Fort Mill church faces negligence lawsuits after former volunteer’s sex crime sentence
A Fort Mill church failed to protect abused children from a volunteer “predator,” lawyers for the children and their families said Monday at a news conference about lawsuits filed against the church and some of its leadership.
Attorneys Randy Hood and Chad McGowan of Rock Hill filed three civil lawsuits in August and earlier this month against Morningstar Fellowship Church on behalf of three victims abused by former North Carolina police officer Erickson Douglas Lee.
The civil lawsuits are in addition to a criminal sentence this month of nine years in prison. Lee, 27, pleaded guilty Sept. 6 to sex crimes involving minor boys from 2019 to 2023 when he was a volunteer and leading a youth group at the church. He was a police officer in Cornelius, N.C. before his arrest in April 2023.
Lee, who also is a military veteran, gave the boys alcohol before giving them vapes and pornography then touching them and forcing them to take showers with him, Hood said Monday at the news conference at his Rock Hill office.
The Herald first reported the lawsuits on Sept. 5.
The lawsuits allege negligence, civil conspiracy, assault and other claims. The suits name the church, CEO Rick Joyner, and some others who were church officials at the time as defendants. The church and leaders allegedly did not provide supervision and monitoring for Lee, then some tried to cover it up, according to the lawsuits.
Rick Joyner, CEO of Morningstar, denied the lawsuit allegations to The Herald Sept. 5 and in a sermon to parishioners on Sept. 1. In that Sept. 1 public statement released on the church‘s Youtube channel, Joyner said many of the lawsuit allegations were “wildly” untrue.
Church cites background checks by military, police
Morningstar issued a written statement Monday afternoon saying the church believed Lee’s status as a police officer meant he would be a protector of young men — not someone who would commit illegal acts against them.
Lee’s background was reviewed and vetted by the military, Cornelius police, and an internal review at the church using a private background check company, the church said in its statement.
“We relied on these checks, which raised no reasons for us to be concerned about Officer Lee,” the church said. “We felt confident at the time in his perceived stability and reliability partly because of his status as a police officer. “
The Morningstar statement also said Lee stopped being a volunteer after the ministry got information he may have provided alcohol to the victims. At that time, church officials were not aware of any sexual misconduct allegations, according to its Monday statement.
“To be clear, any notion that MorningStar knew about or “covered up” any misconduct by Officer Lee or any sexual criminal conduct by anyone associated with the ministry is false,” the church said.
Hood said Monday he stands by the claims made in the lawsuits.
Lawsuits: No one stopped Lee
Some at the church knew of Lee’s misconduct and did nothing to stop it, according to the lawsuits and Hood’s statements Monday.
The church and its leaders must be held to the same accountability to protect children as a school, day care or athletic programs where children are supervised by adults, Hood said.
“There were people who had the capacity to keep this from occurring,” Hood said Monday.
Hood said Monday some of the allegations happened in York County and on youth group trips to near Myrtle Beach and North Carolina.
What happens now?
Hood said he has been in contact with a Morningstar lawyer about the lawsuits. But as of Monday, the lawsuits had not been served on the church or the defendants.
The defendants will have 30 days to respond in writing after receiving the lawsuits, McGowan said.
This story was originally published September 16, 2024 at 1:04 PM.
