Home Christian News Lawsuit Accuses ACNA Church of Negligence That Resulted in Child Sexual Abuse

Lawsuit Accuses ACNA Church of Negligence That Resulted in Child Sexual Abuse

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Booking photos of Mark Rivera. Photos courtesy of Kane County Sheriff’s Office

(RNS) — When Cherin Marie joined Christ Our Light Anglican Church in 2013, she couldn’t imagine filing a lawsuit against the close-knit Anglican church plant in Big Rock, Illinois, where many of her relatives attended. But three years after her then 9-year-old daughter first said she was sexually abused by Mark Rivera, a lay minister at the church, Cherin feels she has no other option.

Cherin, who declined to use her last name to protect her daughter’s privacy, filed a lawsuit Wednesday (May 18) in Kane County, Illinois, against Christ Our Light Anglican Church. The lawsuit argues that Cherin’s daughter, who is referred to as Jane Doe, has experienced mental anguish and emotional and physical pain because of the church’s negligence, and it requests over $50,000 in damages. The case will be co-counseled by longtime sexual abuse attorney Boz Tchividjian and local counsel Evan Smola.

“My biggest hope is that by raising public awareness through this suit, any survivors that haven’t been reached might be made aware of safe avenues to reach out to and get help,” Cherin told Religion News Service. She hopes the lawsuit will hold the church accountable, adding, “I don’t see any other means to do that at this point.”

The Anglican Church in North America’s Upper Midwest Diocese, where the Christ Our Light Anglican church plant was located, has been publicly grappling with accusations of mishandling abuse allegations since last summer. The diocese is undergoing two parallel outside investigations — one into the accusations against Rivera and the diocese’s response and another into allegations of abuse of church power.

Rivera has been charged with felony sexual assault and predatory abuse of a victim under 13 years of age in connection with his alleged crimes against Cherin’s daughter, and in December he was charged with two felony counts of criminal sexual assault in connection with multiple alleged rapes of his former neighbor, Joanna Rudenborg.

Kane County, Illinois, booking information for Mark Rivera. Screen grab

According to the lawsuit, Cherin’s daughter disclosed Rivera had been “sexually victimizing her for months” on May 17, 2019. That day, Rivera had volunteered to watch Cherin’s daughter while she attended a “church-related prayer meeting” at the home of Rivera’s neighbor. The lawsuit states that at least one individual reported concerns to the church rector about “inappropriate physical affection” between Rivera and children in the church community. The rector, the Rev. Rand York — who is also Cherin’s great-uncle — dismissed the complaints, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also claims that Christopher Lapeyre, another lay leader at the church, failed to disclose knowledge that Rivera had sexually assaulted Rudenborg in 2018. It argues that church leaders’ silence and failure to act allowed Rivera to groom and abuse a number of children, including Cherin’s daughter. To date, at least 10 individuals have said they were victims of Rivera.

“As a direct and proximate result of Defendant CHRIST OUR LIGHT ANGLICAN CHURCH, INC.’s acts and omissions, Mark Rivera was able to sexually abuse multiple minors, including JANE DOE,” the lawsuit says. York, Lapeyre and ACNA spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

RELATED: In ACNA abuse case, mother of an alleged victim says she paid a price for coming forward

In the wake of her daughter’s disclosure, Cherin pushed to hold Rivera accountable but said she didn’t feel supported by her church community. It wasn’t until Rudenborg came forward in November 2020 with her allegations that Cherin said she found allies willing to advocate for change within the church. “We wanted to encourage them to do the right thing and to set safe measures in place so more survivors could come forward, and so anyone who had been abused by Mark had a safe place to go,” said Cherin.