CHESAPEAKE (VA)
Associated Press via Virginia Lawyers Weekly
December 14, 2019
Trustees of a Chesapeake church claim city workers defamed the organization when talking about allegations of abuse.
Last year, a Chesapeake social worker determined abuse allegations had been substantiated against five Deep Creek United Methodist Church childcare workers. But court records show the city attorney’s office reversed that ruling weeks later, saying the allegation actually were unsubstantiated, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
The lawsuit against the city’s Department of Human Services and two of its workers says the workers published false statements accusing church workers of abuse, tarnishing the church’s reputation and leading more than half its enrolled children to leave. The church once cared for more than 250 children at its two childcare centers.
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