By Christopher O'Donnell
The Herald-Tribune
July 31, 2010
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100731/ARTICLE/7311040/2055/NEWS
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| Gerald Derstine, 81, is being sued by a family who say he abused their daughter over a period of two years. |
BRADENTON - Every year, religious leader Gerald Derstine left Christian Retreat in Bradenton to head for Strawberry Lake, an idyllic Christian retreat he founded in Minnesota.
The trip reunited him with a local family he had known for 20 years and had served as pastor.
Derstine had a close relationship with the family's 11-year-old girl, whose own father was estranged. She called him "Grandpa Gerald." He told the girl he felt like a father to her.
But in a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, the girl's family accuses Derstine of using his position to sexually abuse the girl over a period of two years, beginning in 2007.
Derstine, 81, is well known as the founder of four religious retreats, including the 110-acre Christian Retreat that he founded on Upper Manatee River Road in 1968.
Derstine, his family, his attorney and officials at the Christian Retreat all declined to comment on the allegations.
In an interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Derstine denied the allegations and said they stemmed from the firing of the girl's mother from her job at the Minnesota camp.
Attorneys representing the family include St. Paul attorney Jeffrey Anderson, who famously sued the Roman Catholic Church over allegations of clergy abuse of children.
Derstine was investigated by Becker County police. No charges have been filed in the case.
But the girl's attorneys say Derstine admits the abuse in a letter he sent to the family and in a transcript they provided of a recorded telephone call between him and the girl.
They said Derstine regularly got the girl to sit on his lap, kissed her on the lips and touched her inappropriately.
"The abuse occurred when she would go up to his office and visit him," said attorney Joseph Saunders. "We've got it from his own admissions."
Originally a place where missionaries could rejuvenate, the Christian Retreat in Manatee County is now a community for retirees and families and also the headquarters of Gospel Crusades, a group that Derstine led.
He has been married to Beulah Derstine for 61 years.
The lawsuit seeks damages from Derstine and Gospel Crusades exceeding $75,000.
This story contains information from the Associated Press.
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