CALIFORNIA POLITICIAN & PASTOR DUO accused of Sex Abuse & Grooming. Ties to INTERGENERATIONAL, INTERDENOMINATIONAL CHRISTIAN SEXUAL ABUSE COVERUP
There was no investigation by police in 2016, but a CalCoastNews (California based alt-news site) commenter notes:
2 years later, 2 separate lawsuits were filed by female parishioners claiming that Rob & Cindy groomed & sexually assaulted them.
Former senior pastors at a Santa Maria church are facing a sexual battery, assault and harassment lawsuit filed by a former parishioner, who also alleges church officials did not take action when complaints were raised.
The lawsuit* -- filed last summer by a mother of two in her 30s identified as Jane Doe -- claims that knowingly co-conspired in conduct from 2014-16 that included sexual harassment, battery, assault and gender violence.
…
Robert stepped down from church leadership in June 2016 after complaints were made to church personnel about opinions on viewing pornography he allegedly communicated during one of his premarriage counseling courses, according to the suit. Shortly after Robert stepped down, Doe discovered more than a dozen women had similar experiences with the pastor.
In addition to serving as a pastor, Robert was a member of the Santa Maria Community Development Block Grants Committee before his appointment to the city’s Recreation and Parks Commission in April 2016. He stepped down from his post just a few weeks after he was appointed.
In her lawsuit against the Church of Life and the Litzingers, Doe alleges that Robert used his position as lead pastor to "cultivate an atmosphere within Church for Life, through which he could satisfy his sexual fetishes.”
The lawsuit further accuses Church for Life of not taking action to investigate complaints against Robert, which included Doe's as well as claims made a year prior to the couple's departure in 2016. The lawsuit also alleges that Cindy knowingly assisted, facilitated and encouraged her husband’s sexual conduct.
According to the complaint, in premarriage classes Robert would teach through the church, he would try and "prepare the young women for their husbands and their wedding night,” instructing the women on how to masturbate, have an orgasm and figure out their bodies, being "prepared and willing to do whatever their husbands wanted.”
Robert also would also encourage women to be open with their sex lives like his wife, stating that doing so made them strong Christian women, the complaint alleges. Part of his premarriage counseling included soliciting explicit photos from Doe, according to the complaint, and sharing his own sexual experiences with other women, explaining that “we need to be open with each other.”
Robert also would allegedly share photos of himself with Cindy, covered in bed, with a note that they "just had a great session." Robert, then, would ask Doe to send similar photos and, after multiple requests, she complied.
Robert allegedly continued to send photos to Doe, who found herself "frozen in shock, confusion, fear and disbelief," according to the suit. When she asked him to stop, Robert would apologize and claim it was a mistake but encouraged Doe to "be like his wife -- confident and a real woman of God," the suit continued.
During one occasion where Doe was invited to the couple’s home for a prayer group, Robert reportedly groped Doe’s breasts and genitals, which Doe complained about to Cindy. According to the complaint, Cindy called it an "innocent mistake."
view the rest of the comments →
Piscina ago
Great research.