As a participant in a new docu-series about Hillsong Church set to air this Friday, former Hillsong NY pastor Carl Lentz admitted to an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with their nanny but denied that he sexually assaulted her, according to People Magazine, who had an advanced screening.
In November 2020, Carl Lentz was ousted from his church after it was revealed he was having an adulterous affair with a New York City-based designer named Ranin Karim. Though his bombshell got him fired, it was only one of many affairs, according to a 51-page barn-burner of a booklet titled ‘Internal Investigation Report Regarding Carl Lentz and Other Matters’ commissioned by Hillsong leadership.
The report revealed that rather than committing a so-called ‘one-time mistake’ with Karim, which is inexcusable but at least partially understandable, Lentz exemplified predatory sexual behavior for years, including grooming behavior, allegations of paying masseuses for sexual favors and ‘happy endings,’ another affair in 2014 with a young celebrity, and yet another in 2020
Lentz is currently employed at Transformation Church in Tulsa as a church strategist.
In the documentary, wife Laura Lentz says she was in shock after she learned of the adultery with Karim. “Carl was like, ‘Hey, can I talk to you for a second?’ As soon as he shut the door…my heart just dropped. He basically said, ‘I’ve been unfaithful to you.’ Carl Lentz goes on to reveal:
“There are some things that you can recover from. There’s other things that I’ll never recover from. Just the sound of her voice, the kind of cry that she had was like no other cry I’ve ever heard. Nobody should go through that, especially a wife that is flawless in character. I told her the best I could at that time and at that time I wasn’t even fully honest. She wasn’t mad, she was just so broken. eople who have walked through infidelity know what I’m talking about right now.”
Lentz also opened up about his relationship with Leona Kimes, who spent seven years as their nanny but later became lead pastor at Hillsong Boston. The report recounts Lentz admitting to “subliminally encouraging a relationship with the married Kimes with whom he engaged in at least 20 but less than 100 sex acts which he described as “manipulated intimacy.” Laura tells the interviewer that while Kimes was viewed as trusted member of the family, she suspected there was more happening.
“I’d sometimes get these little feelings. And then one night I found them in a compromising position. I was angry and I definitely freaked out…. We were her pastors, we were her leaders; she was on staff. It got really messy…I was pretty much gaslit by both of them for quite a while.”
Afterwards, Laura says they “never talked about it again.” In a Medium post, Kimes wrote that Lentz flat out assaulted her:
During the years I spent serving them, I was subjected to manipulation, control, bullying, abuse of power, and sexual abuse. The abuse of power started small. Hours would increase beyond belief. Often I would work from 7 am to 11 pm…Gossip was constant. If I didn’t join in or if I disagreed, I was the odd one out. Classic bullying.
The sexual abuse started small, too. My pastor would look at me and say, “Gurl, you’re looking good. You’ve been in the gym?” There was a lot of flirty teasing like this. I had been around long enough to know that’s just how he was with women. But after a while, the comments started to escalate. I remember being told, “after you have kids, we’ll buy you a boob job.” Looking back, I know I felt embarrassed, but I didn’t know it was wrong then. It hadn’t occurred to me that I had a right to not be spoken to like that, by my pastor or anyone else.
While he never had intercourse with me and never kissed me, I was physically violated by his unwanted and repeated sexual touching of my intimate areas. I froze. Every time, I froze.
He offered to accompany me to the doctor with his sick son once and he touched me while I was driving, both hands on the wheel. Again, I froze.
He suggested accompanying me to a movie with the kids and sat next to me and touched me in the dark, even though we were surrounded by people. Again, I froze.
In a previous statement about these claims, Lentz’s attorneys told People magazine, “Laura and Carl Lentz vehemently deny the allegations and, in addition to that, have irrefutable proof the events did not happen as Leona Kimes has described.” Speaking about it now, Lentz is mildly more reflective.
I am responsible for allowing an inappropriate relationship to develop in my house with someone that worked for us…(but) any notion of abuse is categorically false. There were mutual adult decisions made by two people who lied profusely, mainly to my wife. It’s an issue because I was a boss, this person was an employee. I’m responsible for that power dynamic and the management of it and the wisdom that goes with it and I failed absolutely miserably.”
