OREGON
The Oregonian
By Rick Bella | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on April 14, 2015
A Happy Valley church was launched with an idealistic commitment to Christian scholarship, but it gradually deteriorated into an authoritarian, cult-like organization that ignored heavy drinking, drug abuse, adultery and sexual abuse of children by its pastor, according to court testimony Tuesday.
That’s the picture of the North Clackamas Bible Community painted by prosecution witnesses in the trial of Pastor Mike Sperou, charged with abusing a girl under the age of 12 who lived with him in a communal setting.
However, defense attorney Steven J. Sherlag, active during cross-examination, asked several former church members if they complained about Sperou’s behavior or simply moved away from the church’s cluster of rented homes that straddle the Happy Valley/Portland city limits.
The answer in every case was “no.”
“You chose to participate in a small, faith-based community — isn’t that so?” Sherlag asked former Assistant Pastor David Martin, who left the church in 1996.
“Yes,” Martin said.
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