rev. Henry Lee McGee is suing McGee, his wife and First Baptist Church on Heflin Lane. The mother says McGee, now 69, sexually molested her daughter beginning when she was 13 in June 2014 until October last year. “Church administrators were suspicious of the relationship between Pastor McGee and the minor and approached him, but failed to report the abuse,” the lawsuit says. When reached Monday, the church’s current pastor Rev. James Limuel, who knows McGee, declined to comment because he said he had not yet seen the lawsuit. Limuel said McGee was voted out as pastor of the church last fall. Round Rock police arrested McGee, who lives in Round Rock, in December. McGee’s case is still pending and is in the research phase, his attorney Jerry Smith said. “He denies all of those allegations,” Smith said of McGee. “He denies them vehemently and denies he had any relationship other than a pastoral one with this young lady. … I hope that people will wait till all the evidence is in and it’s had a thorough vetting until they make any conclusions.” The lawsuit says that the abuse has caused the girl “severe emotional distress and mental anguish,” made more egregious because McGee “held a position of trust and authority within the church.” In addition to the aggravated sexual assault of a child charges filed in December, Smith said McGee is also facing another charge of the same crime, filed in Williamson County in May, regarding allegations that McGee sexually assaulted a child about seven years ago. No charges were filed at the time regarding those allegations, Smith said.
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