Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa agrees to pay single mom $12M to settle rape claim against ex-pastor

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, an influential megachurch in Santa Ana, California, has agreed to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit by a former staff member — a single mother of four — who alleged she was “brutally battered and violently raped” multiple times by former Calvary Chapel pastor, missionary and lead wrestling coach Jacob Harman.

The woman’s attorneys confirmed to The Orange County Register that the church and its former employee agreed to the settlement the day before a September trial. The Christian Post is not naming the woman because of the nature of the lawsuit, which she filed in June 2024.

“What she would want is for other victims to know that they aren’t alone and that there are advocates for them and that they can do this,” Grady Howe, one of the woman’s attorneys, told the Register. “It’s obviously difficult and takes a lot of courage to do it, but I think this shows and sets a precedent that we can hold institutions, [and] we can hold individuals accountable for what these victims are going through.”

The woman worked for the church — which was led by the father of the 1970s Jesus Movement, Chuck Smith, from 1965 until his death in 2013 —  from about January 2016 to July 2018. The lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by CP, accuses the church of deliberately refusing to protect her from Harman, whom she called a “known violent predator” well before she began working there.

Her claims included sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, aiding and abetting, and negligent hiring, retention or supervision. She also claimed vicarious liability, a legal theory that holds an employer responsible for employees' actions.

She alleged that Harman sexually assaulted her multiple times from about February 2016 to June 2017, raping her on at least one occasion. She also accused him of physically assaulting her during a car ride in Fountain Valley, California, by “striking her with a closed fist on her head multiple times,” which she said caused head and brain trauma. The filing also accuses him of strangling her, lifting her off the ground by her neck and smashing his closed fist on her wrist multiple times.

On another occasion, Harman is accused of falsely imprisoning her — holding her against her will — overnight in a “jiu-jitsu hold” at his home in Huntington Beach, California. According to the complaint, she weighed 105 pounds at the time of the assaults, while Harman has a “physically imposing stature of 275 pounds.”

The woman alleged that before the attacks, Brian Brodersen, the church’s former senior pastor and board member, received “countless complaints and warnings about Harman’s propensity for violence” and that “nothing was done beyond concealment and protection of Harman.”

“As a result, one of Calvary Church’s employees, Plaintiff, a single mother whose children attended Calvary Church school, was brutally battered and violently raped by Harman on multiple occasions. When Plaintiff summoned the courage to report Harman’s abuse to Calvary Church, Brodersen dismissed her allegations, calling her ‘borderline crazy,’” the complaint said.

At the time of the alleged assaults, Harman worked for the megachurch as an ordained minister and missionary. He was also the lead wrestling coach at Calvary Chapel High School and ran Team Thunder Wrestling, a nonprofit that operated out of the school’s gym. He still serves as the nonprofit’s CEO.

Harman, whose employment with the church and its affiliated high school program was terminated along with his ordination in 2017, continues to deny the woman’s allegations.

“It is just awful, the way this has painted me,” he told The Register. “I’ve been coaching all my life, and it is just so sad and so dark.”

Harman was not required to pay anything under the settlement. He and his attorney said they would have preferred to take the case to trial but could not stop the church from settling.

“We are grateful to have reached a resolution that reflects our commitment to caring for those affected by harmful behavior,” the church said in a statement cited by The Register. “With this painful chapter of our church’s history behind us, we remain fully focused on being more conformed into the image of Jesus and seeing God at work in our lives, our church community, and our city.”