Micahn Carter, a pastor who had formerly been on staff at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama, has filed a defamation lawsuit against a woman who accused him of rape.
The alleged rape occurred in 2019 while Carter was lead pastor of Together Church in Yakima, Washington. Carter led the congregation for 13 years before resigning after admitting to an “inappropriate incident.”
Later that year, Carter began a “ministerial restoration” process at Church of the Highlands. He was later announced as part of the church’s staff and preached in 2020.
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However, when Carter’s accuser contacted Church of the Highlands senior pastor Chris Hodges in 2021 to tell him that the sexual encounter between her and Carter, which had led to Carter’s resignation from Together Church, was not consensual, Church of the Highlands cut ties with Carter.
“In 2019, Micahn Carter’s Pastoral Overseers from Washington state asked Church of the Highlands to assist them in directing a ministerial restoration process for him,” the church said in August 2021. “Recently, Highlands received correspondence raising new allegations about events that occurred over two years ago in Washington state. When we shared this information with the Carters, they resigned from their positions on staff to work through these issues themselves.”
“Highlands is no longer involved in the restoration process,” the statement added.
The accuser, Mary Jones, had been serving as Carter’s assistant at the time of the alleged assault. Jones also published a blog post detailing the alleged rape, which she said took place on April 29, 2019.
“[My] pastor raped me in my office while most of our staff, teams and my family stood just outside the door,” wrote Jones.
“This nonconsensual and horribly traumatic event left me unable to function,” Jones went on to write. “I hesitated to tell the truth because I understand the ramifications of these statements. However, it’s been two years too long.”
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Carter originally filed a defamation lawsuit against Jones in Alabama in October 2022, according to AL.com. Carter reportedly sought $500,000 in damages and claimed that he had lost publishing contracts and speaking engagements because of the allegations.
