UNITED STATES
Talking Points Memo
ByALLEGRA KIRKLAND
Published JANUARY 7, 2016
A prominent leader in the conservative Christian homeschooling movement was accused of sexual abuse and rape in a lawsuit filed Wednesday by 10 former members of his ministry, The Washington Post reported.
The suit alleges that Bill Gothard, the former head of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, sexually abused some of the women and concealed sexual abuse committed against other young women by family members. One unnamed plaintiff also alleged that Gothard raped her after she reported to the ministry that she had been raped by her father, according to the report.
Gothard told the Post on Wednesday that the rape and sexual harassment allegations against him were false.
“That’s horrible,” he said. “Never in my life have I touched a girl sexually. I’m shocked to even hear that.”
Gothard, who is 81 years old and has never been married, resigned from the ministry in 2014 after more than 30 women accused him of molesting and sexually harassing women he worked with at the ministry.
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