Comox Valley woman alleges child sexual abuse
by a church minister
WARNING: This story describes child abuse.
A woman from the Comox Valley is sharing her story of alleged child sexual abuse she endured as a teen while part of a secretive Christian sect.
Lyndell Montgomery was a member and was 14 years old in 1989 when the alleged abuse took place while she was a member of the Two-by-Twos, or 2x2s.
Search this blog for '2x2' for four more related stories.
She claims her alleged abuser was 2x2s minister or “sister worker,” Lee-Ann McChesney. The alleged abuse happened when McChesney took Montgomery from her family home in the Comox Valley to Terrace where McChesney’s family resides.
In May of 2023, Montgomery made a victim statement to the RCMP that led to an investigation against McChesney and her time as a 2x2 worker.
McChesney, 60, was arrested in January and charged with one count of sexual abuse and one count of sexual exploitation after an investigation by the Delta Police Sexual Offence Section and Vulnerable Sector Unit.
She has since appeared in Surrey provincial court six times for the two charges against her. Montgomery’s case against McChesney is set for trial in September 2025.
All allegations in the story are yet to be proven in court.
In addition, there are allegations of abuse against at least three other sister workers within Canada. Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States is also looking into reported allegations worldwide.
According to private investigator Cynthia Liles of Salem, Oregon, who has been tracking allegations since the FBI put out their call for victim-survivors to come forward, there are more than 995 people within the 2x2s who have allegations against them worldwide, many with multiple allegations. A lot of the alleged abusers are still active in the church, attending meetings and conventions and around children.
Montgomery decided to come forward after reading an article in the Comox Valley Record in January 2023 about a worker in the 2x2 who was found guilty of crimes relating to child pornography. She wanted to speak out about the abuse she had suffered and hoped to help those who might also have suffered similar abuse within the 2x2 sect.
“I'm choosing to use my voice and my name and put myself out there. This story is so much bigger than me,” she says.
Montgomery left the 2x2 sect once she suffered the alleged abuse from McChesney. At 14, she walked away from the organization and her family as they were still a part of the 2x2s. Montgomery’s father was an Elder in the sect.
“My entire family is still in. My adopted brother, he was never in, he was like whoa, you're all f****d. He never participated.”
While the 2x2s consider themselves to be the 'one true church' and follow the teachings of Matthew in the King James Bible, Montgomery says they are a cult.
“It's taking the playbook from other large organizations that have had success in maintaining membership and illegal activity and control - 100 per cent. So I can tell you that the way it's set up is entirely about hierarchical control.”
Montgomery decided against a publication ban for her case. Part of the reasoning was to help get the word out about the 2x2 sect and the rampant cases of allegations of child sexual abuse.
“People aren't standing on the side of supporting victims and holding this ministry accountable for its past crimes. To be able to move it forward into something that, at its heart a lot of the members want it to be - then (they) are complicit,” she notes. “It's not a binary situation and I don't like living in a binary kind of mindset. So if you can be in or out, those are the only options from the ministers. I'm going to say from this perspective, (they're) either working to dismantle it or (they're) fortifying it.”
Montgomery also hopes that telling her story will help others be allies to victims. She points out those who want to help in the direction of local organizations that need volunteers, such as sexual abuse crisis lines and abuse survivors resources, rather than approaching the victim directly.
If you have experienced sexual abuse or are currently in crisis, please visit these resources:
https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/sexual-abuse-or-assault-rape
If you are a former 2x2 member who is looking for support visit:
https://www.advocatesforthetruth.com/
If you have an instance of abuse to report regarding the 2x2 church visit:
This is the third part of a three-part series on the 2x2 church. The first article is available here and the second article is available here.
Michael Brown admits to ‘lack of judgment’
as woman accuses him of sexual misconduct
Michael Brown, host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program, who is also president, founder and professor of practical theology at FIRE School of Ministry, admitted to a “definite lack of judgment” but denied allegations he engaged in sexual misconduct with a former female staffer he said he treated like a “family member” 23 years ago.
“Both Nancy and I were shocked and horrified by the mix of accusations, allegations, false statements, and mischaracterizations. That’s why we wholeheartedly supported our board’s immediate decision to launch a thorough third-party investigation,” Brown said in a statement to The Christian Post that was also shared with The Roys Report, which published the allegations Monday evening.
“Nancy and I did have a relationship with the woman in question and considered her to be like a family member, and she conducted herself as one who viewed our relationship the same way. But she was not a family member, and aspects of my interaction with her, although totally non-sexual in every way, reflected a definite lack of judgment on my part,” Brown added.
