Some people question the validity of repressed memories, but I am not one of them as I remembered suddenly in my mid-thirties being sexually abused at age three. And there was lots of evidence since then that confirms my memories.
Woman recalls alleged sexual abuse at age 3
in Michigan church, lawsuit says
As a young girl, Marian Ippel was consumed by recurring thoughts and dreams of herself and other children being raped. Her yearly physical provoked fear.
It wasn’t until 2020, after months of therapy to address her anxiety and depression, that the inexplicable feeling of dread began to click: Then 17, she recovered memories, she said, of sexual assault by fellow church members abusing her when she was around 3 and 4 years old.
Now 21, Ippel is accusing her Grand Rapids, Michigan, church of creating a culture that fostered alleged abuse in a lawsuit that is not typical: Her complaint, filed Monday in Kent County Circuit Court, claims harm was done to her at such a young age, while hinging on memories that she says she retrieved later in life.
“Even though it happened almost 20 years ago, it has had a devastating effect on me since then,” Ippel told NBC News, “and that is a big reason why I feel so confident stating the facts and the extensive therapy I’ve gone through.”
Her lawsuit names as defendants the Grace Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids and affiliates, including the Christian Reformed Church in North America, a Protestant Calvinist Christian denomination also based in Grand Rapids. The suit says the church was responsible for preventing abuse and accuses it of creating an environment that Ippel believes gave a deacon “unfettered access to one-on-one meetings with young children including Plaintiff, who trusted him and Defendants to provide a safe environment for their education and counseling.”
Ippel is seeking a jury trial, damages and court orders that would require the church to investigate others who may have been harmed by her alleged abusers, overhaul its practices and policies, and secure “proper training” for those in positions of authority and who are responsible for minors and other vulnerable people.
“Churches are places where people are supposed to be safe,” she said.
The Grace Christian Reformed Church said in a response Tuesday that it could not provide further detail into ongoing litigation but said it was actively investigating Ippel's case "as we believe all abuse is unacceptable" and "these allegations are deeply troubling to Grace Church and the entire congregation."
The Christian Reformed Church in North America also did not comment specifically about Ippel’s allegations but said in a separate response that it has “developed strict policies and procedures” meant to keep children safe and encourage prompt reporting of abuse.
Lynne Cadigan, an Arizona attorney who has represented victims in Mormon and Catholic church-related sex abuse lawsuits, said recovered memory cases can test the bounds of such litigation because they require judges and juries to scrutinize an accuser’s credibility.
While Ippel is the only person to have come forward publicly against those accused in her suit, her lawyer believes that there are people who have had similar experiences or can help corroborate her account.
“Recovered memory cases are difficult because you may need corroborating evidence, particularly when a child is very young,” Cadigan, who is not associated with Ippel’s case, said. “It requires a lot of investigation into the perpetrator, finding out if there were other victims, other witness statements and could the perpetrator have had the opportunity to do this.”
Abuse allegations
“I was an example of someone you thought was a very good kid,” she said.
But inside, the anxiety was overwhelming, according to her lawsuit. She told no one that she felt suicidal. When she was 16, she said, she began counseling. It was through psychotherapy, including an approach known as “Lifespan Integration” therapy, which involves a person going through a timeline of their memories to heal from past trauma, that she says she pieced together what happened.
In her complaint, she alleges how a deacon led her by the hand to the church basement after a Sunday children’s worship service in 2006. She wore a pink, green and white summer dress, according to the lawsuit. The deacon allegedly sexually assaulted her before having her return upstairs alone, where her parents were distracted.
According to the suit, Ippel’s parents gave her a cookie after church. “Around this same time, Marian’s mother remembers finding blood in Marian’s underwear,” the suit says, “but could not fathom why this was so.”
The deacon named in the complaint died in 2010 at age 66.
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The Christian Reformed Church in North America
Gateway Church hit with new lawsuit alleging
child sex abuse of youth group member
TARRANT COUNTY — The North Texas megachurch embroiled in controversy over its founder's alleged child sex abuse is facing another lawsuit involving accusations of abuse by a youth group member.
Gateway Church recently settled a 2020 lawsuit alleging child sex abuse.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Tarrant County accuses a member of the Gateway Church youth group of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl repeatedly on church grounds. The lawsuit alleges the assaults began in 2016.
According to the lawsuit, the then 13-year-old regularly attended youth group meetings at The King's University in Southlake with roughly 200 other members ranging in age from 11 years old to 18 years old. One of those members was then 17-year-old Gabriel Snyder, according to the lawsuit.
In late 2016, the lawsuit alleges Snyder began grooming the child during youth group meetings, using "biblical beliefs and teachings of ... Gateway's pastor and ministers" to convince the 13-year-old that it was God's will she submit to him as a female.
The lawsuit claims Snyder sexually assaulted the child multiple times in December 2016, taking her "into the darkness outside The King's University."
The assaults on the campus continued into February 2017, where surveillance cameras were in place on the building above the areas where the assaults allegedly took place, according to the lawsuit. By this time, Snyder had turned 18 years old.
No one ever came to the child's aid, the suit alleges.
The child, who is now an adult, and her parents are suing Snyder and Gateway Church for over $1 million for assault, negligence and damages.
They claim Gateway was negligent as a provider of youth services and failed to safeguard against child abuse. The lawsuit also claims that as "devout and active members" of the church, a "special" or "confidential" relationship was established between the family and Gateway. According to the suit, Gateway breached that relationship with twisted behavior, causing emotional and mental damage.
The church's behavior also constitutes fraud, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit alleges the girl was not Snyder's only victim within the youth group. He is currently serving prison time at the Hightower Unit in Dayton, Texas, for the sexual assault of a child.
Snyder has not been charged criminally in relation to this lawsuit.
A trial by jury was requested.
CBS News Texas reached out to Gateway Church and Snyder's lawyer and are waiting for a response.
The King's University was founded by the late Dr. Jack Hayford, who also served as an apostolic elder of Gateway Church, the university's website states, and it partnered with Gateway Church.
Continue reading this story at the following link:
Gateway Church's 2020 lawsuit
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