Note: This story contains depictions of predatory grooming, child sexual abuse and self-harm.

Two lawsuits became four, four became six, then six a dozen. Now megachurch pastor Greg Laurie, his Riverside, California-based Harvest Christian Fellowship, and two former ministers of that church are facing 12 different lawsuits from 12 different men.

Each of the men say they were sexually abused while growing up in Romanian orphanages that Harvest Christian Fellowship founded and funded but failed to oversee.

One of them called Harvest’s orphanage program in Romania “a madhouse run by a sadistic pedophile.”

Harvest has called the suits “a form of financial extortion” and said that targeting the megachurch has become “the near total focus” of an attorney at McAllister Olivarius, a New York and London-based firm.

“The allegations … shock one’s conscience,” the church said in a statement emailed to multiple media outlets. “We have attempted in good faith to engage with the lawyer, but the lawsuit represents only the latest demand and, in this case, many tens-of-millions of dollars.”

The multiplying lawsuits do not name specific amounts. But the 12 men have each asked federal courts for “damages in amounts to be established at trial,” including punitive damages and compensation for “ongoing and severe mental anguish.”

One of the men, George-Adrian Vasile, said Paul Havsgaard — a pastor at Harvest from 1984 to 2002 and head of the now-defunct Harvest Homes in Romania — first touched him inappropriately in 2000. Vasile was 8 years old. He alleges Havsgaard forcibly masturbated him and penetrated him with his fingers.

Now 34, Vasile recalls Havsgaard would give him a reward if he stayed quiet.

Marian Barbu, also 34, claims Havsgaard put a pillow over his face when he was 8 and smothered him to keep him quiet while Havsgaard molested him in his bed. Barbu said he thought he was going to die. Later, he wanted to. He attempted suicide multiple times.

Barbu cut his wrists with glass, drank chlorine, swallowed coins, took pills, poured boiling water on himself, and beat his head against a wall, according to his lawsuit filed in federal court.

Alexandru Bădăluță, 37, haș visible scars on his wrists from his suicide attempt. He alleges Havsgaard stripped him, spanked him, and touched him inappropriately multiple times per day starting when he was 12 and continuing until he was 16.

Răzvan-Gheorghe Nițu, 39, also recalls sexual abuse mingled with routine discipline. He said in his suit that as a child he thought he was abused so often because he was bad, but Havsgaard told him this was a normal part of a father-son relationship.

He claims Havsgaard also showed him a pornographic video of two men having sex, explained that men can have sex with each other, and asked him if he liked it.

Today, Nițu reports he still feels overwhelmed by shame. He cannot seem to shake the belief that he was victimized because he is “fundamentally dirty,” according to his lawsuit.

The eight other men who have sued—Cristian Aeroaiei, Alexandru-Cristian Bușcă, Aurelian Bușcă, Florin Cristian Caragea, Marian Dragne, Bogdan Ionescu, Constantin-Alin Nițu, and Mihai-Constantin Petcu—have similar stories.

The Roys Report does not name individuals who claim to be victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as these 12 have.

Havsgaard, who has retired in California, could not be reached for comment. He has not spoken publicly about the growing number of allegations of pedophilia.

Havsgaard has not been charged with any crimes. The “Protect Act,” passed in 2003, made it a federal crime to engage in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. Government prosecutors are currently using the law to prosecute an Ohio man who allegedly abused multiple boys during mission trips in Haiti.

An additional 11 men are also planning to sue, bringing the lawsuits to a total of 23, according to a spokesman at McAllister Olivarius. They are expected to file in the coming weeks.

A judge may combine all 23 cases against Havsgaard, Laurie, former missions pastor Richard Schutte, and Harvest Christian Fellowship.

Harvest has hired a lawyer with experience defending against class-action suits. Howard Privette’s expertise includes “fiduciary duty litigation,” “corporate governance litigation,” and “whistleblower issues,” according  to his official biography on his firm’s website. He has been praised for his ability to develop “innovative strategies for resolving the most challenging cases.”

Privette did not respond to an email with questions about the case.

Separate entities or ‘one and the same’

Harvest has acknowledged the church supported the Romanian orphanages in the late 1990s and early 2000s but said that does not imply legal or moral responsibility. According to the church, the lawsuits create a deceptive “misimpression” that the orphanages and the church were “one and the same,” when in fact they were separate entities.

“We are saddened that someone would exploit something so evil to intentionally deceive others,” the church said. “And we remember that it was Jesus himself who warned us that people will ‘falsely say all kinds of evil against us’ (Matthew 5:11).”

The relationship between the church and the orphanages appears complicated, though. Four years after Havsgaard moved to Romania, he was listed as a minister on the church website — his name right below Laurie’s.

Havsgaard’s name was removed from the website in 2002, when he set up an independent nonprofit. That didn’t end the relationship, though. In 2003, a Harvest church prayer calendar included Havsgaard under “missions,” along with Laurie’s upcoming evangelistic crusades.

Harvest’s mission pastor served on Havsgaard’s nonprofit board, and tax forms show the nonprofit’s phone number was the same as the church’s main office in Riverside. The Romanian ministry also put the church’s phone number on its fundraising material.

The lawsuits claim that all the Romanian orphanages’ funds came through the church and the California church leaders were, in fact, in charge.

“The Harvest Homes were operated, funded, and administered by Harvest Riverside, whose long-time leader and unquestioned authority is Defendant Greg Laurie,” the lawsuits say. “Defendant Shutte, Harvest Riverside’s Missions Pastor, had operational authority under Laurie.”

But Laurie “required no proper accounts or financial audits, no regular inspections of the Homes, no child protection policies or training,” according to the lawsuits. Nevertheless, he “continued to gather the donations that flowed into Harvest Riverside based on energetic advertising in the United States about the supposed good works Harvest was doing in Bucharest.”

Children at Harvest Homes in Romania complained about the abuse as it was happening, and several went to the Romanian nationals who worked at the orphanages, the lawsuits say.

When Americans connected to the mission work grew concerned about Havsgaard’s behavior, they went to Harvest, apparently believing the church exercised some oversight. A missionary working in Romania, for example, learned of the allegation of abuse in 2002, according to the lawsuits. He said he called the church in California and left a message.

The lawsuits also say a minister’s wife who visited Romania in 2002 informed Harvest leaders she was suspicious that Havsgaard was abusing children.

Three pastors reportedly investigated the allegations in 2004 and “audited” the ministry, giving their final report to Schutte. It is unclear, however, if Schutte was acting in his capacity as board member or missions pastor or if the two roles were one and the same.

McAllister Olivarius attorney Jan Cervenka claims that Schutte or another person gave the report to Laurie in 2004. Laurie had “an obligation to take immediate corrective action,” but chose to turn a blind eye.

“Laurie sent Havsgaard to Romania, chose him to run Harvest Riverside’s mission there, and thereafter acted as if he and Harvest Riverside had nothing to do with the Harvest Homes they set up,” Cervenka wrote. “No effective supervision as Havsgaard energetically abused scores of children.”

Harvest has not said when Laurie learned of allegations against Havsgaard. In 2009, five years after the ministers investigated, Laurie publicly praised Havsgaard as “a pastor who faithfully served the Lord” and an example of the impact “that just one godly person can have.”

Harvest’s attorney has until Jan. 2 to reply to the first of the lawsuits.

Daniel Silliman is senior reporter/editor at The Roys Report. He began his two decades in journalism covering crime in Atlanta and has since led major investigations into abuse and misconduct in Christian contexts. Daniel and his wife live in Johnson City, Tennessee.