Three men have launched a lawsuit against Pastor Greg Laurie, Harvest Christian Fellowship, former pastor Richard Schutte, and former Harvest pastor and missionary Paul Havsgaard, accusing the latter of severely sexually abusing them and dozens of other children at an orphanage he ran in Romania, and the former of failing to prevent the abuse.
Marian Barbu, Cristian Aeriaiei, and Mihai-Constantin Petcu have accused Havsgaard of using food and the promise of education and shelter to lure them in to his orphanages, where they suffered horrific abuses. We recommend reading this complaint, which outline why Havsgaard should be considered “perhaps one of the most prolific pedophiles alive in America today.”
According to Christianity Today:
“Paul Havsgaard, who worked at the Riverside, California, church for about 20 years, went on to start ten orphanages in Romania in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He allegedly used them to sexually abuse scores of children. The abuse was “savage” and “prolific,” according to the lawsuits, terrorizing the boys and girls who came to Harvest Homes because they were desperate and the ministry promised them hamburgers and a safe place to sleep.
“I know what God wants,” Havsgaard allegedly told children as young as eight. “What I want, God wants.”
Harvest Christian Fellowship supported the orphanages financially but did not provide any oversight, according to (plaintiff) attorney Jan Cervenka. The lawsuits argue the church and its pastors knew of allegations against Havsgaard before he went to Romania in 1998 and were told in 2004 of “awful accusations” at the orphanages but chose to ignore them.”
Cervenka further told the court:
“They did nothing to protect the children there. Despite proof that Havsgaard was a devious and unrelenting pedophile … Harvest Riverside, Laurie and Schutte did nothing. They did not fire, suspend, withdraw or discipline Havsgaard. They neither reported him to the authorities, as was their duty under California law, nor instituted any new policies or procedures at the Harvest Homes.”
Describing the lawsuit as “sensational” and “a form of financial extortion,” Harvest has denied wrongdoing. They acknowledge that while they provided funding, it was not a Harvest Chapel ministry, proper understood.
Instead, Havsgaard set up his nonprofit ministry, Actively Restoring Kids International, independent of the church, and they merely gave money to it. Harvest said in a statement that “The allegations are serious and disturbing, but the target here should be the alleged perpetrator, not our church. This misplaced lawsuit wrongly targets Harvest and our pastor.”
But the lawsuit insists Harvest shares some culpability. CT further notes:
The following year, when another Calvary Chapel minister working in Romania heard reports of Havsgaard’s abuse, he thought he should report it to Harvest Christian Fellowship.
“He doesn’t need to be another day in Romania,” pastor Steve Quarles told Schutte, according to the lawsuits. “He needs to be gone. He is an embarrassment to every single missionary and Christian worker. Get him out of here.”
Quarles and two other pastors did an audit of Havsgaard’s ministry in 2004 and found extensive evidence of abuse, according to the lawsuits. Children at the homes reportedly talked about sexual abuse openly, discussing it with each other and adults they trusted on staff. The audit also turned up receipts showing Havsgaard took some of the boys to nearby hotels and purchased snacks and alcohol after midnight, the lawsuits say.
Schutte, the missions pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship and a member of Havsgaard’s board, reportedly received the results of the internal investigation November 2004. He allegedly didn’t do anything and continued to direct funds to the ministry for four years.”
The law firm representing the plaintiffs, McAllister Olivarius, says that an additional 20 suits are in the works.
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