GENEVA (IL)
Daily Herald [Arlington Heights IL]
November 3, 2025
By Brenda Schory
A former member of Chapelstreet Church in Geneva has sued the church, claiming a youth leader sexually abused him after a senior pastor had been informed of a prior allegation against the accused.
The plaintiff, identified in the lawsuit as “John Doe,” names the church, an interim lead pastor and former youth pastor as defendants.
The plaintiff, now 21 and living in British Columbia, Canada, claims in the lawsuit that between 2011 and 2018, the youth leader “repeatedly subjected (John Doe) to sexual abuse.”
Church leaders, including the pastor, have not responded to emails or voicemails seeking comment. Court records do not list attorneys for the defendants.
At the time of the claimed abuse, the plaintiff was a child of missionaries who stayed at the youth leader’s house in Kane County, according to the suit, which was filed Oct. 21 in Kane County court.
The lawsuit alleges that a man identified as “Victim #1” had informed a church official in 2010 that the youth leader had sexually abused him in 1983. The man said the abuse occurred when he was 14 and the youth leader was in his 20s, the lawsuit states.
Victim #1 later met with the interim pastor to discuss the allegations, the lawsuit states.
“(The defendant) assured Victim #1 that he will bring the issue to the attention of Chapelstreet’s ‘Senior Elders,’” the lawsuit states.
However, the youth leader was allowed to continue contact with children at Chapelstreet, eventually leading to the abuse alleged by John Doe, the lawsuit alleges.
The youth leader has not been charged with any criminal offense in Kane County, according to online court records. For that reason, the Daily Herald is not naming him.
Formerly known as the First Baptist Church of Geneva, the house of worship rebranded itself Chapelstreet in 2017. The church has two locations in Geneva, one in Blackberry Township and one in North Aurora.