The Salvation Army rehired a music director it allegedly knew had a history of sending sexually explicit messages to minors. That director then sexually abused another minor at youth camps run by the faith-based nonprofit, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the alleged survivor of that abuse.

Riley Neville filed the complaint against The Salvation Army, alleging that former Divisional Musical Director Joel Collier groomed and abused her for years while she attended music programs at the organization. The abuse, which started when she was 14 in 2017 and continued until 2021, led to her to attempt suicide twice.

Collier worked for The Salvation Army’s southern territory and its Kentucky and Tennessee division at the time. Neville’s complaint was filed in the Jefferson County Circuit Court in Kentucky.

The abuse occurred despite multiple complaints to The Salvation Army about Collier, the lawsuit said. Additionally, Collier had faced discipline from The Salvation Army’s eastern territory sometime between 2010 and 2014 for allegedly sending graphic texts to another minor.

Collier was fired for his actions at the eastern territory and put on a registry that flagged him as a danger to children. The registry aimed to “prevent harmful individuals from being transferred between territories.”

When Collier applied to work at the organization’s southern territory in 2015, officials at the Atlanta-based territory quickly hired him to lead youth camps in a different part of the country despite knowing his history. They removed him from this registry even though they had no authority to do so, the lawsuit noted.

“(The) southern territory knew that Collier posed a danger to children and young adults,” the lawsuit said. “Nevertheless, he was placed in positions that gave him unfettered access to them as both a musical and spiritual leader.”

The Salvation Army’s actions resulted in Neville being “sexually victimized” for years, said Boz Tchividjian, Neville’s lawyer. 

“Our client has taken a bold step in holding the Salvation Army accountable for reportedly failing to follow their own child protection policies,” Tchividjian said in a statement to The Roys Report (TRR). “This egregious breach of trust should never have occurred, and the resulting trauma will impact our client’s life indefinitely.”

The Salvation Army is an evangelical Christian nonprofit that operates in 134 countries. It’s most often recognized for its Christmastime bell ringers.

The organization’s southern territory operates music ministries, camps, and worship arts retreats, according to the organization’s website. TRR reached out repeatedly to The Salvation Army for comment but did not hear back prior to publication.

According to the complaint, Neville is seeking damages from The Salvation Army, alleging negligence in hiring and failing in its duty to protect children. 

“They’re an organization whose fundamentals are caring for and serving the most vulnerable populations,” Neville told noticias de la nbc. “They can’t knowingly hire pedophiles and not be held accountable.” 

Collier groomed Neville to be “dependent” on him

Neville first met Collier in 2017 after she moved to Tennessee from Massachusetts. She “found herself in a new place, feeling lonely and extremely vulnerable because she had little support and no friends,” the suit describes. 

As a gifted pianist and cornet player, she found community and purpose through the Salvation Army’s student music program led by Collier, she told NBC News. 

After encountering each other at Salvation Army music events, Collier started to regularly text and groom Neville, the lawsuit states. He would tell her things like “no one understood her like he did.”

He urged Neville to share her insecurities with him and offered her “special treatment” at music camps while simultaneously working to gain the trust of her mother, the lawsuit said. He would also share about his own marriage troubles with Neville. 

The messages grew allegedly more sexual over time, the suit added.

He asked her about sexual intimacy she had in relationships with boyfriend and requested her to describe her naked body to him. He eventually told her “what type of sexual acts he expected from her when she turned 18,” according to the suit. 

“Collier made it very clear to Riley that she would need to perform these sexual acts if she wanted to remain in his good favor,” the suit continued. “As a result of Collier’s grooming and manipulation, all of (Neville’s) defenses and boundaries were destroyed. She had shared every aspect of her life with him and became solely dependent on him.”

In 2018, Neville’s pastor filed a complaint against Collier after the pastor learned that Collier texted Neville regularly, despite Neville being a minor. The suit said no one from The Salvation Army followed up on this.

Then in 2019, Neville’s youth pastor filed a complaint against Collier for keeping Neville out past curfew. Again, The Salvation Army failed to follow up, the lawsuit stated. 

That same year, Collier allegedly fondled then 17-year-old Neville while they rode together in a Salvation Army equipment truck. Soon after, he told Neville he loved her and sent her a nude photo of his wife, according to the lawsuit. In 2020, on her Neville’s 18th birthday, Collier reportedly sent her a video of himself masturbating.

Several months later at a music camp in Kentucky, Collier allegedly tried to initiate sexual contact with Neville, the complaint said. He eventually got her in a room alone where he reportedly “fondled and kissed her while she cried.” 

Collier had dismantled her ability to consent, Neville told NCB News. “I either convinced myself, or was convinced by him, to just sort of play along in order to keep that key piece of my life going,” she said in the interview. 

In December 2020 and in February 2021, Neville attempted to take her own life because of Collier’s ongoing alleged abuse, according to the lawsuit. 

Neville’s parents learned for the first time about the alleged abuse in April 2021. A few months later, they discovered Collier’s previous graphic texts to another minor, the complaint said. 

Collier, now 35, lives in the United Kingdom and no longer works for the Salvation Army, according to his sitio web. He was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

TRR reached out to Collier for comment but did not hear back prior to publication. 

“I felt like I needed to do something,” Neville told NBC News regarding why she filed the lawsuit. “Because it will keep happening.”

Correction 4/19/25: A photo of Joel Collier was initially misstated as another person and has been corrected. 

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