Miraculously, Masterson said that she “never lost my faith in God in this. I lost my faith in humanity when it comes to just blindly putting my trust in people, even the ones we think are safe to go to.”
RELATED: Pastor Accused of Selling Meth out of Parsonage in Exchange for Watching Gay Couples Have Sex
When she turned 18, Masterson said she left the Wright household, but she couldn’t escape the trauma that the pastor caused.
Masterson dropped out of the University of Evansville and turned to drugs. She later experienced homelessness. “I just wanted to die. I didn’t understand what was the point in living in this world. I really didn’t. I was very depressed for a long time,” she said.
Masterson said she entered rehab last year and started therapy. “Every day now is a better day than it was then and every day before,” she said.
Masterson decided to tell the authorities about her abuse after disclosing it to her sister, Mashell Masterson.
Although police and the Department of Children Services (DCS) had been informed inn the past about what happened to her sister, Mashell said, it took eight years for them to take action.
RELATED: Mike Bickle Accused of Sexually Abusing 14-Year-Old Prior to Founding IHOPKC
Even as a rumor began to spread in 2017 and 2018 throughout the local neighborhood about the pastor having a relationship with a student, Wright’s position as the Tell City High School girls’ soccer coach didn’t seem to be in jeopardy. Instead, the school only told Wright he wasn’t allowed to be alone with any of the students.
Mashell said, “Whoever decided to keep him on the staff should be fired. Straight up. And, if that was the principal, by all means he needs to be gone. If it was the school board, we need a whole new one.”
“All this time, she didn’t want to admit that it was happening, and it was bad,” Mashell said. “She was ashamed. She thought if she admitted the bad parts, that it would define her.”
A GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $10,000 has been set up to help Masterson.
ChurchLeaders has reached out to Community Christian Church for comment. The church has deleted the “leadership” tab of its website. It previously listed Wright as the pastor. Wright’s pretrial conference is set for April 3.
