Two victims of alleged child sexual abuse by a MorningStar Ministries volunteer youth leader filed separate civil lawsuits esta semana, bringing the number of lawsuits alleging MorningStar leaders mishandled reports of sexual abuse to three. A similar lawsuit against Morningstar was filed last month.

On Thursday, Erickson Lee, the youth leader named in the civil lawsuits, failed to show for a court date in South Carolina for criminal sex-abuse charges with four victims, los Herald reported Friday.  When Lee, a former cop, didn’t appear, the judge issued a warrant for Lee’s arrest, los observador de charlotte reportado Jueves.

Lee turned himself in Friday for a now nine-year prison sentence—an additional year from the original plea deal of eight years due to his missed court date Thursday, according to the Herald.

The civil suits allege that leaders of Morningstar mishandled decades of sexual abuse by other unnamed people prior to Lee’s alleged abuse of minors. The suits—filed by three of the four alleged victims in the criminal suit—accuse MorningStar founder and recently reinstated President Rick Joyner and other leaders of “grossly negligent and reckless conduct.”

“There is no telling how many others have occurred and were shut down by Morningstar and its leadership,” the two suits from filed this week both state.

The three suits allege that Lee, who led MorningStar’s Young Special Forces ministry for young teenage boys from 2019 to 2022, provided alcohol and pornography and abused multiple children tied to the ministry. All three victims are represented by the same attorneys, S. Randall Hood and Chad McGowan and the suits use similar language.

El año pasado, Lee was arrested by the York County Sheriff’s Office  Special Victims Unit and charged with 11 crimes. For the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed six of the charges, the Herald reported. Lee pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a child, first-degree assault and battery, dissemination of obscene material to a minor, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the Herald.

Joyner told El Informe Roys (TRR) that he hasn’t had a chance to read the two most recent suits, so he declined to comment on them. He also said his attorney is working on a legal response to the filings.

Last week, Joyner called the first lawsuit’s accusations against the prophetic ministry “outrageous” in a statement MorningStar emailed to TRR. Morningstar also posted, but later removed the statement from MorningStar Ministries’ app.

Joyner wrote then that many of the claims weren’t true and that none of MorningStar’s leaders were involved in the allegations.

In a separate matter, Morningstar is also facing accusations that Joyner and the board promoted former president Chris Reed to president months after an adult, former student alleged Reed engaged in mala conducta sexual.

Earlier this week, Joyner told his congregation that Reed “lied” to him about the nature of the sexual misconduct. Joyner also told TRR that he and some board members saw Reed’s sexually explicit texts with a former student. But Joyner said he allowed Reed to be acting president to test whether Reed would “behave.”

Intimidation, drinking and driving with kids, and decades of sexual abuse

One lawsuit was filed August 7 by John Doe #1. Another was filed Wednesday by John Doe #2, and a third was filed Thursday by John Doe #3 in the York County Sixteenth Judicial District in South Carolina.  All three plaintiffs are suing Lee; Lee’s father Doug Lee, who was head of security; MorningStar Fellowship Church; Rick Joyner; former youth leader Chase Portello; former MorningStar VP Dave Yarns; and 10 unnamed MorningStar staff or ministry associates.

All three suits list a couple of historical abuse cases, including one in which an unnamed employee sexually assaulted two female MorningStar University students in the 2000s. The three suits also describe a separate instance when a mother was suspicious of an unnamed volunteer and asked leaders to separate her child from the volunteer. Later the volunteer abused this child, the suit states.

The suit alleges that Morningstar and its church did not protect the victims, noting that the ministry had a responsibility to be more “proactive” in its protection of vulnerable populations.

According to the suits, Lee would get boys drunk during ministry events or on trips and then sexually abuse them. The most recent suit states some of the sexual abuse happened on church property. Lee also drove minors while he was drunk, John Doe #2’s suit states.

Lee and fellow youth leader Chase Portello were both former Marines on their way to becoming cops when they worked together in the Youth Special Forces program, the suits state. Portello enabled Lee’s exploitation of children, according to the suits.  Lee and Portello also sent intimidating notes to a victim after MorningStar leaders were informed of explicit texts Lee sent the victim, the suits state.

“Erickson Lee left a second note on John Doe #3’s car outside of his home and included a picture of him at a young age and a note stating he was being watched,” John Doe #3’s suit states.

According to all three lawsuits, MorningStar leaders failed to protect children, showing a pattern of leniency toward alleged abusers. The suits assert that leaders failed to report child sexual abuse to law enforcement, despite clergy being mandated reporters in South Carolina. In multiple cases, leaders also encouraged victims not to report abuse to law enforcement, the suits state.

“Defendants’ conduct was extreme and outrageous as to exceed all possible bounds of decency and is intolerable in a civilized community,” John Doe #2’s suit states.

Lee’s four alleged victims attended Lee’s criminal court hearing Thursday, waiting for hours when he didn’t show, the Herald reported. They provided a written statement that was read in court, describing Lee as a “predator” and “master manipulator,” the Herald informado.

Rebecca Hopkins es una periodista radicada en Colorado.