On one occasion at Rice’s home after the camping trip, Rice moved his hands from the survivor’s thighs to his crotch area while giving him a massage. The survivor told Rice that he wasn’t comfortable with Rice’s gesture but said that the persistent Rice did not stop after multiple pleas, at which point the survivor grabbed Rice’s wrists and moved his hands away.
The report stated that the survivor recalled three separate occasions where Rice attempted and sometimes succeeded at putting his hand inside the teenager’s boxer shorts, touching his genitals.
The survivor also stated that on multiple occasions, Rice tried to direct the teenager’s hand on his own crotch during their massages, which took place every evening he stayed over at Rice’s house.
“After the instances where Rice reached into his boxer shorts, Alan Doe realized that this was a ‘strange relationship’ and that he didn’t understand what to make of it other than it was ‘weird’ and he stopped visiting thereafter,” the report read. The survivor said that he “put it in a box and just moved on and did not reconsider the events until after the allegations surrounding TCPC’s former youth and college pastor in 2018.
Rice Attempted to Groom Another Teen
The report shared another instance where Rice attempted to groom an 18-year-old boy but was repeatedly shut down by the teen.
The teen claimed that while staying at Rice’s home, the worship leader tried to get him to give him a massage, but the 18-year-old refused. He also shared that Rice would inappropriately grab his knee and thigh while they talked, attempting to pass it off as a joke. The teen said that Rice would also hug him a lot, but nothing more ever took place between the two.
GRACE shared that investigators reached out to Rice, but he declined to speak with them.
TCPC Releases Statement
TCPC released a statement on June 20 with a link to GRACE’s report. The following is senior pastor Robert H. Cunningham’s opening paragraph, who was not at the church during the alleged incidents against Rice.
In the fall of 2020, our Session of elders voted unanimously to initiate an independent investigation with GRACE. This investigation was in response to credible allegations that were brought to me against Chris Rice. Rice was not an employee of our church, but during the late 90’s and early 2000’s he often led music for our youth and college ministries. The allegations come from those who were once involved in our ministries and participated in our previous investigation surrounding the alleged abuse of our former pastor, Brad Waller. These new allegations claimed that Rice participated in grooming behavior among our students and sexually assaulted one student on multiple occasions. It was incredibly brave of this former student to share his story with me. I believed him then, and after reading the findings of the investigation, I still believe him.
GRACE’s report cleared TCPC of having any prior knowledge of Rice’s alleged abuse and stated that neither of Rice’s survivors reported anything to the church or its leadership at the time of the incidents.
