A North Carolina woman has filed a lawsuit accusing the Assemblies of God (AOG) of trafficking and forcing her and hundreds of other ministry students to work in inhumane conditions at an Atlanta church.

“This case reveals a sophisticated human trafficking and forced labor operation disguised as a religious ministry,” says the 85-page lawsuit filed last Monday. “Young, vulnerable individuals, including the Plaintiff, were recruited nationwide with promises of missionary training, only to be systematically isolated, manipulated, and coerced into providing unpaid labor at sporting events, conventions, and corporate gatherings across the country.”

The woman, identified as Jane Doe K.D. in the suit, calls out the Springfield, Missouri-based denomination, the Atlanta Dream Center Church, the Georgia District Council Assemblies, and other related ministries. With more than 13,000 churches nationwide and 86 million members internationally, the AOG claims to be the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination.

K.D. claims the trafficking occurred while she and other students attended the Dream Center Church’s Atlanta School of Ministry in 2014 and 2015 in hopes of becoming missionaries and pastors.

The school reportedly told students they could receive free housing, food, and tuition through “volunteer” work. Instead, K.D. alleges that she and other students worked endless hours at unpaid catering events, lived in dangerous environments, and were given moldy food to eat.

“The defendants collaborated for years in a sophisticated trafficking operation that operated openly under the guise of volunteer ministry work in exchange for college tuition, room and board,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff was a victim of this forced labor and abuse scheme.”

K.D. also alleges she was sexually assaulted twice while a student there. She claims the assaults occurred by Daniel “Dan” Palmer, Atlanta School of Ministry founder and chief executive officer and former AOG pastor.

She was also attacked by a guest at one of the church’s events. Palmer is the son of Atlanta Dream Center founder Paul Palmer and the founder of the “I am” street ministry in Atlanta and “Out of Darkness,” an anti-sex-trafficking ministry for women described by Palmer here.

K.D. said her experience at the school caused physical, sexual, and psychological abuse. She is seeking a trial by jury, according to the lawsuit.

The Georgia District Council Assemblies, which oversees the Dream Center Church, said it is aware of the allegations, in a statement to The Roys Report (TRR).

“(We) want to express our deep concern over the allegations that have been brought forward,” District Superintendent John Dougherty said. “While we are limited in what we can say due to the ongoing legal process, we want to be clear that we take these matters very seriously.”

The Dream Center Church is part of the AOG-supported Dream Center network. This network began in 1994 and seeks to transform lives through Christ by addressing human trafficking, homelessness, hunger, poverty, addiction, and education, according to the ministry’s website.

Lawsuit claims students forced into debt bondage

In 2014, K.D. started attending the school because she wanted to become a missionary.

However, when she arrived, she had to share a seven-by-seven-foot room with three other students, according to the lawsuit. The room’s beds had soiled mattresses.

The room was located in a high-rise apartment building in a high-crime area, the suit stated. In 2021, a 19-year-old – not connected with the church – was killed by a faulty elevator in that same building, according to a local news outlet.

Additionally, she said the school often provided her and other students with food that was “expired, spoiled, bruised, moldy, contaminated, and insect and maggot-ridden,” according to the lawsuit. At times, K.D. was told to just rinse this food off with water.

The complaint also alleges that basic healthcare was “non-existent” for students and “injuries were woefully neglected.”

In order to pay for her tuition, K.D. alleges students were forced to perform chores at the church for 12 to 14 hours a day, typically six days a week. She said minimal time was scheduled for “their promised ministerial education.”

“Any concerns or questions as to the conditions were immediately dismissed by the school and church as questioning God’s will, labeling the Plaintiff and other students as ungrateful,” the lawsuit writes. “Plaintiff and other students were exhausted, malnourished, and emotionally distressed and had no outlet to raise concern or opportunity for corrective measures.”

According to the lawsuit, students also had to volunteer as waiters, bartenders, and concession attendants for an unnamed major restaurant conglomerate.

But the students’ “debt” was never fully paid, the complaint said. Instead, “there was always more work required. Even when the debt was purportedly paid, the wages went to pay another’s debt, such that the students were forced into an endless cycle of forced labor – a modern form of debt peonage.”

K.D. alleges that while volunteering at a church event, a guest assaulted her and attempted to put his hands down her pants. K.D. contends that she reported the assault to the church, but the church ignored her.

The suit adds that female students had to use a “buddy system” at volunteer events because there was a “known” risk of a woman getting sexually assaulted at them.

K.D. said she was also assaulted later by Palmer while meeting alone with him.

According to the lawsuit, the pastor rubbed his hands on the plaintiff’s bare legs and thighs without her consent. When she objected to his actions, he reportedly threatened her life and said that she “would not make it to her 21st birthday” if she left his control.

Palmer’s ministry credentials were revoked in 2021, the lawsuit states. The decision followed “nearly two decades during which Daniel Palmer and the ADC Defendants neglected, abused, trafficked, and exploited hundreds of young adults for financial gain,” the lawsuit said.

TRR reached out to Dougherty for confirmation that Palmer’s ministry credentials were revoked and reasons why, but Dougherty did not reply prior to publication.

The complaint also alleges that the ministry hired and retained several staff members, including Palmer, who had “known histories of misconduct.” Additionally, the school allegedly allowed a man on campus who was at the time awaiting trial for the sexual exploitation of a child.

Students were spiritually manipulated to stay at the school, the lawsuit adds. K.D said that Palmer engaged in “religious and psychological coercion” to prevent any students from leaving.

“He told Plaintiff specifically that God would not love her if she left, that she would die if she left,” the complaint states. “Palmer employed these tactics to maintain control over Plaintiff and other trafficking victims, ensuring they remained available for labor.”

After losing 30 pounds, she eventually left the school in 2017 due to medical issues, in “a terrifying escape ….in late-night hours,” it said. However, the school officials allegedly told K.D.’s parents the reason she was expelled from the organization was for drinking alcohol.

K.D.’s attorney, Brandon Smith, told TRR that K.D. decided to take legal action against the school years after the fact because of a conversation she had with a friend. He noted that since filing K.D.’s lawsuit, his firm has received similar complaints from other students. There are “more lawsuits to come over this tragic situation,” he added.

“We are seeking to promote a much-needed social change and end the decade plus labor trafficking and abuse scheme perpetrated by select bad actors,” Smith said. “There is no place for this in Georgia and we must do more to protect our young adults and teens from such needless harms.”

Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.