COLUMBUS (OH)
Logan Daily News [Logan OH]
August 29, 2023
By Jim Phillips
COLUMBUS – A young Athens County woman who is suing her parents, her uncle and her uncle’s church, over sexual abuse she suffered as a minor, has asked a federal court to grant default judgment against the church on the issue of its liability for money damages.
In an opinion and order filed on Tuesday, Aug. 22, U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus denied that request from plaintiff Serah Bellar – despite the fact that the Waverly, Ohio-based Dove Outreach Church has already been found in default by the court’s clerk for failing to properly answer Bellar’s lawsuit, and is no longer allowed to take part in court proceedings in the case. (Bellar, who has changed her name, is suing under the pseudonym Jane Doe to keep her new name out of the public eye.)
In April 2020 Serah Bellar, then 16 years old, ran away from her home in Amesville. About a year later, she posted on Facebook using an assumed name, but announcing that she was safe, and alleging that she had left home to escape ongoing sexual abuse by her family members. After Athens County authorities investigated the matter and determined that the Facebook post was by Bellar, they began looking into her allegations of abuse. This resulted in criminal charges being filed against her parents, two of her older brothers, and an Athens County Sheriff’s deputy, Jimmy Childs, all of whom were ultimately convicted. Robert and Deborah Bellar pled guilty in March 2022 to endangering children and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, and are both now serving prison terms.
In February 2022 Bellar filed her suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division. It alleged that her parents had forced their children to attend James Bellar’s church. It also claimed that the church taught that siblings should procreate with each other, and that in accordance with this belief, she was abused sexually by family members from age 5 to 12.
Originally her complaint had also named Athens County and Child as defendants, based on her allegations that Athens County Children Services knew about the abuse going on in the Bellar home but did not intervene, and that the deputy was negligent, did not provide equal protection under the law, and sexually harassed Serah Bellar.
In July of this year, however, attorneys for Bellar, the county and Childs filed a joint motion to dismiss the county and Childs as defendants, which was granted. Earlier, in May 2022, the court’s clerk had found Dove Outreach in default because the church had failed to hire an attorney to file its response to the legal complaint, which it was legally required to do as an “artificial entity.” The default finding means the church is still facing the claims against it in the lawsuit, but can’t put on a defense. So this now leaves the active defendant list in the case as Robert, Deborah and James Bellar.
In October 2022, following the default finding against Dove Outreach, Serah Bellar’s attorney filed a motion asking the court to take the next step by granting default judgment against the church for liability, and scheduling a hearing to determine how much it should pay in damages. It is this motion that Sargus has just denied.
In his opinion and order Aug. 22, however, Sargus said that Serah Bellar may re-file a motion asking for default judgment on liability against Dove Outreach, after the court issues judgment on the merits of the case for the other three defendants.
Email at jphillips@logandaily.com