Man who says he was abused sues ministry

Friday, November 19, 2004

By KERY MURAKAMI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Allegations that church leaders looked away while sexual molestation was going on in their midst have hit Christian Faith Ministries, perhaps best-known for its locally televised services.

A lawsuit filed yesterday in King County Superior Court by a 20-year-old man and his parents alleges that the man was sexually molested when he was 9 years old by a youth pastor in training at the SeaTac campus of the Christian Faith Center, which is associated with the ministry.

In 1993, the accused molester pleaded guilty to multiple counts of child molestation and third-degree assault of a child involving the 9-year-old and four other boys, according to court records. The lawsuit, which was filed against the ministries and the center, alleges that the church was aware of one such incident but did not warn parents.

The Rev. Casey Treat, Christian Faith Center's founder, said last night he did not know about the lawsuit and, to his knowledge, the offender was never a student pastor with the ministry.

According to the lawsuit, the alleged molester, now 33, met with a pastor from the Christian Faith Center in 1991 and admitted sexually abusing his own stepson.

In 1992, unaware of that incident, the then-9-year-old boy was molested during a sleepover at the man's home. Several months later, according to the suit, the boy told his father, who confronted a Christian Faith Center pastor.

The suit alleges, "The pastor's immediate response was 'Oh no, not another one.' The pastor then revealed to (the parents) that numerous other boys in the church had reported being molested (by the man). Church officials urged them not to contact lawyers. ..."

Treat was not named in the lawsuit, but Timothy Kosnoff, one of the plaintiff's lawyers, said he believes that Treat was aware of the assault.

Treat said last night that he didn't know all 8,000 people at the church, but he did not believe the man was ever a pastor in training. Sitting on the on the front stoop of his home in Kent, Treat said he worried that the allegations would besmirch the church that he and his wife, Wendy, founded in 1980.

"I believe we'll get beyond this. I only hope that we'll get beyond this without too much accusation and pain," he said.

P-I reporter Kery Murakami can be reached at 206-448-8131 or kerymurakami@seattlepi.com

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