A Baltimore megachurch allegedly failed to protect a former church member from being sexually abused by a youth pastor’s daughter in the mid-1990s, according to a recent lawsuit.

The plaintiff, John Patrick Richard Capello, said Greater Grace World Outreach in Baltimore failed to stop the abuse and actively covered it up.

Capello’s lawsuit comes after a group of ex-church members, called the Millstones, and The Baltimore Banner exposed a decades-long history of sexual abuse coverup within the organization last year, as previously reported by The Roys Report (TRR).

Capello’s complaint, filed last week in Baltimore City Circuit Court, is the first lawsuit against church leadership since this exposé.

Capello, now in his 40s, alleges that he was repeatedly assaulted in the mid to late 1990s as a teenager by the teenage daughter of John Love, Greater Grace’s youth pastor.

“Many of these assaults occurred on Greater Grace property with the full knowledge of Greater Grace leaders and staff, who not only failed to intervene, but also actively concealed the abuse and blamed the child victim,” the complaint states. “(The church) created and maintained an environment where abuse could flourish unchecked due to its hierarchical structure and extreme theological teachings that silenced victims.”

Church leadership reportedly blamed Capello for the alleged abuse by telling Capello that only men can initiate sexual acts.

Capello’s decision to come forward is courageous, Boz Tchividjian, an attorney serving as co-counsel on the case, told TRR.

“This lawsuit seeks to hold Greater Grace and John Love accountable for their knowing failure to protect him from ongoing abuse,” said Tchividjian. “This case is not only about child sexual abuse—it is also about the profound spiritual abuse inflicted by church leaders who chose to blame and shame John instead of protecting him.”

Greater Grace said in a Friday statement on its website that it was “aware” of the lawsuit but had yet to be served with it. (The church was served with the suit on Monday, according to court records.)

Greater Grace said it is “firmly committed to truth and accountability. Church elders, including Love, noted that the independent organization, Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), is investigating all allegations of sexual abuse and mishandling at the church.

“Because the investigation is ongoing, we cannot speak to any specific allegations in order to protect the integrity of that process,” the statement said. “But we are committed to full transparency and accurate communication, no matter what GRACE’s process finds.”

The nondenominational evangelical church was first founded by Carl H. Stevens Jr. in 1987, according to the Greater Grace’s website.

Pastors blamed Capello for alleged abuse

The alleged sexual abuse against Capello started when he was a teenager at Greater Grace, according to the complaint.

Capello grew up in the church—his entire childhood was structured around the church’s “insular community” as his parents worked at the ministry full-time, the suit noted. Additionally, the pastors at the church taught that they were “divine intermediaries who spoke with God’s authority,” according to the complaint.

When Capello was 14, he went on a Greater Grace mission trip in the Czech Republic and Poland in 1995, according to the complaint. While riding on a van during the trip, John Love’s then-16-year-old daughter asked to sit beside Capello.

Capello said he fell asleep during the ride and woke up to find her fondling his genitals as youth leader Ray Fernandez witnessed the incident. Fernandez did nothing to stop the alleged assault against Capello, the complaint said.

Fernandez was later convicted of molesting three boys who attended Greater Grace. He was sentenced in 2014 to 16 years in prison, according to WBAL TV.

The next day, Fernandez told the young teen that Capello was responsible for what had happened. Then Fernandez reported to Pastor Love what happened, reportedly claiming the teens engaged in mutual inappropriate touching, according to the complaint.

Capello tried to tell Love that he had been assaulted by his daughter; however, Love rejected this and reportedly argued that “men are always the initiators in sexual encounters.”

Love told Capello to seek God’s forgiveness and act as if the assault never occurred. This established a “pattern of theological manipulation that would continue for years.”

For the next two years, the youth pastor’s daughter allegedly continued to assault Capello both on and off church property. Throughout this, Love “systematically exploited his spiritual authority to silence” Capello, according to the complaint.

Love’s daughter briefly stopped the alleged abuse when she graduated from high school and attended a college outside of Baltimore, the complaint noted. However, the assaults started again in 2002.

That same year, Greater Grace founder Stevens met with Capello and Love, according to the complaint. There, Love accused Capello of having sexual intercourse with his daughter and impregnating her, with no evidence to support this.

Stevens and Love then pressured Capello to marry Love’s daughter, the complaint said.

“The Plaintiff eventually realized they were attempting to coerce him into assuming financial responsibility for her pregnancy,” the complaint stated. “Despite this extreme pressure from the church’s highest authorities, the Plaintiff denied the false accusations and refused to comply with their demand that he marry Pastor Love’s daughter.”

In 2013, Capello told his wife and parents about the alleged abuse he experienced. He learned his parents were unaware of what occurred, despite the fact that Love told Capello the youth pastor had informed his parents about the van incident.

Capello is now seeking $75,000 damages under the Maryland Child Victims Act for “severe and lasting harm,” according to the complaint.

 “The psychological harm inflicted by Greater Grace’s negligence has permanently altered every aspect of the Plaintiff’s life,” the complaint states. “Greater Grace’s exploitation of religious authority and spiritual manipulation has fundamentally damaged the Plaintiff’s capacity for trust, destroyed his religious faith, severed his relationship with God, and profoundly stunted his emotional and spiritual development.”

Members of the Millstones, the group of former church members who investigated the ministry’s handling of abuse allegations, said they stand with Capello’s fight for justice.

“The horrific sexual abuse, victim-blaming, manipulation, and spiritual and emotional abuse detailed in the suit have left us reeling,” the group said in a statement on Facebook. “This suit exemplifies that Greater Grace has long psychologically and spiritually manipulated victim-survivors into silence and fostered an environment where abusers knew they could operate unchecked.”

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