Attorney Analysis: Clergy sexual abuse lawyer Guy D'Andrea discusses the legal options available to pastor sex abuse victims in the second section of this article.
A pastor in Cedarville, Illinois has been arrested and charged with criminal sexual abuse of a minor. John McIntosh of Davis turned himself in on April 1 after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
McIntosh allegedly abused a minor in January of this year. It is not clear what the relationship to the victim was or if the victim attended McIntosh’s church.
McIntosh was the pastor at Winnishiek Evangelical Free Church until December 2018. After he left that church, he became the pastor at Cedarville Baptist Church.
It is not clear if McIntosh is still the pastor at Cedarville Baptist Church.
This story is developing.
Were you sexually abused by a pastor or another church clergy member? You may be wondering about your legal rights. Experienced clergy sex abuse victim lawyer Guy D'Andrea has offered to share some of his knowledge on this subject:
In many sexual abuse cases, the abuser was someone who was highly trusted within their community. We regularly see this in cases involving pastors, priests, and other religious clergy members sexually abusing members of their religious organizations. These organizations have a legal duty to do everything they can to protect their followers from sexual predators.
In a clergy sex abuse investigation, both the accused clergy member and the church should be investigated. It’s important to determine if church officials failed to meet their legal duty to protect their followers because of negligence – such as ignoring previous complaints of sexual misconduct by the accused clergy member. If negligence was a factor, the victims and their families may have grounds for a lawsuit against the church.
If you or someone you love is a victim of church sex abuse, you can learn more about your legal options in a free consultation with one of our experienced sex abuse victim lawyers.
https://wrex.com/2020/04/07/cedarville-pastor-charged-with-sexual-abuse-of-a-minor/