El ex pastor de una iglesia presbiteriana de Indiana ahora está demandando a dos mujeres que dicen que él las acosó sexualmente, y su presbiterio no lo detiene.
documentos judiciales civiles mostrar a Dan Herron, un anciano y ex pastor de Iglesia Presbiteriana Esperanza cerca de la Universidad de Indiana en Bloomington, presentó una demanda en el Tribunal de Circuito del Condado de Monroe contra Kara Million y Abigail Harris. Herron afirma que las mujeres lo difamaron cuando lo acusaron de manipular a estudiantes y miembros de la iglesia a través del contacto físico y la intimidación verbal.
Los abogados de Herron dicen en documentos judiciales que las mujeres mintieron sobre el comportamiento de Herron hacia ellas y que sus declaraciones dañaron su reputación. Los abogados de las mujeres han respondido que sus afirmaciones son sustancialmente ciertas.
El Informe Roys dejó un mensaje en busca de comentarios de uno de los abogados que representan a Herron, pero no respondió de inmediato.
Gran parte del traje proviene de afirma que Million, Harris y otros dos ex miembros de la iglesia hicieron en 2019 en una carta al Presbiterio de Indiana Central (CIP) de la Iglesia Presbiteriana en América. Hope Presbyterian, donde Herron era pastor en ese momento, es parte del CIP.
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El Informe Roys envió un correo electrónico a un oficial del presbiterio para hacer comentarios, pero no recibió una respuesta.
El presbiterio investigó pero no acusó a Herron. Un anciano que discrepó con el fallo presentó una denuncia alegando que había sido mal manejado, y la CIP inició una nueva investigación en febrero. El Informe Roys previamente reportado.
Luego, Herron presentó una demanda en un tribunal civil en junio. También envió una carta de cese y desistimiento a Million y Harris, ordenándoles que dejaran de hablar sobre sus acusaciones, según una descripción de la carta en los documentos judiciales.
“Dejó muy claro (en documentos judiciales) que nos estaba demandando por presentarnos en primer lugar, no necesariamente por toda la atención de los medios resultante”, dijo Million. Señaló que la carta de las mujeres de 2019 al presbiterio era la prueba A.
Los ancianos del presbiterio, molestos porque Herron había involucrado a las autoridades estatales, le dijeron que retirara la demanda, dijo Million. Luego lo disciplinaron cuando no lo hizo. También suspendieron sus procedimientos con respecto a las denuncias de acoso sexual.
Pero al hablar con los ancianos, Herron argumentó que era "crucial que el estado se involucrara para proteger la verdad", dijo el anciano Steve Marusich. El Informe Roys.
El presbiterio luego revocó su disciplina en septiembre, dijeron Marusich y Million, dejándolo efectivamente seguir adelante con la demanda por difamación. El presbiterio también restableció su investigación. Million dijo que espera un juicio “pronto”.
https://twitter.com/darterdancer/status/1437075485729693700
El equipo legal de Herron basó su demanda por difamación en parte en la afirmación de que las acusaciones de Million y Harris habían desencadenado las investigaciones del presbiterio. Parte de su defensa también se basó en el resultado de la primera investigación.
Sin embargo, los abogados están pidiendo al tribunal de circuito que anule una citación de los registros del presbiterio relacionados con Herron.
En las presentaciones judiciales, los abogados de Herron afirman que los registros están protegidos contra la divulgación bajo el privilegio del clérigo, o el derecho de una persona a la privacidad cuando busca atención espiritual de su pastor.
Los abogados de Million respondieron en documentos judiciales que el privilegio del clérigo no se aplica a los documentos particulares que buscan.
Una audiencia en el caso civil está programada para el 4 de noviembre, según muestran los registros judiciales.
Sarah Einselen es una escritora y editora premiada que vive en Texas, EEUU.
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13 Respuestas
“the attorneys are asking the circuit court to quash a subpoena of the presbytery’s records related to Herron.” Wanting to be opaque about one’s history is always a good sign of innocence. Yikes.
Anytime a church or Pastor does not want to be completely open, while claiming innocence, they are showing you exactly who they are and what they serve.
This is a tough one for me. I want to say the pastor is wrong. However, what if he really was falsely accused??? Unfortunately, people don’t always tell the truth and in a clergy vocation one lie can completely devastate the pastor and his or her family. I have seen this happen several times.
He has the right to take them to court and let the facts speak for themselves. It appears he is using the James MacDonald tactic of sue to shut them up, but will back out when the court rules against him in discovery, then he can play victim.
~20 people have come forward with similar claims about Herron, and two separate investigations found our claims credible. “The truth will out.”
99% of the time I wouldn’t side with the pastor here, and even now I mostly don’t, but what the heck is “substantially true”? Hmm.
That phrase raises an eyebrow for me.
It’s a legal term. It’s so people can’t get sued for getting a tiny detail wrong when overall they were telling the truth.
Kara Million,
Thanks. I definitely think this dude has something to hide.
If he does have something to hide, why sue? He won with the denominational court. The civil court case will bring everything out into the public.
People can be psychologically influenced by public hysteria. Remember the famous story of the announcement of tainted coke at the football game. Massive numbers of people became sick after hearing the announcement. But the coke wasn’t tainted. Or remember the mass hysteria witch trials beginning with the false charges and convictions in the McMartin day care case. We have to be careful, human nature being what it is, to investigate carefully and punish people based on evidence, not people’s perceptions or beliefs.
The Courts are a safeguard to this. I found it rather audacious that the litigants wanted their testimony to the denominational officials held in confidence! C’mon these were sworn documents drafted with advice of lawyers no doubt for a denominational court. Bet they’d not want that to work the other way.
I understand the point you’re trying to make, but Herron did not “win” in ecclesiastical court. Our case was about to go to ecclesiastical court when he filed the lawsuit; in fact, we received his cease and desist letters the day after the trial dates were formalized. Why not wait until he was exonerated by the presbytery before filing the lawsuit? When questioned about this, Herron stated that he was suing to prevent Abigail and myself from testifying in church court. To this day our case has not been heard in ecclesiastical court, although we are told it will be soon.
We did not have lawyers’ assistance drafting our original letter, we were not “litigants” at the time, and the letter was not a “sworn” document. Church process had not officially started (and would not start for another two years). We understood that if this went to church trial, our identities and letter would have to be revealed. We just didn’t want that to happen until we knew for sure the presbytery was going to hear our case officially. We were in a very vulnerable position coming forward.
If you read the public case record, you will notice that it is Herron who has attempted to keep all the presbytery records from becoming part of his civil case. If these records exonerated him, why not allow them to be produced?
I look forward to when everything becomes public because I have nothing to hide. I told the truth, and I stand by it.
If the law has been broken or the matter has attracted civil interest, it’s a matter for the courts. If he was merely ‘unpleasant’ it might be a matter related to the church’s conduct rules..
Kara, how can I stay updated on this case? I am so proud of you for doing the very difficult and courageous thing by coming forward. I know all too well how hard it is especially when there is such fierce retaliation. I will continue praying for you and your team during this!
The court case is public record. You can go to mycase.in.gov and search using the case # 53C01-2106-CT-001359. Also, thank you. I really needed your words tonight, April.