A former member of a Houston megachurch claims a former church employee sexually abused him about 15 years ago. The employee confessed the abuse to church leadership around the same time, the alleged victim says, but the church covered it up.

The alleged victim, Tyler Bates, shared his story of alleged abuse and cover-up at Grace Church in Houston for the first time on the Rita Springer Podcast last month.

On the podcast, Bates detailed how former youth dance group director Joel Davis allegedly molested him twice in 2009 and 2010, when Bates was 17 and 18. At the time, Davis was in his mid-20s.

Bates said church leadership knew about the sexual abuse for years but told Bates not to tell his parents. In 2011, Grace Senior Pastor Garrett Booth told Bates he should keep quiet because “it’s not your story” to tell, but Davis’s, Bates said on the podcast. 

In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Bates added that Grace had failed him and all the families at the church.

“We can’t just shuffle around or walk on eggshells because we’re afraid to call the church out,” Bates said. “The church is stronger than we give it credit for, and sometimes, there’s cobwebs and dark corners of the kingdom, and we have to be willing to turn the lights on. If we turn the lights on, it’s not going to be scary because I believe that God is present.”

Established in 1983, Grace Church is a non-denominational megachurch church that boasts on its website that it’s one of the “biggest churches in the Houston area.”

The Roys Report (TRR) reached out to Grace for comment but did not hear back prior to publication.

Bates learned about alleged abuse in a “wild way”

On Springer’s podcast, Bates describes how he didn’t remember being molested but was told about it by the alleged abuser in 2011.

At the time, Bates served as an intern at Grace. And when Bates wanted advice on a dating relationship in February of that year, he called Davis, who was a close friend and mentor.

But instead of offering advice, Davis confessed to Bates that he had molested him in July 2010, while they were sleeping in the same hotel room on a church trip, Bates said.

Bates recalled that the “conversation just end(ed) kind of weird . . . I don’t know how to respond to like, ‘I touched you while you were asleep.’”

Bates told Springer he had no recollection of this incident because he was asleep. He said the fact that he learned of the abuse from his abuser right after a breakup with his girlfriend was “a wild way to be told.”

The day after this conversation, Grace Pastor Garrett Booth called Bates. Booth said he was aware of the sexual abuse incident and assured Bates that Davis would be sent to counseling.

However, Booth allegedly told Bates not to tell his parents because “it’s not your story.” Booth reportedly said Davis would tell Bates’ parents when Davis was ready.

At the time, Bates said he thought “this was normal” procedure. He said he was homeschooled and had been very involved in the church and trusted its leaders.

Parents confront Grace leadership

For years, Bates did not tell anybody about the alleged abuse until he shared it with his wife, Connie, while they were dating.

After he and Connie got married, she encouraged Bates to share the incident with Bates’ parents in May 2014. Connie said she was worried about safety for the Bates family as the parents still had children involved at Grace.

Plus, Davis still worked at the church, oftentimes with children, including playing Santa during holiday events, Bates said on the podcast.

Bates said he finally told his parents about the abuse. They were shocked, and his dad was “livid” about the coverup, Bates said.

His parents then confronted Davis with the allegations. Davis reportedly confessed to the parents that he molested Bates—not only in 2010, but also in 2009, when Davis was 17.

Davis told the parents he had confessed both incidents to Grace leadership and that the pastors had sent him to counseling. 

When the parents shared with Bates about the 2009 incident, Bates was taken aback.

“This whole time, none of (Grace leadership) had ever once implied or told me that it had happened twice. They only conveniently confessed to the time that I was (aware of),” he said on the podcast.

His parents next met with several members of church leadership. The leaders assured Bates’ parents they would report the alleged abuse to authorities. But, when Davis resigned from the church, the leaders reneged on their word, Bates said. 

His parents tried to implement safety reforms at church, but Bates said on the podcast that any change was minimal.

Bates sues Grace Church

In 2017, Bates filed a civil lawsuit against Grace under the name “John Doe.”

According to the complaint, Davis “committed assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.” It also claimed that the church had engaged in “negligence, negligent hiring, supervision and retention, negligent failure to warn, negligent misrepresentation, and vicarious liability.”

After seven years, in November 2024, Bates settled with Grace for $2 million, according to court documents.

“It was traumatic,” Bates told the Chronicle. “Any time you file any sort of case like this, it actually could be just as traumatizing for the victim. Not only are you reliving it in the system that exists, you’re not just having to prove that it happened, you’re having to prove that it affected you.”

Bates reportedly worked at embattled Gateway Church from 2010 to 2018 and then again from 2020 to 2023. And just a month after the sex abuse scandal at Gateway Church erupted, Grace started the process of settling with Bates, he said.

Gateway has been embroiled in controversy since Cindy Clemishire accused founder Robert Morris of sexually abusing her for years, beginning when she was 12 years old.

Grace Church responds to allegations

Grace Church spokesman Lawrence Swicegood responded to the Chronicle regarding Bates’ allegations via email.

Swicegood said Grace pastors “terminated the accused staff members, informed families of the ministry in which he had served, and requested and received the resignation of a staff pastor” during the 2014 leadership transition. The email didn’t name Davis, the Chronicle reported.

“The Church tried to balance these actions with the victim’s continued desire for privacy,” Swicegood said. “The Church made repeated offers of counseling and other support to the victim and his family between 2010 and 2016, when the victim decided to pursue civil action.”

Swicegood noted that senior pastor Booth has “greatly strengthened” how the church protects youth, and that church staff and volunteers are certified through the abuse prevention company MinistrySafe.

Prior to working at Grace, Swicegood served as the longtime spokesperson for Gateway and Robert Morris, TRR reported. Swicegood left Gateway when the church removed four elders who knew, or should have known, of Morris’ alleged abuse. 

God will “not let go of me”

Bates, now 32, is a husband and father. He currently works as the co-founder of the Amazing Kids church curriculum, part of Dallas-based Amazing Life Foundation (which recently acquired the popular Orange curriculum).

Bates said that he’s not “mad at God” for what happened. Instead, he has felt God walking with him through this whole process.

“There is a God who will just not let go of me,” Bates said. “My story is awful (but) there’s beautiful moments with Jesus in it. And his church is going to be beautiful, like he promises us that he’s going to make it beautiful.”

This article has been corrected to accurately refer to Bates in a few instances. We regret the error.

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