According to its statement, Harvest Christian Fellowship has faced ongoing demands from an “aggressive celebrity attorney,” adding that some allegations are “plainly slanderous.” The church did not name the attorney but indicated she is female. Lawyer Jef McAlister is married to Ann Olivarius, a high-profile U.K. lawyer who specializes in abuse cases.
On social media, Olivarius is asking other potential victims from Havsgaard’s “Harvest Homes” to contact her firm. “There’s never a bad time to stand up for survivors,” she wrote on X.
Harvest objects to how attorneys “mislabel” the orphanage organization, giving the “misimpression that it was one and the same as Harvest. It was not.” But because the church “believes there is no greater evil than child abuse,” it has “engaged with good faith” with the alleged victims’ attorneys.
Meanwhile, Harvest said, “this celebrity lawyer has refused to cooperate with the authorities.” The church added, “It is telling that, even though they are making criminal allegations against the perpetrator, the alleged victims have refused to even grant voluntary interviews with law enforcement in the United States.”
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Although Harvest is “saddened that someone would exploit something so evil to intentionally deceive others,” the church takes “comfort in…scripture which teaches us that our Lord loves truth and demands justice.” The church said it plans to “vigorously defend” itself—and encouraged any victims to contact police.
