MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star
BY MARY SANCHEZ
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
08/05/2014
The Rev. Stan Archie’s image shifts, depending on who is telling his story.
He’s an exemplary man who pulled himself from childhood abuse, a gang and drug dealing to become a pillar of the community, respected enough to head the Missouri State Board of Education.
But he might also be a deviant man who used his position with a church he co-founded to inappropriately counsel women, turning the sessions sexual, including an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old girl.
A jury will decide. Closing arguments are expected Wednesday in a civil suit against Archie. His former assistant at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, 4509 Troost Ave., says Archie had an affair with her, then targeted her for harassment and defamation when she ended it.
The Rev. Stan Archie’s former assistant at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, 4509 Troost Ave., says Archie had an affair with her, then targeted her for harassment and defamation when she ended it.
The Rev. Stan Archie’s former assistant at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, 4509 Troost Ave., says Archie had an affair with her, then targeted her for harassment and defamation when she ended it. | File photo
A separate civil suit, one that attorneys said has been resolved, accused Archie of child sexual abuse, defamation and counseling malpractice in the case of the 15-year-old former church member. That now 24-year-old woman testified at the ongoing trial.
None of Archie’s accusers are named in the suits. It’s a complicated case, not only because the two suits entwine, but because the church is also named as a defendant. Allegations are that its leadership knew of tendencies by Archie to abuse his power and did not protect the former assistant, who attended the church with her husband.
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