A Missouri lawyer has established a confidential reporting system for International House of Prayer (IHOPKC) abuse survivors to tackle several pressing questions as accounts accumulate:

What is the extent and nature of the abuse?

Is there an avenue for justice in the courts?

Can government agencies offer other help survivors need?

What additional resources are available to aid in healing and recovery?

And finally, what laws or other legal mechanisms might be enacted to prevent such abuse from reoccurring?

The fledging reporting system, launched earlier this week, reflects a broader struggle to bring external oversight and accountability to religious institutions accustomed to operating in the dark.

Caleb J. Aponte, an attorney with a background in prosecuting sex crimes, launched the system in response to what he describes as an inadequate and potentially harmful internal investigation into allegations of clergy abuse and sexual misconduct directed at IHOPKC founder Mike Bickle.

“IHOPKC’s approach mirrors tactics commonly employed by defense lawyers representing large corporations to shield their clients from liability,” Aponte wrote in an analysis of a report on IHOPKC’s investigative findings.

Aponte criticized the informe as a textbook example of “DARVO,” an acronym that stands for “Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender,” that portrays the perpetrator as the victim, thereby undermining the actual victim’s claims.

Aponte said in his analysis that IHOPKC should have focused on identifying and supporting additional survivors.

“While IHOPKC may pay lip service to encouraging victims to come forward, their actions suggest otherwise, perpetuating a culture of silence and impunity,” wrote Aponte, a member of the Missouri Supreme Court’s Combatting Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence Commission.

IHOPKC directed inquiries regarding the criticism to its attorney, who did not respond to a request for comment.

Aponte is still partnering with Boz Tchividjian, who represents the first woman to publicly accuse Bickle of abuse, known as the primary Jane Doe, along with other survivors.

Tchividjian, the grandson of the late evangelist Billy Graham, has a law practice that represents survivors of child and adult sexual abuse, assault, and harassment nationwide.

He is also the founder of GRACIA, (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), an organization that educates and trains Christian institutions in preventing child abuse and offers independent internal investigations into abuse.

However, the reporting system Aponte has launched is independent from his partnership with Tchividjian. He intends to identify individuals who may have experienced a wide range of abuse, such as psychological manipulation, financial exploitation or whistleblower retaliation, in addition to sexual abuse.

By collecting and categorizing survivors’ stories, Aponte aims to identify potential legal actions, direct survivors to the most suitable resources for their recovery, and gather data to advocate for legislation that safeguards congregants

The allegations against Bickle emerged alongside accounts of widespread abuse within IHOPKC, undermining a devout reputation cultivated throughout IHOPKC’s 25-year history.

Under Bickle’s leadership, IHOPKC has grown into a global prayer and worship movement, with followers deeply engaged in the anticipation of Christ’s second coming. The Kansas City-based organization hosts between 1,000 and 2,000 staff, students, and volunteers who rely on self-raised funds donated to the tax-exempt entity.

Beyond the allegations of clergy abuse tied to Bickle, IHOPKC has faced accusations ranging from agresión sexual by staff and coverups to cramped living conditions and demands for prolonged fasting— all within a culture that seemingly stifles questioning and dissent.

Since the early 2000s, during Catholic Church abuse scandals, external organizations have become instrumental in pushing for justice and systemic reforms at religious institutions.

But the complex structure of IHOPKC makes determining the potential damage as difficult as tracing a winding crack through a mosaic of glass, where each shard reveals a different facet of an ever-unfolding story.

Minimization of misconduct

Despite calls for a thorough external review of its entire operation, IHOPKC engaged Lathrop GPM—a law firm noted for its defense of corporations and churches in sexual abuse cases—to conduct what leaders described as an independent investigación only into Bickle. Rosalee M. McNamara, the attorney responsible for the investigation, has not responded to attempts to contact her for comment.

The Lathrop report, released on Jan. 30, was published nearly three months after former senior leaders at IHOPKC accused Bickle of clergy sexual abuse. Bickle’s former associates highlighted his alleged misuse of prophecies about his wife’s death to justify sexual relationships, underscoring a pattern that supports the claims.