The former female staffer who was only identified by her pseudonym, Erin, by TRR, said she quit working at the FIRE School of Ministry in 2002 when she was just 21 because she had grown uncomfortable with Brown’s frequent slapping of her buttocks, kisses on the lips, and hand-holding episodes.
“He was supposed to be a spiritual father,” Erin told TRR. “He was supposed to look after me.”
Erin said that when she was 18, she attended the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry in 1999 where Brown served as president until he was fired in 2000. Brown then started the FIRE School of Ministry in Pensacola, Florida, where the school operated until 2003 when it was relocated to North Carolina.
Erin explained that she followed Brown to his startup school, and he asked her to call him “Dad” and she obliged.
She recalled that because she had endured a difficult home life, she initially enjoyed the attention Brown paid her. She said they would write endearing notes to each other.
“I looked at it as a blessing because of the respect that we all have for him,” Erin’s sister told TRR.
According to Erin, in less than a year of her working at the new school, Brown — who was involved with providing guidance to the International House of Prayer Kansas City as they navigated founder Mike Bickle’s sexual misconduct scandal — started holding her hands.
“He lifted it up in the truck ... and he’s like, ‘You all know that I think of (Erin) as my daughter,’ and said, ‘That’s why we’re holding hands because she’s like a daughter to me,’” Erin said.
The handholding eventually progressed to other contact including kissing. Erin said she was alone in Brown’s office one day when he asked her to kiss him on the lips. She said she didn’t want to kiss him, so she gave him a peck that day. Kisses on the lips, however, would become a part of their goodbyes when they spent time alone.
“It was no longer (Brown) was asking for a kiss,” she recalled. “It was (Brown) leaning down to get a kiss. ... I knew I couldn’t stop it, or I felt I couldn’t stop it.”llsBrown later began slapping Erin’s buttocks habitually, Erin said.
The publication cited multiple former employees of the ministry who say they witnessed what appeared to be inappropriate behavior between Brown and Erin, including Erin sitting in his lap.
Erin also told TRR that she found a letter while house-sitting for Brown and his wife Nancy, in which he confessed to having an inappropriate relationship with a married woman.
“The letter basically stated that they were having a talking relationship and how they would dream about having sexual relations with each other and what they wanted to do with each other, how she wanted to wrap her legs around him, how he played into it,” Erin said.
In his response to CP on Monday, however, Brown denied ever committing adultery but said he had previously confessed the emotional affair and believed the matter to be settled.
“I can categorically state that in my 53 years in the Lord and more than 50 years with Nancy, I have never committed adultery or been sexually intimate with another woman, nor do the charges allege that. Yet I must ask, in all humility and in the fear of the Lord, if an article on the Roys Report is the best way to address these allegations and accusations,” Brown said. “Does this glorify the Lord, edify the Body, bring healing and restoration, or advance the cause of truth?”
Deuteronomy 5:21 says: “You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; This is the 10th Commandment
Matthew 5:28 states, "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart"
I have seen this before where a Pastor thinks that as long as he doesn't have full-on sex with a woman that he won't be commiting adultery against his wife, and against God. They are wrong! Brown knows it, but he's not willing to admit it yet.
Despite Brown’s denial, two weeks ago the Line of Fire Board reportedly hired the law firm Mitchell, Stein, Carey, and Chapman to conduct a third-party investigation, the results of which they will make public once complete.
Erin said the experience she had with Brown has made it difficult for her to trust ministry leaders. Brown insists he was not aware that his behavior had impacted her as reported and is willing to work to make amends so healing can take place.
“The fact is that my actions towards her were certainly foolish and irresponsible — but neither sexual nor amorous in any way — and my highest priority, as well as Nancy’s, is to have the opportunity to meet together in a setting acceptable to her and bring healing, where I can take full responsibility for the things which apparently hurt her so deeply, things which I thought we addressed 23 years ago,” Brown said.
You didn't fool her with your lies and your grooming, but it appears you may have fooled yourself, Mr. Brown.
“Unfortunately, when Nancy and I learned through the Roys Report that there was an offense towards me in this woman’s heart, we were not allowed to follow the mandate of Jesus in Matthew 5:23-26, but only given the option of offering a response to an article that would be released online. What happened to biblical process?” he asked.
What happened to the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount?
“That being said, if it’s true that for 23 years she has carried this pain and I am responsible for it, I am beyond mortified and would plead forgiveness and the opportunity to bring healing and restoration. Her wellbeing remains our priority.”
Your wellbeing should be your priority right now.
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