The Second Amended Lawsuit was filed today in the Montgomery County Circuit Court, Maryland. It is available on this website by clicking on “SGM Lawsuit / Class Action Lawsuit.” A link is provided.
The original Class Action Lawsuit was filed on Oct 17, 2012. It named three plaintiffs and nine defendants. The First Amended Lawsuit was filed on Jan 11, 2013. It named eight plaintiffs and 14 defendants. The Second Amended Lawsuit names 11 plaintiffs and the defendants remain at 14. Some of the pseudonymous plaintiffs are now using their proper names.
I will begin working on a post tomorrow. The lawyers for SGM have been roundly dismissing the class action lawsuit for a lack of details. No longer! This amendment provides great detail. All horrific.
It is no wonder SGM and the other Defendants are doing all in their power to hide behind the First Amendment. From my perspective, they are doomed if it goes before a jury. I can’t imagine the Judge dismissing most of the complaints. Most of the lawsuit will proceed. Furthermore, a lot of people are now under criminal investigation.
Remember, John Loftness recently “resigned” as Chairman of the Board for SGM so he could spend more time with Solid Rock Church and his infirm parents. I knew that was not the primary reason and wrote about it at length. That brought a strong denial by Paul Buckley, the current Chairman of the Board. In fact, the entire Board knew about the growing list of charges against John.
The Board also knew that the additional charges in this Second Amended Lawsuit were incriminating to C.J. It was time for him to “transition as President” before this amendment came out and hit the national news.
Everything alleged at Covenant Life Church occurred while C.J. was the senior pastor. John, Grant Layman, and Gary Ricucci did not act independently of C.J.’s counsel regarding how known sex abusers should be handled. That’s why he is a co-conspirator. C.J. was also close friends with Stephen Griney and an acquaintance of Mark Hoffman.
There are also many other names left out of the amendment due to motions by the Defense that are pending before the Judge. A wide circle of people at Covenant Life Church are now alleged to have committed horrible abuses. The FBI is busy! This doesn’t end in Civil Court. I’ve said for a while. More people are going to jail.
God bless all the victims who have been willing to press ahead in spite of all the denials put out by Sovereign Grace Ministries.
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