Several people have brought this to my attention over the last couple of weeks with the message that the public should be made aware of a child sexual abuse lawsuit first filed in 2020 against Gateway Church. It has really disturbed me. It also reminded me of a current situation happening at the Gateway Frisco campus that I have written and shared about involving a volunteer leader awaiting trial for child sexual abuse charges.
In February 2023, Anita and Nicole learned the man had been accused of molesting children and they reported it to the Frisco campus leaders — only for the church to respond by telling pastors to not reveal the accusations, Anita told the Star-Telegram at Saturdays’ protest in Southlake. Church leaders from Gateway’s Frisco campus did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Anita and Nicole say they were verbally attacked by Gateway churchgoers when they tried to publicize the allegations. “They didn’t want anymore exposure,” Anita said. “They don’t want the truth.” “All we did was follow the law. It is very black and white. If you were told about a child, by law, you have to report it. That is literally all we did,” said Nicole, Anita’s daughter.
In August 2020, a lawsuit was filed against several Gateway Church defendants by the mother of a minor child who allegedly had been sexually assaulted by an unnamed defendant, a member of Gateway Church, in a private residence on March 14, 2018. The lawsuit alleged that staff at Gateway Church, named as defendants in the lawsuit, were informed of the assault and commenced conversations about it but failed to notify law enforcement or the victim’s mother.
The Gateway Church defendants are Logan Edwards, Kathryn Edwards, Samantha Golden, Sion Alford, Kelly Jones, Rebecca Wilson, Mondoe Davis, and Doug Vaughn. In January 2023, the court ruled in favor of Gateway Church. Plaintiffs appealed the ruling, and a settlement was agreed upon in April 2024.
Plaintiffs were members of the Gateway congregation. Both Plaintiffs frequently attended worship services and participated in various ministries and church sponsored/organized functions.
Plaintiff Doe was sexually assaulted by an unnamed member of Defendant Gateway on or around March 14, 2018 at that individual’s personal residence.
Defendant Logan became aware of the instance of assault through conversations with the alleged perpetrator and other youths that attended Gateway by virtue of his role as a youth leader within the church. On or around March 19, 2018, Logan approached the alleged perpetrator and conversed on the topic of the incidence of sexual assault.
Defendant Logan shared the information he had been provided by the youths, alleged perpetrator and Plaintiff Doe with Defendant Kathryn and various other pastors of Gateway and named Defendants.
Defendants Samantha, Sion, Kelly, Rebecca, and Mondoe were all informed of the sexual assault accusations to which Plaintiff Doe subjected to as being the central leadership of Gateway.
Although Defendants were made aware of the sexual assault accusations made by Plaintiff Doe, a minor, none filed a formal complaint with the necessary child protective agencies, law enforcement agencies, or even alerted [redacted], Plaintiff Doe’s mother, to the existence of the alleged assault.
The named Defendants engaged in many conversations with the alleged perpetrator and their parents after the incident was made known. Once Plaintiff [redacted] was made aware of the allegations of assault to which her daughter was a victim, she initiated a criminal investigation with the Haltom City Police Department.
The Defendants who were ordained pastors of Gateway, embarked on a concerted campaign to conceal, misconstrue and discredit the assault accusations while the active criminal investigation was ongoing. Defendants encouraged other members of Gateway to ostracize Plaintiff [redacted] and had her removed from the various ministries of which she had served dutifully.
As a result of the concerted efforts of Defendant Gateway as a collective entity and individual acts of the named Defendants, Plaintiff Doe and [redacted] endured immense shame and embarrassment, and emotional distress. The criminal investigation was tainted by the pastor’s influence and assistance rendered to perpetrator in shaping the narrative and testimony provided to the investigating authorities.
Due to the weeks of active concealment by Defendants, significant evidence of the alleged criminal assault was allowed to waste and degrade, further hindering law enforcement’s ability to accurately investigate the original assault.
Defendant Gateway had a duty to use reasonable care toward Plaintiff Doe. Gateway breached its duty of care when it facilitated and furthered the alleged instance of sexual assault of Plaintiff Doe.
Specifically, Gateway engaged in a practice of concealing knowledge and facts of the alleged instance from Plaintiff [redacted] after it had been appraised of the incident. No formal complaint was made to an appropriate agency to safeguard Plaintiff Doe or see to the proper investigation and potential prosecution of the alleged perpetrator who was a member of the congregation in spite of having full knowledge of the incident in question and the identities of all individuals involved.
Gateway had a duty to report the alleged perpetrator’s conduct to law enforcement imposed by Texas law and principles of common decency in the interest of minors. By failing to do so, Gateway further enhanced the damage done to Plaintiff Doe and significantly hindered the exercise of justice in her criminal proceeding.
Conspiracy
Defendants collectively and independently engaged in a concerted effort to conceal the sexual assault accusations in an agreed upon undertaking to subvert the accusations and avoid criminal investigation which would put their congregation in a precarious position with the community in which it exists.
This effort was agreed upon after a meeting of minds, and many of the Defendants made overt acts to see that criminal prosecution would be precluded or substantially hindered.
Plaintiffs have suffered immensely from the aforementioned concerted effort.
After an appeal, the lawsuit was settled on April 18, 2024 and a sum was awarded to Plaintiff Doe.
Some of the defendants were church youth leaders, and some were church staff pastors at the time of the alleged assault and lawsuit. Several of them are currently still on staff at Gateway Church.
(A previous photo from the Gateway Church website of a different Rebecca Wilson church leader was removed from this post)
Gateway Church lawsuit by watchkeep
Gateway Lawsuit Settlement by watchkeep
