A charismatic Canadian pastor overseeing one of British Columbia’s largest churches has been slammed with two lawsuits alleging that he groomed and sexually abused two girls between 10 to 25 years ago. In 2001, Art Lucier befriended a vulnerable 11-year-old foster child, Jasmine Hall, at a mall parking lot in Kitimat, a small town in western Canada and invited her to church, according to a lawsuit filed this week. He then groomed and sexually abuse her for the next eight years, the suit claims.

Also in 2001, Lucier befriended a 14-year-old foster child, Ayla Thompson, on a camping trip, and invited her to church, a second lawsuit states. Calling her “my baby girl,” Lucier proceeded to sexually abuse Thompson for 14 years, according to the second suit.

The abuse devastated their lives, leading to PTSD, suicide attempts, and loss of trust in religion, stated both similarly worded suits.

Hall and Thompson, who are now adults, are suing Lucier, Kelowna Harvest Fellowship—where he pastors— and the church’s Harvest Ministries International. Both women are represented by attorney Morgyn Chandler, who filed the civil suits in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Wednesday.

The Roys Report (TRR) has a policy of keeping the names of sexual abuse victims anonymous, but Hall and Thompson’s lawsuits are filed under their names.

Lucier leads a five-fold revivalist ministry that is connected to prophetic networks in the United States. Both lawsuits state that Lucier used his position as pastor of Kitimat Harvest Ministries to gain the girls’ trust.

Both suits also allege the church, now known as Kelowna Harvest Fellowship after Lucier and his wife moved 813 miles to the east in 2018, silenced people who reported sexual abuse. The church also didn’t report the abuse to police and didn’t warn the church of the alleged abuse, the suit added.

“Harvest Fellowship and Ministries International were complicit in an operational culture that enabled the Defendant Art Lucier to groom and sexually abuse vulnerable youth,” both suits state.

Complaints about Lucier first surfaced last year in a series of episodes on the podcast Heaven Bent created by Vancouver radio host Tara Jean Stevens. Last December, an open letter alleging “ grooming and sexual abuse of young girls “ and requesting Kelowna Harvest to hire a third-party investigator was posted online.

Almost 700 people, including Hall, Thompson, and Dora Delavina Watts, one of Lucier’s own former foster children, have signed the letter. However, petition organizer Salem Webb, Lucier’s son-in-law,  told TRR Thursday he’s heard of no plans from the ministry to involve an independent investigator.

In March, Lucier told his congregation at Kelowna Harvest he would step back from public ministry, alluding to “mistakes made along the way” in more than 20 years of ministry.  Lucier told his church he wouldn’t be leaving but would stop preaching for an unspecified amount of time. He’s still listed as the church’s leader on its website.

Last month in an online Reset Hour meeting that Kelowna Harvest Church hosts for “apostles, prophets and intercessors,” Lucier admitted to some past vague sins, mistakes, and immaturity, and said he repents. He added he can’t take a penalty for things he hasn’t done.

“May the Lord figure that out,” he said.

On Thursday, Lucier and the board of directors for Harvest Ministries International denied the allegations in the lawsuit in a statement on Facebook. When TRR requested comment from Lucier, his church and Harvest Ministries, the ministry sent TRR the same statement.

“These allegations are completely and totally false,” the statement said. “We look forward to the opportunity to present the truth in court, expose the lies, and shed light on the deception that has been associated with these false allegations.”

The statement also threatened to sue anyone who makes defamatory statements.

“We will vigorously pursue all legal remedies available, including suing for slander and libel,” the statement said. “The truth will prevail, and we are confident that justice will be served.”

The lawsuit’s allegations

Both lawsuits’ allegations started in 2001, when Lucier was pastoring in Kitimat, located on a remote inlet in northwest Canada.

From 2001 to 2009, the lawsuit states, Lucier drove Hall to church or home and invited her to his house, began mentoring her, grooming her, giving her gifts and massaging her.  The sexual abuse included Lucier kissing Hall, requiring her to remove her clothing, requiring her to sit on his lap, and Lucier sexually touching Hall’s privates.

When Hall was 16, Lucier allegedly forced her out of the church, spread rumors about her, and isolated her, but continued to sexually abuse her.

“His actions showed a callous disregard for her mental and spiritual health,” the lawsuit states.

Thompson’s suit alleges that Lucier would give her rides home but then abuse her in his car. He also invited her to his home to babysit his foster children, for youth group meetings, sleepovers, and counseling sessions. Lucier groomed Thompson with mentoring, crossing physical boundaries with roughhousing, and giving her gifts, including a ring on her 16^th birthday, the suit states.

He allegedly sexually touched her privates, kissed her on the mouth, and told her details of his own sexual experience.

Both lawsuits emphasized the repeated nature of the abuse.

“The Grooming and the Sexual Abuse were related to activities pertaining to activities the Plaintiff’s involvement with the Defendant Harvest Fellowship and Ministries International and occurred on a repeated basis, increasing in frequency, nature and intensity as time progressed,” they state.

Both suits allege Lucier engaged in “intentional torts” of sexual assault. The suits also allege the church and ministry engaged in negligence and vicarious liability by contributing to an environment that enabled Lucier to abuse.

The lawsuits don’t list a dollar amount, but asked for several types of damages, including punitive, past loss and future loss of earning capacity, damages related to health care costs, and lawsuit costs.

“The conduct of the Defendants was callous, disgraceful, outrageous, and reprehensible, and represented a marked departure from the ordinary standard of reasonable behaviour expected of an individual church, a church minister and church staff,” both lawsuits state.

Blame for accusers

Harvest Ministries’ oversight committee had received some accusations but, according to member Marc Brisebois at last week’s Reset Hour meeting, most didn’t meet  a “threshold worthy of indictment.” Rather, the allegations reveal Lucier’s “lack of character and maturity and leadership” from his early years as a leader. 

Brisebois called accusations that the church covered up abuses “absurd” and blamed people making the accusations for creating spiritual warfare against the church.

“Just in the last couple of days, key words have been released by international prophets about the release of accusations,” Brisebois said. “Protect yourselves from being taken up in this whirlwind of anger, rage, and accusation.”

Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.