7 women among 10 filing new sex abuse lawsuits naming Paul Havsgaard, Harvest Christian Fellowship

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Friday, January 16, 2026

Seven women are among 10 new individuals who recently filed federal lawsuits alleging they were repeatedly sexually abused and trafficked by former Harvest Christian Fellowship pastor Paul Havsgaard while living in now-defunct children’s homes in Romania operated by the California megachurch.

The new lawsuits, which also name Harvest Christian Fellowship, founder Greg Laurie and missions pastor Richard Schutte as defendants, join 12 others previously filed by men alleging similar abuse as teenagers.

The latest complainants — all of whom are being represented by the law firm McAllister Olivarius — filed their suits on Dec. 22, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Their names are: Marian-Liviu Mihaila, 38; Alexandra-Elena Langa, 28; Ioana Cosmina Pirvu, 32; Gheorghita-Bogdana Tici, 36; Maria Ghenciulescu, 37; Denis-Vasile Otcuparu, 32; Emilia-Mariana Tudosie, 38; Roxana-Maria Turuianu, 39; Cristina-Bianca Popescu, 33; and Alexandru Ioniță, 39.

The lawsuits collectively accuse the plaintiffs of negligence, negligent supervision, negligent retention and the intentional infliction of emotional distress. The filings also allege civil conspiracy in violation of California law and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

The filings state that Havsgaard engaged in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places in violation of U.S. law and accuse Laurie and Schutte of aiding and abetting Havsgaard's conduct, failing to prevent the abuse and covering it up for 20 years. The church has previously denied allegations that its leaders covered up abuse. 

Mihaila alleges that in or around 2002 through 2005, when he was 15 to 18 years old, Havsgaard sexually abused him on many occasions. He alleges that at the time he lived at the home, he was a talented young wrestler whose training was being supported by a Romanian American. The sponsor had agreed to help him become a professional wrestler if he continued with his training, but Havsgaard frequently forbade him from entering into wrestling tournaments, “particularly when Marian tried to resist Havsgaard’s sexual advances,” according to the lawsuit.

“This ruined Marian’s prospects of turning professional. On other occasions, Havsgaard punished Marian with lengthy solitary confinement in Marian’s room. Marian self-harmed by cutting himself while living in Harvest Homes,” the complaint states.

The complaints also claim that Havsgaard’s driver, Cătălin Manescu, who was later promoted to the position of Harvest Homes’ finance director, “knew about Havsgaard’s sexual abuse of children," and "felt emboldened to abuse children himself," and “primarily preyed on minor girls.”

“When Plaintiff was a minor residing in the Harvest Homes, Manescu groomed, fondled, and kissed her," the lawsuit filed by Tici alleges. "In the decade between 1998 and 2008, when Defendants operated the Harvest Homes in Romania, Havsgaard and Manescu savagely molested and terrorized scores of Romanian children, including Plaintiff, a child in Defendants’ custody and care."

The complaints state that Manescu operated an internet café where Mihaila allegedly “saw other boy residents of Harvest Homes accessing online sex forums and webcam sex websites" and "exposing themselves to strangers for money, with Havsgaard’s encouragement.”

Mihaila states that he “occasionally also accessed online sex forums and talked to men online, but he never met one in person.”

Since The Christian Post began reporting on the filings in September 2025, Harvest Christian Fellowship has not responded to additional requests for comment.

A Harvest Christian Fellowship spokesperson previously told CP that the allegations are "serious and disturbing," but denied that the church knowingly covered up alleged sexual abuse.

Since being contacted by the representatives of the alleged survivors, the spokesperson said that Harvest Riverside has reported the case to law enforcement and plans to cooperate with authorities in the investigation. Harvest also views the lawsuits as a "form of financial extortion" and expects to "vigorously defend against these claims" in court.  

While Harvest states that they reported the allegations against Havsgaard to local authorities, the Riverside Police previously confirmed with CP that there are no active investigations into Havsgaard. It remains unclear where Harvest reported the allegations.

The survivors claim they were groomed into a life of sadistic sexual torture and abuse for years before being forced back on the streets when the homes were quietly shuttered in 2008, four years after an investigation by Harvest Christian Fellowship officially confirmed the abuse at the insistence of concerned missionaries, according to the lawsuits.

Plaintiffs allege that Laurie and Schutte kept Havsgaard in place in Romania with minimal oversight despite repeated warnings about his abuse of children. Harvest reportedly deposited $17,000 each month into Havsgaard’s personal bank account to cover expenses associated with running the homes, but did not require detailed accounts. The filings allege that Havsgaard was able to "divert funds into purchases for his sexual favorites and hush money for employees."

Havsgaard frequently returned to Harvest Christian Fellowship in California to raise money for the homes in Romania. The plaintiffs also allege he sexually assaulted the boys on many of those trips.

In her lawsuit, Emilia-Mariana Tudosie, who claims she was sexually abused inside the Harvest homes from the age of 10 to 15, recalled travelling to California with Havsgaard and claimed he raped two boys at his home there.

“In or around 2000, Havsgaard took Emilia, Mark M., Stefan S., and Victor V. to California to visit Harvest Riverside. They stayed at Havsgaard’s house with his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. The boys slept upstairs and Emilia slept downstairs on a sofa, alone. Havsgaard told her that he did not have a free room for her and did not allow her to see the boys’ upstairs room,” the lawsuit states.

“Havsgaard raped Stefan S. and Mark M. on this trip to California. Emilia, Stefan S., Mark M., and Victor V. met Laurie during a church service at Harvest Riverside,” the lawsuit adds.

Tudosie alleges that after she returned to Romania from the California trip, she began taking drugs and drinking heavily. The filing asserts that Manescu sexually assaulted her while she was incoherent under the influence of drugs and threatened to tell her boyfriend about her drug use if she resisted. 

Tudosie, who is currently married with four children, says she suffers from suicidal ideation and post-traumatic stress disorder from the abuse she suffered at the home.

“Manescu’s sexual abuse of Plaintiff and other underage girls at Harvest Homes was overt and well-known to Havsgaard, Kathy (Havsgaard’s wife) and the staff. Neither Havsgaard nor any other adult did anything to stop Manescu’s sexual abuse of girls,” the lawsuit claims. “In or around 2002, when Plaintiff was 15 years old, she left Harvest Homes to live with her boyfriend, who is now her husband.”