Woman Sues Salvation Army Pomona Corps, Alleging Pastor Sexually Abused Her as a Minor

A woman identified only as Jane Doe has sued the Salvation Army and its Pomona Corps, alleging she was sexually abused by a pastor and youth group leader beginning in 2006, when she was a minor. The suit was filed Thursday in Pomona Superior Court and asserts claims of sexual abuse and negligent supervision of a minor, negligence, negligent supervision of an employee, and negligent hiring and retention. Doe seeks unspecified damages.

According to the suit, the Pomona Corps provided youth group services, a companionship program, emergency food, holiday assistance, homeless support services, personal enrichment, and utility bill assistance to people in the Pomona area.

The complaint states that Doe and her family were parishioners at the Pomona Corps community center on La Verne Avenue, which served as a church, in 2005, when they met the man they now allege abused her. Doe was 10 years old at the time. The suit alleges that the pastor and youth leader groomed her by giving her individual attention, befriending her and her family, and buying her gifts, meals and ice cream. “All of this was done in plain view of church leadership,” the suit states.

The suit alleges that the abuse began in 2006 and continued for the next six years, first on the Pomona Corps grounds and later, after Doe and her brother began living in the pastor’s home in 2008, on a daily basis there. “Plaintiff alleges sexual abuse occurred more times that she can count, but certainly hundreds of times,” according to the complaint.

The complaint further alleges that the Salvation Army knew the pastor was abusing Doe but failed to protect her. It also states that neither Doe nor her parents were told, either before or during the period of abuse, that church leadership had “vast knowledge of sexual abuse by clergy and staff within the religious organization of the Salvation Army.” Doe, a child left unprotected in the church’s care, is described in the suit as having been failed by those charged with her safety (Psalm 82:3).

Doe alleges that she has suffered physical and mental pain and has incurred past and future costs for medical and psychological care and treatment.

A Salvation Army representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit. Doe’s attorney is Louanne Masry.

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