UNITED STATES
Christian Post
CJ Mahaney Publicly Addresses Sovereign Grace Allegations for First Time in Two Years; Refutes Civil Suit’s Claims
By Morgan Lee
May 22, 2014
C. J. Mahaney, founder of Sovereign Grace Ministries and current pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, has released his first statement relating to a sex abuse scandal within his organization since a civil lawsuit was first brought against him and others two years ago.
In the statement, Mahaney rejects claims that he withheld information from authorities or that he tried to protect child predators. He also says he has remained silent because of the ongoing lawsuit.
“I look forward to the day when I can speak freely. For now, the simple and extraordinarily unsatisfying reality — for myself and others — is that in the face of an ongoing civil lawsuit, I simply cannot speak publicly to the specifics of these events,” Mahaney wrote in the statement released Thursday.
“Even with those constraints, however, let me be clear about this: I have never conspired to protect a child predator, and I also deny all the claims made against me in the civil suit,” he asserts.
Over the course of his media silence, many had called on him to address the allegations that he and other SGM leaders withheld sex abuse claims from authorities. Much of the outcry came to a head following his brother-in-law’s acknowledgment under oath last week that he had not gone to police even after hearing reports that church volunteer Nathan Morales had sexually abused children. Grant Layman, former pastor at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, said in court that he believed he had an obligation to report the abuse but did not.
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