A year and a half ago, a church in Kentucky church launched an investigation into charges of sexual abuse against CCM artist Chris Rice, perhaps best known for writing the Cartoon song, after one of their previous male students came forward and alleged that Rice sexually assaulted him on several occasions 20 years ago.
While Rice hasn’t been relevant in the music space for a long time now, he was active and a big deal in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. He is best known for writing the Michael W Smith hit “Welcome to Our World,” releasing albums Deep Enough to Dream and Smell the Color 9, and releasing the controversial (at the time) “Cartoon Song.” Rice also was nominated for and won several Dove awards.
Tates Creek Presbyterian Church in Lexington announced back in October 2020 that they commissioned GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), a Virginia-based non-profit organization run by Boz Tchividjian (brother of unrepentant, notorious womanizer Tullian Tchividjian) that helps Christian groups confront sexual, psychological, and physical abuses.
Even though the Church had not employed Rice for nearly 20 years, the pastor felt it was his duty to investigate these charges that happened to their students under their care.
GRACE has finished its investigation, which took eighteen months to complete, and it is not good. In their report, they claim that seven7 people came forward to either confirm untoward behavior to corroborate certain details of the primary accuser, but only one person, ‘Alan Doe’ “has reported instances of explicitly sexual contact, although one other witness reported events that were consistent with unique circumstances… that could also be considered misconduct.”
Some of the alleged accusations involved a propensity for receiving back massages from Rice, sleeping in the bed at his request during an overnight visit, even though the house had other unused beds in it, and being asked to sleep naked in the same sleeping bag as him while on a camping trip. Furthermore:
At least one other person, a Brent Doe, was able to confirm the grooming means and methods Rice used, such as the massages and constantly touching, and invitations from Rice to touch him and massage him in return, but was not assaulted by Rice, on account of his belief of being openly resistant to the initial overtures.
Chris Rice declined to participate in the investigation in any way, with the report ultimately noting:
The allegations against Rice were not initially reported to law enforcement or to anyone by Alan Doe. Once Alan Doe reported to TCPC’s Senior Pastor, the matter was reported promptly to the Kentucky State Police, as the jurisdiction of TCPC. No investigation has been undertaken by law enforcement due to the current preference of the reporting survivor referred to as Alan Doe and the expectation that the appropriate jurisdiction for further reporting and prosecution would be in Tennessee.
