A Long Beach church is being sued by five former members who allege its leaders failed to shield them from being sexually harassed and groomed by a youth pastor, despite there being obvious signs of the abuse.
The lawsuit alleges that church leaders were negligent when they allowed Micah Lemon, 38, to groom, harass and molest multiple parishioners by sending them inappropriate messages and having inappropriate contact with them while working as a youth leader and pastor for the Long Beach Alliance Church from 2009 to 2011.
“The facts of this case are a parents worst nightmare,” said Jemma Dunn, an attorney with the law firm representing the plaintiffs. “You take your kids to church, you expect them to be protected.”
The Long Beach Post is not naming the plaintiffs, who were each underage when the abuse happened, because it generally does not identify survivors of sexual abuse unless they choose to use their names publicly.
Lemon, who is also a defendant in the lawsuit, declined to comment, saying he has not yet received a copy of the complaint.
The Long Beach Alliance Church in a statement Tuesday said it did not turn a blind eye to Lemon’s behavior and that upon learning he had been exchanging sexual messages with some youth at the church, took immediate action.
“As we have from the first moment we were made aware of these reprehensible actions by a trusted spiritual leader serving at our church, the students who were taken advantage of have been at the forefront of our concern and the primary focus of our assistance,” the church said in a statement provided by Pastor Chris Lankford. “We immediately reached out to families and offered counseling, of which some families took advantage.”
But the plaintiffs allege in their complaint that church leaders had been aware of Lemon’s inappropriate behavior and did not act until a parent objected to it.
Lemon worked in the student ministries department at the Neighborhood Church of Alameda County in 2008 before being hired as a youth leader at Long Beach Alliance Church a year later, according to the lawsuit.
Lemon eventually became a pastor while working at Long Beach Alliance Church.
The lawsuit alleges that while Lemon was employed there, he sent youth he worked with pictures of his penis through text messages or social media, which he called “donging” someone, similar to “mooning.”
He also sent messages encouraging them to masturbate and send him their penis size, according to the lawsuit. On another occasion during a youth trip in 2011, he’d wake the children up by jumping in their bed and spooning or cuddling them, according to the lawsuit. At least some church leaders witnessed Lemon’s behavior on the trip but took no action until a parent complained, the lawsuit alleges.
“The church should’ve done more,” Dunn said. “They saw the red flags, questions should’ve been asked, boundaries should’ve been drawn.”
After the parent complaint, church leaders confronted Lemon about the allegations, according to the lawsuit.
He admitted to “crossing a line” with the children, the lawsuit alleges, and was suspended on March 19, 2011, following a brief investigation. The church leaders then notified police of Lemon’s behavior.
“Mr. Lemon’s unexpected and shocking confirmation of hiding his secretive conversations with underaged students resulted in immediate suspension from our ministry, the collection of his keys, passwords and church computers,” the church said.
“We sealed off his office in case it was a crime scene, and after consultation with our denominational leadership, personally contacted the Long Beach Police Department and reported our suspicion that a crime had secretly occurred at Long Beach Alliance Church.”
Lemon was arrested and fired from his job at Long Beach Alliance Church a few days later, according to the lawsuit.
He eventually pleaded no contest on Oct. 31, 2011, to one count of persuading, inducing or coercing a minor to engage in child pornography and five counts of annoying or molesting a child, according to the lawsuit.
He was sentenced to one year in prison, five years of formal probation and was required to register as a sex offender, according to the lawsuit. He was also required to attend sex offender and psychological counseling, and barred from working as a youth minister or being alone with any child under 18, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
The lawsuit, filed on Sept. 14, seeks unspecified damages.