PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive
By Nora Shelly nshelly@pennlive.com
A Valley Forge church has been implicated in a case of sexual assault in Australia documented on the country’s version of “60 Minutes.”
The episode, which aired earlier this week, featured Joy Harris, whose former husband Larry Harris is serving a five-year prison sentence in Queensland, Australia for two counts of rape against her, according to the show.
Joy Harris moved with her then-husband, Pastor Larry Harris, from the United States to Australia in 1994, to serve as missionaries for the Valley Forge Baptist Church, located in southeastern Pennsylvania. According to the show, the church was referred to as a “cult” by former members and is a part of the breakaway Independent Baptist Movement.
On the “60 Minutes” episode, Harris details the abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband. According to Harris, the church uses the Bible to justify teaching women to submit to their husbands.
The church’s senior pastor, Scott Wendell, said on the show the accusations against Kevin Harris were not surprising. Once he was informed of the accusations — Wendell said he brought the couple back to Pennsylvania for marriage counseling.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.