E.R.B. v. Church of God
| Decision Date | 30 January 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 20143-7-II,20143-7-II |
| Citation | 89 Wn.App. 670,950 P.2d 29 |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
| Parties | E.R.B., a single person, and John Bales and Jody Bales, husband and wife, Appellants, v. CHURCH OF GOD, a Washington corporation; and Rick Shaw and "Jane Doe" Shaw, husband and wife; Abc Church Of God And Xyz Church Of God, Published Opinion Respondents. |
Stewart Andrew Estes, Keating Bucklin & McCormack, Seattle, Sandra B. Bobrick, Sloan Bobrick & Oldfield, Tacoma, Sheryl Denise Johnson Willert, Mary H. Spillane, Williams Kastner & Gibbs, Robert C. Dickerson, David Michael Jacobi, Wilson Smith Cochran & Dickerson, Seattle, for Respondents.
John and Jody Bales appeal summary judgment dismissal of their lawsuits against: Rick Shaw, a minister at the Baleses' local church; the New Life Fellowship Church of God ("Local Church"); and the Pacific Northwest Church of God State Office and Parsonage ("State Office"). They claim Shaw sexually molested their teenage son E.R.B. from 1985 to 1989, and that the Local Church and State Office had negligently hired, supervised, and/or investigated Shaw. E.R.B. also appeals dismissal of his claims against the Local Church and the State Office.
The trial court dismissed these claims as barred by the applicable statute of limitations, RCW 4.16.080(2). We affirm.
The Local Church hired Shaw to work as a minister in April 1985. The Baleses had been members of the Local Church and had attended the church regularly since 1980. The Local Church is controlled and supervised by the State Office.
By the summer of 1985, the Bales family had become close friends with Shaw. In 1986, Shaw helped Jody Bales obtain a job as church secretary, where she worked until April 1993. Shaw left the Local Church in May 1990.
E.R.B. alleges that Shaw began to abuse him sexually on a camping trip in the summer of 1985, when E.R.B. was 14 years old. E.R.B. claims that he awoke in his tent to discover Shaw fondling his (E.R.B.'s) penis, stimulating him until he reached orgasm. E.R.B. testified that at the The sexual abuse continued regularly for the next four years. On one occasion, Shaw came to E.R.B.'s home while E.R.B. was outside tanning. Shaw rubbed oil on E.R.B. and eventually brought him to orgasm. When they were supposed to be at a church function, Shaw took E.R.B. to a hotel room, where he molested E.R.B.. The abuse also occurred in the Shaws' home, at the Local Church, and in automobiles.
time, he felt "humiliated, embarrassed, scared." After the first incident, E.R.B. began having recurring nightmares about the sexual abuse, but he did not tell anyone
During those four years, E.R.B. believed that the sexual abuse was wrong and that it was causing him harm, but he was unable to stop the abuse. On at least one occasion, when Shaw tried to abuse E.R.B. in a Portland motel, E.R.B. told Shaw to stop because "it was killing me."
E.R.B. testified that during the period of sexual abuse, he made three suicide attempts. The first attempt occurred when Shaw began to molest E.R.B. while E.R.B. was driving a car. E.R.B. accelerated and drove the car into a tree to stop the emotional pain caused by Shaw's abuse. The next attempt occurred when E.R.B. was driving his father's truck. E.R.B. took a sharp turn at 85 miles per hour in an effort to kill himself. E.R.B.'s final suicide attempt apparently occurred sometime in 1989. On this occasion he attempted suicide to "[f]ind a way out" of "[t]he pain caused by Rick's sexual abuse."
E.R.B. did not tell his parents that Shaw was abusing him until July 1993. He was reluctant to tell his parents because he felt scared and humiliated and because Shaw had told him not to tell anyone. E.R.B. explained that:
One time during one of the youth camps ... Rick pulled me aside and said that people were asking questions and investigating and I couldn't tell anybody. He reminded me of what would happen if I did, that Donna would leave him and I would be the cause of it because I said something. He would lose his kids. He would lose his job. My mom would lose her job.
