A megachurch pastor and senior leader in the Assemblies of God denomination has taken a leave of absence following allegations that he sexually abused a young girl when she was just 16 years old.
Pastor Rod Loy is the senior pastor of First Assembly of God, a 16,000-member multisite megachurch based in North Little Rock, Arkansas, which is the third largest AOG church in the country. He also holds a leadership role as an executive presbyter in the Assemblies of God denomination.
Late last month, former church member Suzanne Lander filed a lawsuit against Loy and the church, alleging that Loy began grooming her in 1996 when she was just 16, and eventually raped her months later,
Lander, whose husband eventually became the church’s youth pastor and then executive pastor, said the abuse continued for 20 years, until 2016, when they moved away, enabling her to have the distance needed to recognize that her relationship with him was actually abuse.
Seeking financial compensation and punitive damages for mental anguish, medical expenses, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional distress, the lawsuit alleges:
Defendant Loy’s conduct was extreme and outrageous, beyond all possible bounds of decency, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. Defendant Loy exploited his position as a trusted spiritual leader to systematically groom, manipulate, and sexually abuse a vulnerable sixteen-year-old girl who had survived years of parental sexual abuse and trafficking.
…Defendant Loy used religious teachings and scripture to convince Plaintiff that God wanted her to submit to his sexual demands, telling her repeatedly that performing sexual acts pleased God and made her better in God’s eyes.”
..Loy “forced her to perform oral sex, performed oral sex on her, and raped her in multiple locations: his church office, the storage closet, nursery, Junior Super Church Room, church parking lot, and his home.”
Pastor Loy has emphatically denied the allegations.
First Assembly of God officials told The Christian Post they had “been aware of the claims of the accuser… before she filed a lawsuit…” and that they launched an “external investigation” as a result.
They ultimately “found no evidence to substantiate her claims” and stated that the church “is prepared to defend its pastor against Lander’s lawsuit.”
6 responses to “Prominent Megachurch Pastor On Leave After Sex Abuse Allegation”
There is something fishy about this story.
As an old man I have seen many sad situations both among church members and pastors of unfaithfulness in marriage but also of people falsely accused many years later with the enormous damage this has caused.
We have the Bible account of the unfaithfulness of David and the instruction to Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman. What stands out is that believers do not want matters of sexual immorality or false accusations on the front pages of newspapers or TV news headlines but resolved as Christ directed us.
Okay, woman gets abused as a 16 yo, the abuse continues into her 30’s. Her husband becomes executive pastor during the abuse, then they leave the church and finally she relizes these past 20 years of sex with the guy was abuse. Okay, I know they say believe all women, except of course if it is a prominrnt Democrat, but this is a stretch
The Apostates that are defending this minion of the devil will have their just reward at the Most High God’s Great Judgement.
If she could describe the interior of his house and particularly the bedroom in some detail that would lend credence to her story. Otherwise, without witnesses and/or evidence it’s just her word against his. Innocent until proven guilty.
They should take an FBI polygraph. Like the one used when you get a job with the feds requiring top secret clearance. Both lawyers present for the questioning. My understanding is that these tests are so good it’s almost impossible to lie and it not be noticeable.
Abuse started when she was 16 and continued 20 years — and THEN when she moved away she recognized that the relationship was abusive? She was 36. Even though he abused her when she was 16 it wasn’t until she was 36 that she came to this recognition? And her own husband was a pastor in that same church — while this was going on. If he had any sex with her when she was under 18 he is guilty of a crime. But the rest of it sounds extremely fishy. Lawsuit for money makes it worse. The church could find no evidence.