SBC Megachurch FBC Orlando Sued After Female Teacher Grooms and Abuses Female Student
A woman is suing First Baptist Church Orlando after alleging a former teacher at their church-run school, The First Academy, groomed her and sexually abused her when she was a minor, and that the school failed to report it to the police.
FBC Orlando, the 14,000-member Southern Baptist megachurch led by David Uth, is known for brazenly and flagrantly violating scripture. Last year they knowingly baptized Joe Mills, an out-and-out gay, unrepentant gay man, who is ‘married’ to his ‘husband’ and has been leading a small group of FBCO congregants in a bible study for the past few years. This is done with the knowledge of Pastor Danny De Armas, who himself has led the study. Then, that unrepentant gay man who is in good standing, began baptizing others at the church.
Harriet Sugg, who worked at the private Christian school from 2003 to 2106, was arrested by police and charged with several counts of sexual activity with a minor after Jane Doe, 22, came forward and said the teacher sexually abused her and groomed her when she was 15 years old and attending the school.
According to the lawsuit, during a chapel service Suggs shared her own experience of being sexually abused and invited students to talk to her about it anytime. When Jane Doe did, the teacher quickly love-bombed her and ingratiated herself into her life under the guise of faith-based mentorship. She then began to initiate sexual content with the student, so much so that school admins caught the two engaging in inappropriate physical contact, and so blatantly that other students who saw them interacting reported the contact to school administrators.
The school, which fired Suggs shortly after, did not report it to the girl’s parents, law enforcement, or The Department of Children and Families, accordnig to court records. Responding to the lawsuit, Uth, said in a statement:
“We are deeply saddened to address the allegations of sexual abuse that occurred approximately seven years ago involving a former female high school teacher and a female high school student at The First Academy. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness and want to assure our community that we are committed to the safety, well-being, and spiritual development of our students….Given that this is an ongoing investigation, we are limited in what information we can share right now, but we will provide additional information as soon as we can. While we must protect the privacy of all involved, we will strive to provide updates to the community as the situation develops and as it is legally permissible.
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