Former megachurch pastor Micahn Carter, who resigned from Church of the Highlands (COTH) last year amid accusations he had raped his former secretary, is now suing that secretary over defamation.
In a lawsuit filed in July in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama, Carter alleges that Mary Jones defamed him by “falsely” claiming he had raped her in 2019. Carter is asking for $500,000 in damages.
As a result of Jones’ allegations, the suit states that Carter “lost his employment and reputation in the community.” It adds Carter suffered “mental anguish and torment,” and lost “paid publishing contracts and other paid speaking engagements.”
The lawsuit comes as Carter is returning to public ministry after a year’s absence and beginning to post again to social media.
According to the suit, Jones accused Carter of raping her on April 29, 2019, when Jones was working as Carter’s secretary at Together Church in Yakima, Washington—a former megachurch belonging to the Association of Related Churches (ARC). The allegations were made public in an article Jones posted to Medium on July 21, 2021, and in a letter Jones sent to Chris Hodges, senior pastor of COTH, on July 13, 2021.
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Carter resigned from COTH within 10 days of Jones going public with her allegations.
Revelations lead to end of “restoration process”
In 2019, shortly after the alleged incident occurred, Carter resigned from Together Church for undisclosed reasons. In 2020, Carter began preaching at COTH—the largest ARC megachurch with an average attendance over 43,000.
In 2021, when Carter resigned from COTH, Pastor Chris Hodges said that the church had been “directing a ministerial restoration process” for Carter. Hodges added that after receiving “correspondence raising new allegations” about events in 2019, the Carters “resigned from their positions on staff to work through these issues themselves.”
However, information obtained by TRR indicates that the allegations COTH received in 2021 may not have been “new.”
Mary Jones’ mother, Laurie Jones, told The Roys Report (TRR) in an exclusive interview last November, which we have not reported until now, that she informed ARC and COTH of what happened with her daughter within five days of Mary’s alleged rape.
Laurie Jones told TRR that she called Dino Rizzo, COTH associate pastor and ARC executive director, on May 4, 2019, and told him that Carter had raped her daughter. Jones said she was explicit that the allegations against Carter were more serious than those that had forced Rizzo to resign from his church in 2012 because of an “inappropriate relationship.”
“I said, ‘This is not like your (scandal),” Jones recalled saying to Rizzo. “My daughter was sexually assaulted and she’s being urged to go to the police.”
Jones said her daughter never reported the alleged rape to police because Mary didn’t trust any authority after the alleged assault.
TRR reached out to Carter and his attorney for comment but did not receive any on-the-record statements.
We also reached out to Rizzo and Hodges, but neither responded.
Jones files motion to dismiss
TRR reached out to Mary Jones for comment, but she declined to speak on the record.
However, in an affidavit responding to Carter’s lawsuit, which was obtained by TRR, Jones confirmed her prior account on Medium. She stated in the affidavit, “Plaintiff Micahn Carter sexually assaulted me in the church where we worked in Yakima, Washington.” She also confirms in the affidavit that she sent a letter to Pastor Hodges about the alleged assault in 2021, and that Hodges responded in a letter to Jones.
Other than her letter to Hodges, Jones said she has had no “further communications” with Hodges or any other resident of Alabama, where the lawsuit was filed.
Jones has filed a motion to dismiss Carter’s lawsuit, claiming that the Alabama court has no jurisdiction over her. Jones is a resident of Washington and says she has never been to Alabama.
In a memorandum supporting the motion to dismiss, Jones also noted that the alleged sexual assault took place in Washington and that she wrote her Medium article from her Washington home.
Litigating in Alabama would be “extremely inconvenient,” the motion states, adding that Carter has “not pleaded facts sufficient to support his defamation claim.”
Witnesses for Carter allege ‘episode’ was ‘voluntary’; Jones’ mother refutes
In a brief opposing Jones’ motion to dismiss, Carter’s lawyer, William E. Bright Jr., states that witnesses have signed affidavits stating that Jones told them that “the entire episode (with Carter) was voluntary.”
These witnesses reportedly have stated that Jones said she “put her foot on the door” to the room where the “sexual actions were occurring” because the door to Jones’ office did not have a lock.
Carter’s lawsuit also alleges that Jones “has a pattern and practice of accusing individuals of rape.”
“Witnesses have come forward, stating that (Jones) has accused her own father, the father of her child, the uncles of the father of her child, and numerous other people of rape,” the opposition brief states. (The brief does not name the witnesses.)
However, Laurie Jones told TRR that she’s convinced Carter raped her daughter in 2019.
Laurie Jones recalled to TRR that she saw her daughter on the night of the alleged rape at an event in the auditorium at Together Church. According to Laurie, Mary was sitting next to Carter “almost in the fetal position” with her arms “wrapped around herself” and “staring straight ahead.”
According to Mary Jones’ 2021 article on Medium, her pastor, who’s not named, “attempted to grab” Mary before the event at the church on April 29, 2019. Then, immediately following the event, Mary’s pastor raped her in her office, the article states.
Laurie said she called Mary after the church event and her daughter didn’t answer. However, Laurie said that soon afterwards, her daughter called her, crying and vomiting and stating that “Pastor Micahn” had just had sex with her.
Laurie said she then met Mary at a gas station and asked Mary if she had willingly had sex with Carter, and Mary said no. Laurie said she urged her daughter to go to police and the hospital. But at that point, her daughter had “no trust for anyone” and wasn’t willing, Laurie said.
