Editors’ note: Warning, this article contains graphic details that some readers might find offensive.
Greater Grace World Outreach Church in Baltimore, Maryland, said they are investigating allegations made by a former member that church officials were aware that he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a daughter of Youth Pastor John A. Love beginning when he was 14 and she was 16.
The former member, John Capello, who is now in his 40s, made the allegations in a complaint filed in the Baltimore City Circuit Court on April 14. The lawsuit names Greater Grace World Outreach Church and Pastor Love as defendants and accuses them of negligence. The church is additionally accused of breach of fiduciary duty and vicarious liability.
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Less than a year ago, The Banner reported on alleged child sexual abuse and cover-up within the Maryland church and Capello’s lawsuit is the first legal response to those allegations.
In an April 18 statement, officials at the megachurch stated that they are aware of the lawsuit and have asked experts from Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment to investigate the allegations.
“We are aware of a lawsuit that has been filed against GGWO regarding allegations of mishandling disclosures of sexual assault, but at this time we have not been served with the complaint. We remain firmly committed to the truth and accountability, and GRACE has full discretion to investigate and report all allegations of sexual abuse or mishandling at GGWO,” the megachurch said.
“Because the investigation is ongoing, we cannot speak to any specific allegations in order to protect the integrity of that process, but we are committed to full transparency and accurate communication, no matter what GRACE’s process finds,” the church added.
It was also recently reported that the church revoked the ordination certificates of two pastors accused of sexual misconduct. One pastor was told he was “required Biblically” to immediately resign.
In Capello’s lawsuit, which The Christian Post reviewed, he explained that his parents were employees of the church and his whole life had revolved around it.
“From birth, Plaintiff’s entire childhood was structured within Greater Grace’s insular community,” wrote Capello’s attorneys, Robert K. Jenner, Kathleen R. Kerner, Elisha N. Fridley, and Joshua Wolberg of Jenner Law, PC. Basyle (Boz) Tchividjian, of BozLaw P.A., also representing Capello.
“At just two years old, Plaintiff was encouraged to commit his life to missionary work for Greater Grace. He was systematically taught that Greater Grace’s leaders held delegated authority from God over all aspects of his life, as specifically instructed by [founder] Carl Stevens and enforced through the church’s hierarchical structure.”
Capello alleges that when he was 14, in the summer of 1995 he was allowed to go on his first Greater Grace mission trip, known as the Summer Harvest Trip to the Czech Republic and Poland.
He alleges that while he was preparing for the trip, Pastor Love’s then 16-year-old daughter, who was “a prominent varsity athlete within the Greater Grace community,” sought relationship advice from him about her relationship with her boyfriend. He stated that he was “uncomfortable” with the conversation because, at the time, he had no experience with relationships or dating.
He said he went on the Summer Harvest Trip in July 1995 and traveled by van from Warsaw to Prague. He explained that he sat in a window seat in the second-to-last row of the van next to Pastor Raymond Fernandez, who was later convicted of sexually abusing three boys in the youth group.
“After the van stopped for a restroom break, Pastor Love’s daughter asked Pastor Fernandez if she could sit next to Plaintiff, and he told her that it was okay to do so. Ms. Love leaned her pillow against Plaintiff while he tried to sleep. Plaintiff fell asleep and woke up sometime later to find Ms. Love’s hand inside his pants, touching his genitalia,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Plaintiff froze, not knowing what was happening or what to do. This was the first time Plaintiff ever ejaculated. Prior to this assault, Plaintiff had never had any kind of physical contact other than hugs from his family,” it adds.
Capello alleges that Fernandez witnessed the sexual assault but said nothing. He further claims that the next day, Fernandez confronted him and claimed it was his fault “for what had been done to him.”
Later that same day, after the team arrived in Prague, Fernandez allegedly falsely claimed to Pastor Love that Capello and his daughter had “mutually engaged in inappropriate touching” despite protest from Capello.
“During this confrontation, Pastor Love explicitly blamed the fourteen-year-old Plaintiff for being sexually assaulted while sleeping, expressing disappointment and surprise at what he characterized as the Plaintiff’s misconduct. Pastor Love categorically rejected the Plaintiff’s truthful account that he had been asleep when [his daughter] began touching his genitals without consent,” the lawsuit says.
Capello alleges that when they returned home, he struggled with fear and shame and worried that he would be punished if his parents found out what happened. Pastor Love, he adds, misled him to believe he spoke with his parents about what happened and they were understanding.
“Pastor Love then instructed the Plaintiff never to discuss the matter again, stating that if he truly sought forgiveness, the incident must be completely forgotten,” the lawsuit notes.
Capello alleges he buried what happened to comply with church leadership until 2013, when he discovered his parents did not know of the abuse.
Despite burying the initial encounter with Pastor Love’s daughter, Capello claims in his lawsuit that she continued to sexually assault him “both on and off Greater Grace property from 1995 to 1997, while Plaintiff was 14 to 16 years old.”
“In 1995, during the fall of the Plaintiff’s sophomore year of high school, Pastor Love’s daughter sexually assaulted the Plaintiff outside the school restroom near the lockers at Greater Grace Christian Academy,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Between 1995 and 1997, while the Plaintiff attended Greater Grace Christian Academy and endured repeated sexual assaults by Pastor Love’s daughter, Pastor Love systematically exploited his spiritual authority to silence the Plaintiff. As youth pastor, he had near-daily opportunities to preach to the youth and manipulated these platforms to reinforce harmful teachings,” it notes.
Capello alleges that Pastor Love “repeatedly used the biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife as evidence that any man who failed to escape a sexual encounter was wholly at fault, regardless of circumstances.”
Capello alleges that Pastor Love frequently confronted him between 1995 and 1997 about talking to his daughter, even though he tried to explain he was trying to stay away from her. He further claims that between 1998 and 1999, he got a break from the frequent sexual assaults from Pastor Love’s daughter when she went off to college outside the Baltimore area.
He said in the fall of 1999, when he was 18, he enrolled at Greater Grace’s Maryland Bible College. When he was approximately 21, in 2002, Pastor Love’s daughter allegedly began sexually assaulting him again.
“She pressured the Plaintiff into having sexual intercourse with her, but he refused, as he always had before,” the lawsuit alleges.
That same year, the church’s founder had called him into a meeting with Pastor Love. Capello said he was accused of having sex with Pastor Love’s daughter and impregnating her.
“Without evidence or investigation, Pastor Love accused the Plaintiff of having sexual intercourse with his daughter and impregnating her. He escalated his intimidation by claiming to possess video evidence of this alleged incident, though he refused to produce it when challenged,” the lawsuit states.
Capello said they tried to force him to marry her but he refused. He said he went on to marry a different woman from the church, and they stayed active as members there until 2013 when they left. Capello alleges that he recognized with the help of a therapist that he was a victim of repeated sexual assaults and emotional and spiritual abuse.
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