Mary
DeMuth

Scot
McKnight

Screenshot 2023-01-13 at 1.50.18 PM

Naghmeh
Panahi

Two More Lawsuits Filed Against Morningstar Ministries for Alleged Mishandling of Sexual Abuse

By Rebecca Hopkins
lawsuits erickson lee
Erickson Lee, former volunteer youth leader at Morningstar Fellowship Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina. (Photo: York County Sheriff's Office)

Two victims of alleged child sexual abuse by a MorningStar Ministries volunteer youth leader filed separate civil lawsuits this week, 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, the Herald reported Friday.  When Lee, a former cop, didn’t appear, the judge issued a warrant for Lee’s arrest, the Charlotte Observer reported Thursday.

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.

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive a copy of “When the Church Harms God’s People” by Diane Langberg. To donate, click here.

morningstar lawsuits
On Feb. 26, 2023, Morningstar Ministries Founder Rick Joyner prays over Chris Reed at an ordination service at the church in Fort Mill, South Carolina. (Video screengrab)

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.

Last year, 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 The Roys Report (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 sexual misconduct.

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.

morningstar
MorningStar Fellowship Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina. (Photo via social media)

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 reported.

Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.

SHARE THIS:

GET EMAIL UPDATES!

Keep in touch with Julie and get updates in your inbox!

Don’t worry we won’t spam you.

More to explore
discussion

8 Responses

  1. We were at Morningstar 2002-2008. I’m sooooo glad my kids were never accepted by the youth leaders (Ginger and Bobby Hussey) during our time there. Sexua abuse was not the only abuse perpetrated at MS, and the abuse that we received as a family was ignored when I reported it. It turns (seemingly) out that God was protecting my children from probable SA perpetrators in that youth. Erickson and his family were highly involved when he was a child annd throughout his youth. and I would guess he was a victim of SA by someone there. Thank you God for keeping us out of that youth popularity crowd! Someone should investigate the Husseys. I have not been vocal about the abuse we received while there, until now, due to fear.

  2. “And the King answering, will say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.’ Then also He will say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, those being cursed, into the eternal fire, having been prepared for the devil and his angels.” (From Matt. 25) For those like Joyner who brag about how great the board that he put together are, but refused to protect the little children under his damned by God “ministry” what will be the end? Will it be different then it was for the Pharisees? Joyner is responsible for abusing Jesus according to the Kings own words. What a snake for sure…

    1. Especially after Chris Reed’s latest YouTube video exposing their deception!!! Rick Joyner and Justin Perry forgot that people who are innocent and being used as scapegoats might just save text messages!!! The evidence doesn’t lie!!! Chris did not speak his opinion. He only provided the evidence!!!

  3. When I read debates between pro and anti LGBTQ+ people, I often see the response “ok groomer” targeted against the pro LGBTQ+ side. Seems like “ok groomer” also applies to church goers as well.

  4. Just as I said over a year ago about lawsuits that’s only the beginning the legacy of Rick Jr is going to be undone. You don’t send against the name of the Lord and get away Scott free especially when there’s no repentance Murphy law applies some security that’s protecting you is the taser guns working 😆

  5. Without going into a history of 40 years ago, a minister associated with the “knights” that are a big deal @ Morningstar, abused me as a young teen, and searched for me and found me 2 times, after I had gotten away from him. I never meant for the past to come up, as it had been so many yrs ago, but in response to a forwarded email by this man, I replied,”This I the man that sexually abused me.” I won’t say where in Morningstar I was volunteering, but it was brought to the leadership, as they had associations with him. Of course, I was waved off by a particular board member, as someone coming out of the woodwork trying to create problems. That was not the case. The details are too lengthy, however, it is my experience that Morningstar does in fact hide serious allegations in order to save face publicly. I had no intention of going public about this man, and never have, however I did see how the victim is discredited, in order to protect leaders and associations.

Leave a Reply

The Roys Report seeks to foster thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Toward that end, the site requires that people register before they begin commenting. This means no anonymous comments will be allowed. Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted.
 
MOST RECENT Articles
MOST popular articles
en_USEnglish

Donate

Hi. We see this is the third article this month you’ve found worth reading. Great! Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church?

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive a copy of “When the Church Harms God’s People” by Diane Langberg.