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Grace Ministry Center, Pastor Mitch Olson Sued by Woman Who Alleged Sexual Assault

By Nicole Hayden
Times Herald
October 23, 2017

http://www.thetimesherald.com/story/news/local/2017/10/23/lawsuit-filed-against-grace-ministry-center-mitch-olson/790006001/

A civil lawsuit was filed in St. Clair County Circuit Court on Friday against Grace Ministry Center in Kimball Township and its former pastor Mitch Olson.

The suit was filed on behalf of the woman who accused Olson of groping her during a religious ceremony. The suit seeks in excess of $25,000. Allegations against Olson include battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Allegations against Grace Ministry Center include negligent supervision, negligent retention, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit comes after the St. Clair County Prosecutor’s Office declined to bring criminal charges against Olson after he was accused of sexually assaulting the woman, 20, of Port Huron. A police report was filed in August that stated Olson placed his hands on the woman's breasts, buttocks and pubic area during an anointing ceremony inside her apartment.

Olson resigned from his position at the church on Oct. 8, according to a recorded farewell letter he read to church members. Olson was served with the lawsuit on Sunday at Grace Ministry Center during his farewell gathering.

Olson told the Times Herald on Monday that he looks forward to defending his church and himself in court.

“I was served with a lawsuit filed by the plaintiff in this case (Sunday) evening at Grace Ministry Center, a church I founded and served for nearly 11 years and am no longer a part of due to the false allegations of the claimant,” he said. “My heart aches that this person, who was never a member of the church and whom never had counseling from me, would deliberately lie and use the judicial system to advance a personal agenda at the cost to a church who has faithfully served this community for decades. I am left with only one choice: to vigorously defend the church and myself in this matter. We look forward to defending this case in court and restore our reputations that have been so grievously ruined by this person.”

The lawsuit states that “Defendant Mitchell Olson coerced (the woman) on multiple occasions to submit to unwelcome touching, including to touching of her breasts, buttocks, and vagina under her clothing … Plaintiff was fraudulently coerced into believing that the offensive touching was necessary to the anointment and an essential extension of her counseling because of the counselor/counselee relationship Plaintiff and Defendant maintained at the time of the incident and Plaintiff’s consent was therefore not voluntary .. Defendant Mitchell Olson’s actions caused Plaintiff (the woman) irreparable physical injury and emotional harm.”

The lawsuit stated that Olson falsely represented his action. The lawsuit also states that the incident has caused the woman much emotional and mental strain.

“As a result of the actions of the Defendant, Plaintiff ... was caused to suffer severe emotional distress including but not limited to anxiety, depression, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation and isolation … Plaintiff also suffered a physical manifestation of her severe emotional distress in the form of two suicide attempts which both required hospitalization for several days,” the lawsuit stated.

Gary Schoener, a psychologist in Minnesota that has consulted on various criminal sexual conduct laws, said the importance of protecting church members from abuse is because of the long-term emotional trauma it typically causes.

The church is also being sued for alleged negligence in how it handled the report of the assault. The lawsuit claims that the church failed to protect the woman when the church board declined to take action against Olson.

The last claim argues that the church was in violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act because Olson targeted the woman because of her gender.

“It’s clear that Pastor Olson targeted the victim because she was a young woman,” said Kathleen Garbacz, one of the non-profit attorneys representing the woman. “Not only has this been devastating for her personally, but we want to send a clear message that women should be safe from these kinds of horrors in all places, but especially in places of faith and counseling.”

The team of non-profit lawyers representing the woman has worked to be a majority-female team.

“It was important to our client to have strong female voices to help tell her story and it’s also an important case to bring because of what is going on in our country right now as so many more women are having the courage to come out and to expose sexual harassment and abuse by men in power,” said Anthony Paris, one of the lawyers. “There’s monumental work to be done to confront the climate of sexual abuse in this country and in this specific case we will be using the law in every way we can to address the issue.”

Garbacz and Paris, both working out of Detroit, said they pursued the case because of the strong victims that shared their stories in the police report.

“They are heroes to us and representing them is an honor,” Paris said. “Beyond the grotesque incident itself, our client has suffered such backlash in the aftermath and yet persevered in hopes to protect and inspire other women to speak out. We also want to send a clear message that these kind of reports must be taken seriously and we are very concerned that the defendant will just go to another organization and engage in this type of conduct again. We are also worried that the board of Grace Ministry will again not properly and promptly address these issues in the future, putting members of the community at risk.”

A court date has not yet been set for the case, but it will be argued in front of St. Clair County Circuit Judge Daniel Kelly.

Representatives for Grace Ministry Center did not return calls seeking comment Monday.

Spurred by the allegations, state Sen. Rick Jones also drafted a bill that would make it criminal for clergy members to have sex with church members they are counseling. The bill is currently moving through the Senate.

 

 

 

 

 




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