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Utica church named in child sex abuse lawsuit

By Amy Neff Roth
Observer-Dispatch
January 29, 2020

https://www.uticaod.com/news/20200129/utica-church-named-in-child-sex-abuse-lawsuit

St. Matthew’s Temple Church of God in Christ in Utica has been named in a lawsuit filed Wednesday alleging that clergy from three churches, including St. Matthew’s, sexually assaulted the plaintiff in the 1970s.

Warren Curtis, 57, of Greenville, South Carolina, filed the suit in Albany County Supreme Court. It also names as defendants St. John’s Church of God in Christ in Albany, the Church of God in Christ denomination and former St. John’s assistant pastor Dirome Williamson of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

The suit alleges that Williamson and three men believed to have since died sexually abused Curtis between 1974 and 1978 when he was between the ages of 12 and 16. The other three men are identified in the suit as the Rev. Thomas House of St. John’s and the Rev. Carl Adair and the Rev. Clarence Samuels, both of St. Matthew’s.

Richard Serbin of the law firm Janet, Janet & Suggs, which represents Curtis, said it can be hard based on a child’s memory to determine the men’s exact positions within the churches. A history section on the St. Matthew’s website does not list Adair or Samuels as ever having been the church’s pastor.

“Discovery will reveal more, but we certainly have reason to believe that (church officials) were aware of these abusers and again, just as in the Catholic Church, they were protective of the reputation of the church... and simply passed them on,” Serbin said. “That’s what happens. Their focus is on the minister and the reputation of the church so no one does anything. As a result, we know that child predators will continue to molest children.”

No one at St. Matthew’s has responded to a voicemail request for comment as of Wednesday night.

When Curtis was 12, he became the church organist at St. John’s and joined the church choir, according to the lawsuit.

The abuse, which escalated over time, began when House took Curtis home from choir practice, according to the lawsuit. After House began abusing Curtis, Williamson asked Curtis for organ lessons and sexually abused him for the first time during a lesson, the suit alleges. The alleged abuse included forcing Curtis to abuse other boys.

When Curis was 15, his mother noticed a change in his personality and behavior, according to the lawsuit. He was reportedly sent to a missionary school in Utica where he began attending St. Matthew’s, where Adair and Samuels also sexually abused him, according to the allegations.




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