A family member of Carter’s, who’s close friends with Laurie and didn’t want to be named, also spoke with TRR. She had a similar recollection of Mary’s disposition at the church event on April 29, 2019. She said Mary stared “straight ahead” and was “white as a ghost.”
The family member also recalled that after the event, she and Laurie couldn’t find Mary in the lobby.
According to experts on sexual abuse, sexual contact between a pastor and a congregant or staff member is always inappropriate and abusive, whether it’s consensual or not. “In a professional or pastoral relationship, the unequal balance of power precludes meaningful consent to sexual activity,” state the authors of a pamphlet on the topic.
Carter returns to ministry
On July 24, Carter returned to public ministry, preaching at The Father’s House Orange County (TFH OC), a Los Angeles-area church associated with ARC and pastored by Matt and Bianca Olthoff.
Carter also has become active on social media, posting messages on grace, forgiveness, and freedom from the past.
A post October 3 to Carter’s account stated, “Your Past. The devil will use it to keep you bound. God will use it to help set people free.”
Meanwhile, COTH is moving forward with construction of a controversial $4.5 million lodge to restore pastors. Hodges has publicly said he wants “to be known for” restoring pastors after a moral fall.
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10 Responses
At the very least this means the justice system is now aware of a claim of what is a very very serious offence both before God and by the laws of man. Rape is no joke and destroys people leaving many feeling powerless and unclean. My prayer is that in seeking to justify himself with this law suit that breaks Pauls instruction not to deal with thing to do with Ministry ( really its his ego) in the Civil courts to add yet more shame to the name of our Lord in the eyes of unbelievers, that God defends his name and the real victims strictly as HE witnesses events…. there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, he takes up the cause of the oppressed to win it. So my prayer is for impartial justice worked by the Lord himself now that this guys ego has forced the affair into the public gaze and out of the shadows…. work Justice Lord according to your perfect judgment amen
Everyone I know always suspected this guy of sexual issues with staff & was frequently talked about amongst members @ COTH. Nobody in the older 40 plus crowd ever liked the guy but I guess the young crowd did ? Regardless, that’s what you get when you cater to younger generation & kick the older generations to the curb ? Honestly, truth be told, the older generations here in Birmingham @ COTH have never liked Dino, his past transgressions, his can do no wrong buddy buddy relationship with Chris Hodges or his ghetto bro style of preaching & thousands of people have left that church for those very reasons. I know for a fact directly from a pastors mouth that he told us @ a recent outside event last year that attendance was down 70%
Louis, after reading this story & reading your comments I’m confused as to whether your heart is hurt towards what this young lady has endured or just hard towards the church & it’s leaders. Especially, as you say those who might have a “ghetto bro style.” That language sounds extremely “stereotypical” & a bit racially insensitive. To avoid being judgmental as to your motives of your reply, I’ll ask what exactly do you mean by “ghetto bro style”? The issue at hand is regarding this young lady. I just hope that your response didn’t expose the issues of your own heart.
Louis, “Ghetto bro style”? What style is this? Not sure what you are implying. Lenard, the young lady does not sound like the issue at hand. This sounds like a case of the deacons not getting their way.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. You obviously don’t go to Church of the Highlands, and by the tone of your comments, you haven’t spent time with God. If you did, you would know that these remarks are racist and off basis. Keep the main thing, the main thing in this comment thread. Leave Dino out of this and focus on your own transgressions.
Go in peace.
Also, it’s a very , very bad look in extremely conservative, big pro life, pro family Bible belt Birmingham & sets a very, very bad precedent when you bring in pastors when past infidelity or sexually past issues, WE don’t like it & WE won’t support it, particularly the older generations, conservative big money donors ! Obviously the powers to be @ ARC doesn’t care what the donors, attendees or those who serve voluntarily @ those ARC churches have to say about these types of things & you have the Fox guarding the Henhouse don’t you ?
I want to see micahn carter and his former secretary take a lie detector test on the steve wilkos show to find out who is telling the truth
Carter is an interesting case, as his “restoration” process followed from what appears to be a clear case of at least infidelity, and that follows being “shown the door” at another church for unspecified reasons–OK, forgive me, but I’m going to guess.
Add that to the fact that Dino Rizzo was also caught in infidelity from the same church, and I’ve got to wonder whether the church needs to consider “how do we create a culture where pastors are less likely to sin sexually?” rather than “how do we rehabilitate pastors who have sinned sexually?”
Two sides of the same coin in effect, yes, but it strikes me that if we’re going to have superstar pastors with superstar treatment and superstar salaries, those in that position need to be reminded that grievous sin in that position will end their superstar treatment for a longer period than just one year.
And while other churches with less superstar cachet have also had huge issues, I’ve got to wonder whether part of our problem is so many major churches have superstars. Maybe pastors ought to be chosen for their moral character and not just for their ability to speak/charisma, and part of their job description ought to be the day to day service of the flock? That if you limit the number of people per pastor, you torpedo the superstar role.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Pastors were never meant to be multi million dollar superstars, they were meant to be shepherds. End of story
I personally believe Mary’s account of what happened. But whether or not you want to believe it, I know for a fact that Micahn worked to cover up more heinous crimes within Together Church. He not true to his role as a pastor and I don’t believe he ever was. He has used the church to make it big for himself and God isn’t allowing it anymore. So file your lawsuit Micahn, the burden of proof is now your responsibility. Good luck, you’re gonna need it