For Immediate Release_Seventh Day Adventist Conference named in sex abuse lawsuit

EAST BAY AREA SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CONFERENCE, HIT WITH NEW ALLEGATIONS IN CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUIT

For More Information:
Kelly Clark, Esq.: 503-306-0224
Lisa A. Sapcoe, Esq.: 510-433-1830

CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT CASE NO.  C-09-02215

October 1, 2009

Martinez, Cal—The Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy, formerly known as the Pleasant Hill Junior Academy, an elementary, middle and high school, and the Northern California Conference of the Seventh Day Adventists, are the targets of new allegations filed today in a lawsuit arising out of sexual abuse, in the mid‑1990s, of a female student by Andrew McPherson, then a teacher at the Adventist school.  Two years later, after a transfer from Pleasant Hill, McPherson was convicted for multiple crimes related to sexual abuse of students at another Adventist school in Reno, Nevada, but he was never charged or held accountable for his actions in Pleasant Hill.

“We contend that all of this could and should have been avoided,” said Kelly Clark, an attorney from Portland, Oregon,who regularly represents victims of childhood sexual abuse.^[1]  “If the school had acted on information it had as early as 1993 or 1994, not only this girl, but those kids in Reno, could have been spared the abuse they suffered.”

The lawsuit contends that one Andrew McPherson, who was a teacher at Pleasant Hill Academy when the plaintiff, our client, who is referred to as Jane Doe for privacy reasons, was in seventh, eighth, and ninth grades, sexually and physically abused and harassed her with explicit sexual comments, as well as grabbing, stroking, fondling, and French kissing her on multiple occasions.  According to the lawsuit the abuse culminated in a violent episode in May 1996, in which McPherson became angry with plaintiff for refusing his authority, pushed her into a chair, while throttling her neck with his hands until he heard someone approaching.

According to Lisa Sapcoe, an Oakland trial attorney also representing the victim in the case, the plaintiff’s case is expected to offer evidence of warnings to Pleasant Hill Junior Academy prior to the plaintiff’s abuse.  “We believe we can prove that the school had ample warning from concerned parents that this teacher was inappropriate physically, verbally, and sexually,” said Sapcoe.  “We believe we can prove the school knew or should have known of McPherson’s inappropriate sexual behavior to prompt action against this teacher prior to the time that Jane M. Doe was abused,” said Sapcoe. 

The lawsuit further contends that McPherson – who was the son of a prominent Adventist official in the Idaho Conference – was transferred after the throttling attack to another Seventh Day Adventist school in Reno, Nevada.  He was arrested there two years later, in February 1998, and convicted of crimes related to sexually abusing students.

According to Clark, who has represented over 200 individuals abused as children by adults such as Catholic priests, Mormon and Adventist church officials, clergy of numerous other denominations, Boy Scout leaders, teachers, coaches, and other adults in institutions of trust, “Our client is now a young mother struggling to put all this behind her, and has suffered similar emotional consequences as we see in many adult survivors of childhood abuse: significant issues concerning trust, physical and emotional intimacy, hyper-vigilance with regard to her own children, significant anger and clinical depression, and an extraordinary damage to her religious faith. No child or young woman should be abused by a trusted adult – especially in a setting of near total trust, a religious school.”

The suit seeks $5 million in general damages, plus another $250,000 in economic damages, primarily expected and incurred counseling and mental health expenses.  According to the attorneys, the case would normally come to trial in about a year.

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Official Lawsuit Complaint
Summary of Background Facts
Official Statement of Jane Doe

Posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009, in Announcements, Our Work In the News |
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