KANSAS
Independent (UK)
Elsa Vulliamy
A Kansas church is asking a court to punish two young girls who sued them over sexual abuse by a former Bible school volunteer by forcing them to reveal their identities.
The volunteer, Kessler Lichtenegger, pleaded guilty last year to attempted rape and attempted electronic solicitation involving two girls under the age of 14, who attended the church.
The girls and their families filed a lawsuit last month, alleging that Church officials at Westside Family Church in Lenexa, Kansas knew about Lichtenegger’s history of violent and sexual crimes involving children, and still allowed him to volunteer.
The suit alleged that one of the girls was raped on church property, and that Lichtenegger had forced her to perform sexual acts on him by threatening that he would go after her younger sister if she did not comply.
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