Two Virginia sisters have filed separate lawsuits seeking $150 million each against the Southern Baptist Bethany Place Church, the multi-campus Coastal Church and a former youth group assistant for the childhood sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of the youth group worker beginning when they were just 6 and 10 years old.
The sisters, now adults, are identified in their lawsuits as 25-year-old R.T. of Richmond and S.T., 29, of Chesterfield, Virginia.
In addition to Bethany Place Church and Coastal Church, which acquired Bethany Place as one of its campuses two years ago, both lawsuits name the youth group worker, Gerald R. Thomas, as a defendant.
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Thomas pled guilty to aggravated sexual battery of both sisters on Aug. 17, 2010. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery of a Jane Doe on Nov. 12, 2020.
“Defendant Thomas’s charges and guilty pleas of Aggravated Sexual Battery all involved his sexual abuse of S.T., R.T., and Jane Doe, who were minors, while he served as a youth group assistant at Bethany Place. Thomas is on indefinite supervised probation and has been Court ordered to participate in sex offender treatment,” the lawsuits declare.
Thomas, now 75, was accused of abusing the sisters between 2006 and 2009 at the then Bethany Place Church on South Providence Road. When Coastal Church took control in 2023, the church was renamed the Bethany Campus of Coastal Church.
The sisters are suing all three defendants for assault and battery, negligent, gross negligence and reckless disregard-breach of common law duty of supervision and care, breach of duty arising from special relationship, reckless retention and vicarious liability.
The sisters seek $50 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages plus pre-judgment and post-judgment interest from the first date they were harmed.
Kevin Biniazan, an attorney for the sisters, alleges that while Thomas abused them over multiple years, the church did nothing to stop the abuse even though they were aware.
“The effects of those acts aren’t fully appreciated and aren’t fully understood until they grow older and they start to recognize the lasting effects that that has on their day-to-day lives, and that’s the case here,” Biniazan told WWBT.
Thomas is accused of grooming the sisters by separating them from other children in weekly youth group meetings and sexually abusing them for three years.
“And in some instances, in front of and in the presence of other persons while he placed his hand beneath their clothing, which is the most upsetting to imagine the mind of a young child looking around and experiencing these abuses and what they perceive to be in everyone’s line of sight and thinking, who’s here to save me, who’s here to protect me?” Biniazan said.
The lawsuits state that the younger sister told her mother in the presence of a church staff member about the abuse in October 2009. The mother of the sisters was allegedly told that Thomas would be removed from youth activities. But that did not happen, and a report was not made to the police.
An official investigation of the abuse reportedly did not happen until the sister told a school counselor about the abuse.
“It was time to say something and not just hold this man responsible for what he did to them, but to hold these institutions responsible for permitting it to take place,” Biniazan said.
Coastal Church said in a statement to WWBT that abuse had nothing to do with their church.
“Bethany Place Church began a relationship with Coastal Church two years ago. The lawsuit concerns a tragic incident that occurred at Bethany Place 16 years ago involving the abuse of children. The individual responsible was identified, convicted, and incarcerated,” the church said.
“Bethany Place Church is now under different leadership than at the time of the incident 16 years ago. At Coastal, the safety of our children is a top priority. We take all matters involving abuse and sexual misconduct with utmost seriousness. We are committed to protecting our congregation and honoring the name of Jesus Christ in all we do.”
The attorneys for the sisters argue that Coastal Church’s acquisition of Bethany Place Church equates to an “agreement to assume all existing and future liabilities.”
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