Although E.R.B. did not specifically disclose Shaw's molestation Without naming Shaw as the perpetrator, E.R.B. did tell his parents before 1993 that he had suffered some form of sexual abuse. Specifically, in 1988 E.R.B. told his parents that he had been gang-raped in a restroom at Montgomery Ward. E.R.B. later admitted that he had lied about this incident. Nevertheless, his parents became increasingly concerned that their son was being sexually abused.
to his parents until July 1993, he did talk about the abuse before that date. Specifically, E.R.B. told at least five people that he had been sexually abused: (1) his friend Greg Harrison, in 1989; (2) his friend Jesse Stockard, in 1990; (3) Donna Shaw (Rick Shaw's wife), sometime between 1985 and 1989; 1 (4) Gary Cowles, in 1992; and (5) Bruce Greene, sometime before July 1993
The last incident of sexual abuse occurred sometime before June 1989, when E.R.B. graduated from high school. E.R.B. turned 18 on February 14, 1989.
E.R.B.'s parents, John and Jody Bales, voiced concerns about Shaw's behavior as early as 1985, when John Bales reported to Pastor Vaughn Matthews that Shaw "had strip[ped] down to the nude and took a bath in the creek" in front of some boys in the church. Jody Bales also complained that she "didn't want E.R.B. and Rick hugging." In 1988, Jody Bales told her counselor, Mary Stone, that
By the time E.R.B. told his parents the story about being raped in Montgomery Ward, they were convinced that E.R.B. had been sexually molested by someone. The Baleses suspected that person was Shaw. In her deposition, Mrs. Bales was asked whether she had confronted E.R.B. about her suspicions:
Q You suspected in your hearts that your son, [E.R.B.], was being molested by Rick; right?
A We suspected it.
....
Q This came up when Joe [E.R.B.'s brother] was here and [E.R.B.] told the lie about being raped by five men at Montgomery Ward's in a bathroom; right?
Q Did you ever ask your son whether or not he was being molested:
A I didn't have to ask him.
Q Because you could read his mind?
A No.
Q Why didn't you have to ask him?
A Just didn't
....
Q Why didn't you need to ask [E.R.B.]? You said I didn't need to ask [E.R.B.]. Why didn't you need to ask [E.R.B.] whether or not he was being molested?
A He said it in so many words already.
On July 12, 1990, John and Jody Bales made a formal complaint to the Local Church, insisting that the church investigate Shaw. To support their complaint, the Baleses submitted a letter and incident report ("Incident Report"), alleging several specific incidents of misconduct by Shaw. The Incident Report states in pertinent part:
Finally the pressure got to be more than [E.R.B.] could handle so he came up with a rape story. We all knew the story was exagerated [sic] but the bottom line was the fact that something such as molestation or rape has happened to [E.R.B.]. The night before this story came out [E.R.B.] had planned another attempt at suicide but his brother Joe was able to stop him. It was after this attempt that we decided to confront Rick. [E.R.B.] also talked to a friend about an incident of being in the back yard sun tanning when a guy [laid] down with him and started rubbing oil on his back, then down his legs and moved to the front where when he was through he had to go wash himself. The word got back to us that the guy was Rick. We went to Vaughn again but he said without proof we couldn't do anything. (meaning [E.R.B.] had to come forward) That's when he set up a meeting for us & Rick to get together. The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday but things blew to the point that Vaughn called the meeting Monday. When Rick found out about the meeting and the sun incident he called [E.R.B.] and anyone else that he thought was involved to have a separate meeting of his own. When we confronted Rick he sat with his head down and Donna did most of the talking denying everything that we said or making excuses for Rick's actions. We left there feeling we had accomplished nothing. Rick spoke very little and never once tried to defend himself or deny any accusations that were made against him. I found his reaction to be somewhat abnormal. During this time we were told that the one accident [E.R.B.] had in his Dad's truck was a suicide attempt [and] Rick had counseled [E.R.B.] about that. We were never told or consulted with. This would make three attempts.
In response to the Baleses' letter, the Local Church Board of Inquiry convened on August 26 and 27, 1990, and took written and oral testimony from a number of witnesses, including John and Jody Bales. Because of concerns related to his previous suicide attempts, the Baleses did not tell E.R.B. about the hearing nor did they ask him to testify. Since E.R.B. did not come forward at the hearing, the Local Church took no action against Shaw.
Dr. Kevin McGovern is a clinical psychologist with expertise in evaluating homosexual abuse. He analyzed the impact of the sexual abuse on E.R.B. Dr. McGovern testified:
It is my opinion that [E.R.B.] could not and did not appreciate Dr. McGovern also testified that it was not until July 1993 that E.R.B. realized the extent and causation of the emotional injuries that resulted from Shaw's sexual abuse.
the nature and extent of the injury he sustained as a result of the sexual abuse. It is also my opinion that he was probably unaware that he sustained any injury at all if only because components of the sexual events may have been pleasurable...
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