Daughter Files $9 Million Civil Lawsuit against Eugene Insurance-agent Dad Who Allegedly Sexually Abused Her

By Jack Moran
The Register-Guard
January 16, 2016

http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/33958747-75/story.csp

A Eugene couple who recently divorced after the husband was arrested on charges that he sexually abused his adopted daughter are being sued by the alleged ­victim, who is seeking to void a key piece of the divorce agreement as part of her $9 million complaint.

Raeonna Grace Jackson, 22, filed her lawsuit Thursday in Lane County Circuit Court. It accuses her father, longtime Eugene insurance agent and church pastor Richard Hayes Jackson, of sexual abuse and abuse of a vulnerable person, and her mother, Evelyn Suzanne Jackson, of abuse of a vulnerable person and negligence.

It also accuses both parents of fraudulent conveyance in connection with a part of the couple’s divorce agreement that transferred Rick Jackson’s interest in six real estate properties valued at a total of about $1.5 million to his now ex-wife.

Raeonna Jackson alleges the transfer made her father insolvent and was done to “hinder, delay or defraud her.”

The Register-Guard had not previously identified Raeonna Jackson by name as the alleged victim in her father’s criminal case. However, she lists her name in the lawsuit and indicated in a statement issued Friday by her ­attorney that she does not need her identity to be kept secret.

“I wanted to stand up for myself for once, and for other foster kids and kids who have been abused by those who were supposed to keep them safe,” she said in the statement released by Portland lawyer Erin Olson. “It’s one thing when other people stand up for you, but it gives you power to stand up for yourself. Being identified (in the lawsuit) shows I’m strong, and that I’m choosing not to be a victim, because I don’t want to live like one anymore. I couldn’t have done this without the support of my siblings. I’m very blessed to have them. For the victims who don’t have the support of siblings like mine, I want to be whatever support I can.”

Raeonna Jackson said in the lawsuit that she had been abused by a foster father before the Jacksons adopted her as a young child.

Olson did not provide additional comment on specific allegations she made in the lawsuit.

Rick Jackson, 61, was arrested and charged in early December with 15 felony counts relating to the alleged sexual abuse of his daughter when she was between the ages of 3 and 12, according to the lawsuit. A judge on Jan. 8 reduced Jackson’s bail from $3.75 million to $1.5 million. Three days later, Evelyn Jackson paid $150,000 to secure her ex-husband’s release from the Lane County Jail, court records show.

Evelyn Jackson filed for divorce on Dec. 8, and the matter was finalized on Jan. 5, according to court records. The couple had been married 45 years, since Rick Jackson was 16 and Evelyn Jackson was 18, Rick Jackson’s attorney said during his client’s bail-reduction hearing.

Reached by telephone on Friday, Evelyn Jackson said she was unaware of her daughter’s lawsuit. She declined to say why she had bailed Rick Jackson out of jail.

A message left on Rick Jackson’s personal phone was not immediately returned. A woman who answered the telephone at his Farmers Insurance office on River Road — the address Jackson listed as being his on the jail release agreement he signed — said Jackson was not in the office.

Raeonna Jackson’s lawsuit seeks $9 million in noneconomic damages and $60,000 in economic damages. She expects to need counseling and other treatment, the suit asserts.

In addition to accusing her father of subjecting her to “frequent unwanted sexual contact” when she was a child, Raeonna Jackson is suing her mother for negligence as well as abuse, under sections of Oregon law that allow a lawsuit to be brought against a person who either permits someone else to abuse a “vulnerable person” or fails to address an abusive situation about which he or she should have been aware.

Raeonna Jackson also alleges the section of her parents’ divorce agreement that transferred Rick Jackson’s interest in six properties to his wife made her father insolvent, and that the property transfer “was made with the actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud” her.

The divorce agreement states that Rick and Evelyn Jackson will work together to list and sell the properties. According to the lawsuit, the combined assessed value of the properties — five of which are in Eugene, the other in Junction City — is approximately $1.5 million.

The divorce agreement states Rick Jackson is to receive just $75,000 from the sale of one of the parcels, with the proceeds payable to his attorney’s trust account.

The lawyer, George Derr of Eugene, said during his client’s bail hearing that Rick Jackson has admitted to sexually abusing his daughter but disputes some of the alleged victim’s accusations regarding the frequency and type of abuse.

Derr also said at the hearing that his client’s release from jail would allow Rick Jackson to finalize his agency’s closure, undergo left-knee surgery and a psychosexual evaluation, and take care of personal matters related to the divorce.

One of Jackson’s sons, Eugene attorney Isaac Jackson, last month posted a public letter to his Facebook page saying his father only confessed his misdeeds because the alleged victim had confronted him. Isaac Jackson wrote that his father had tried to persuade relatives to keep his admissions secret.

Rick Jackson turned himself in to Eugene police on Dec. 4. He has worked as an insurance agent in Eugene since 1992, and his website called him the “most beloved agent in town.” He also served as a pastor at Willamette Christian Center in Eugene.