COLUMBIA (SC)
WACH-TV (Channel 57)
October 14, 2017
By Kristen Schneider
The First Baptist Church of Columbia, as well as multiple employees, is named in a lawsuit where a minor alleges sexual abuse from a church group leader.
The victim, 17, and his parents filed the suit on Tuesday. The defendants named include the church, Andrew McCraw, Wendell Estep, and Philip Turner. According to the documents, McCraw was a youth assistant mentor and small group leader at the church. Turner oversaw McCraw as the Student Minister of First Baptist Church. Wendell Estep was the Pastor at First Baptist Church of Columbia but recently resigned.
According to the lawsuit, the victim, referred to as “Joel Doe,” joined the church’s Small Group Program when he was 11-years-old, and Turner assigned Doe to McCraw’s group.
The suit goes on to say that, over the next few years, McCraw spent large amounts of time with Doe outside of the church, such as taking Doe to see movies and eat dinner; according to the documents, “during this lengthy period, Defendant McCraw gradually escalated his inappropriate and illegal activity.” This included a sleepover where McCraw and Doe slept in the same bed.
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