In the announcement of the new reporting system, Aponte also published an analysis of the Lathrop’s report. He specifically criticized it for downplaying Bickle’s misconduct.

McNamara’s report confines Bickle’s misconduct to relationships with two adult women more than 20 years ago.

The report acknowledges that Bickle admitted to sexual contact with a woman known as Jane Doe, or the primary Jane Doe.

In November, The Roys Report published a detailed cuenta of Doe’s interactions with Bickle in the late 1990s, highlighting his manipulation using a prophecy about his wife’s death. It covered diary entries, secret meetings, apartments funded by Bickle, and a trip to Paris, suggesting that Doe was drugged while overseas. Bickle denied the drugging allegations in a recent statement.

McNamara also described a second relationship but appeared to place most of the blame on the woman involved.

“[Bickle] described the contact as ‘consensual sexual contact that involved her touching me but not me touching her,’” McNamara wrote in her report.

McNamara devoted roughly half of her 7-page report to women who have denied being Bickle’s victims and accused Bickle’s former associates, whom McNamara referred to as the “Advocacy Group,” of circulating their names without permission.

“Rather than prioritizing the identification and support of survivors, the report seeks to discredit those who raise concerns, reflecting IHOPKC’s disregard for genuine accountability,” Aponte wrote.

Indispensable pressure

Within 10 days of the report being published, two additional women accused Bickle of abusing them when they were 14 and 15 years old.

Tammy Woods, a Michigan woman, now 57, compartido with The Kansas City Star that she was 14 years old when the abuse occurred while Bickle was pastoring a church in St. Louis during the 1980s. This marked the first allegation against Bickle involving a minor.

Another woman, identified by her initials TH, accused Bickle of predatory behavior in a statement circulated on social media. She said that when Bickle was a minister in the 1980s, he invoked the prophecy about his wife’s imminent death as a pretext for a romantic relationship.

Then, in a historia published a few days later in The Roys Report, TH also disclosed that in the 1970s, Bickle sexually abused her when he was a 20-years-old church intern and she was 15.

Wood’s account, along with what TH characterized as woefully misleading statements in McNamara’s report, caused her to go public with her story.

TH’s ex-husband, Bob Hartley, was prohibido from the IHOPKC premises after allegations against him, including rape, were circulated on Facebook in mid-January.

Yet McNamara apparently interviewed Hartley and presented his statements about his wife not wanting to get involved in the scandal in the report. Hartley’s anonymous assertions appeared in the report as if they came from a credible witness speaking on behalf of his ex-wife. However, by the time McNamara published the report, Hartley had already been banished from IHOPKC grounds.

TH also furnished a copy of a text message exchange with McNamara that contradicted McNamara’s claims that TH was unwilling to share her story. According to the texts, TH only declined to speak with McNamara, but was willing to disclose her account to an investigator whom TH viewed as truly independent.

Following Woods’ account in the Star, IHOPKC leaders apologized for their response to the allegations against Bickle.

“We believe that Mike Bickle sexually abused and manipulated Jane Doe and Tammy Woods, who was a minor at the time,” the statement said. “His predatory and abusive actions are sick and violate the Word of God, the marriage covenant, and holiness; we condemn them in their entirety.”

The organization also admitted that two messages that Bickle gave in October were attempts to manipulate perception prior to allegations becoming public.

The apology added: “We deeply regret allowing him on the platform, and we acknowledge and apologize for the pain and confusion this caused.”

IHOPKC only offered its verbal display of contrition after Wood’s testimony was widely publicized, underscoring the need for external systems in ensuring accountability and support for survivors.

Este artículo apareció originalmente en Divine Detours y has been reprinted with permission.

Stephen Deere spent 20 years as a journalist, conducting investigations that won several awards and ignited major reforms in Atlanta and St. Louis, Missouri. He lives in Marietta, Georgia.