Ohio women sue UMC entities, claim they failed to properly respond to grooming, sexual abuse

Two women have filed a complaint against multiple United Methodist Church entities, alleging that they failed to appropriately respond to abuse that they experienced from a former church music director.

The unnamed plaintiffs are Ohio residents represented by the Orlando, Florida-based Newsome Law, P.A., and the Cleveland, Ohio-based Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP.

A Spangenberg representative emailed The Christian Post a copy of the lawsuit, which was filed in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas for Franklin County last week.

Defendants named in the complaint include the UMC General Council on Finance and Administration, the UMC West Ohio Conference, the UMC Great Miami River District, Christian UMC of Baltimore, Ohio (formerly known as St. Andrew UMC), Parkview UMC of Plain City, Ohio, and the United Methodist Children’s Home, also called UMCH Family Services.  

According to the complaint, “Jane Doe” and “Mary Doe” were abused as minors by an individual named John Slate, described as “a former cult member living in Venezuela,” who served as music ministries director at the two churches.

Slate was convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and pandering obscenity involving a minor in 2017. In 2019, he was again convicted of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. 

“Slate groomed and repeatedly sexually assaulted Jane Doe and Mary Doe over the course of years — even though Defendants were on actual and constructive notice of Slate’s inappropriate relationship with these young girls,” the suit alleged.  

“Defendants are liable to Plaintiffs for failing to prevent and stop sexual abuse of which they had actual and/or constructive knowledge; for authorizing, condoning, ratifying, and encouraging policies and practices that permitted abuse; and for creating and maintaining a culture and conditions at St. Andrew and Parkview that enabled Slate to repeatedly abuse Plaintiffs.”

The UMC West Ohio Conference emailed CP a statement on Thursday confirming that they were “informed late Tuesday that a lawsuit had been filed.”

“We take seriously any complaints of this nature and are looking into the matter,” stated the UMC regional body. “Our prayers are with all involved.”

According to the suit, in 2014, when Slate was working for St. Andrew UMC, Jane Doe’s parents had alerted the pastor that “Slate had been sexually grooming, assaulting, and abusing their daughter.”

However, according to the complaint, “Defendants did not report Slate’s crime to the police” and “did not follow the Safe Sanctuaries Protocol of the United Methodist Church.”

“Despite having notice, Defendants allowed Slate to remain employed at the St. Andrew United Methodist Church as their Music Director and to continue having contact with minors — and even protected him by transferring Slate to Parkview,” alleged the suit.

“Instead, Defendants’ conscious disregard for child safety allowed a known child predator to move to another United Methodist Church, Parkview Church, where he sexually assault Mary Doe and continued to sexually assault Jane Doe.”

The lawsuit accuses the various UMC entities of negligence and failure to report suspected abuse of a minor, and demands compensatory damages, punitive and/or exemplary damages; attorneys’ fees and similar costs, as well as “all such other relief to which the Plaintiffs are entitled and/or the Court deems equitable.”

Dustin Herman, a partner at Spangenberg who is helping to represent the women, told CP on Friday that he took up the case “because there was an injustice done and our clients are looking to get justice from those accountable.”