UNITED STATES
Christian Today
Jonah Hicap 27 August 2016
Sexual abuse of minors is the No. 1 reason why religious organisations in the United States went to court in 2015, according to a lawyer.
Richard Hammar, a lawyer who specialises in legal issues related to churches and clergy, recently published his report on the Church Law and Tax website.
He categorised state appellate court and federal court rulings, which totalled 12,000 decisions, to identify the cases that most threaten religious organisations.
Hammar said sexual abuse of minors was the leading cause, accounting for 11.7 percent of the cases.
“Sadly, for several years the sexual molestation of minors has been the number one reason that churches went to court,” he wrote.
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