Women Sue International Churches of Christ for Concealing Alleged Abuse

20 plaintiffs have filed several lawsuits in Los Angeles Superior Court.

A series of lawsuits have been filed by 20 women in Superior Court in Los Angeles, California, against the International Churches of Christ (ICOC), alleging the women were victims of sexual abuse and that the ministry facilitated and actively concealed the alleged abuse.

ICOC / Facebook

In December 2022, five of the women filed a similar federal lawsuit claiming ICOC had perpetrated a “systemic scheme of abuse” that included the sexual abuse of children as young as 3 years old and financial abuse of its members. That lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice in July 2023.

At the same time, five women — Darleen Diaz, Bernice Perez, Desiree Perez, Ashley Ruiz, and Jane Roe 8 — filed a lawsuit in the California state court system, saying, “This case arises from an ongoing and systemic scheme of abuse that shocks the conscience from its appallingly epic proportions. The ICOC and its affiliate churches have created a money-making enterprise through its psychological manipulation, tight control, and hierarchical ‘discipleship’ structure.  That same structure fostered an environment fertile for sexual abuse.”

It adds that sexual predators had “unfettered” access to abuse women and children without accountability.

Other similar lawsuits were filed by Salud Gonzalez and Joana Diaz in July 2023, by Jane Roes 1, 2, and 3 in August 2023, by Jane Roes 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and Alyssia Phillips in October 2023, by Andrea Sanchez in July 2024, and by Jane Roes 11 and 12 in October 2024.

The lawsuits include claims for several sexual offenses, such as assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring and supervision, negligence, and failure to report suspected child abuse. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages along with attorney’s fees.

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According to the court filings, in 1979 Kip McKean founded the Boston Movement as a breakaway from the traditional Church of Christ. That movement became the ICOC with over 700 churches in 150 countries. During his time leading ICOC, McKean allegedly downplayed a pattern of abuse by Chuck Lucas, another founder of the movement who was forced to leave due to “deviant behavior.”

In 2006, McKean was forced out of the ICOC and created the International Christian Church (ICC), which, as of 2022, had 104 affiliate churches. The lawsuit argues that the “discipleship hierarchy” of these groups “served as the mechanism of control and coercion frequently exerted over their members” and “swiftly suppressing the few members who have spoken up over the last four decades.”

The original lawsuit includes a list of “at least 10 pedophiles [who] have been arrested in connection with abuses linked to the ICOC or the ICC.”

The defendants in the July 2023 lawsuit claim they were sexually abused by David Saracino, a former member of the ICOC, who pleaded guilty to a charge of forcible rape and was sentenced in 2012 to 40 years of hard labor without parole.

Sisters Bernice Perez and Darleen Diaz attended a congregation of the ICOC in Los Angeles County. They claim Saracino sexually abused them both in 1998 and 1999. When their mother Desiree Diaz learned of the abuse, she claims to have reported Saracino’s alleged abuse to ICOC leaders Rob and Connie Kosberg. She said the leaders did not contact the police, but instead “feigned helplessness to shield the church and its members from police scrutiny.”

Desiree Diaz filed a police report with West Covina Police Department and said she asked Rob Kosberg for help in locating Saracino, who had by then fled the area for San Diego. She claims Kosberg “stonewalled her during this crucial time, ignoring her, dismissing her, and obstructing her efforts to find Saracino.”

Despite being shunned by the congregation, Desiree says she had a friendship with one other member, Chris Del Rosario. After beginning a dating relationship with Del Rosario, however, she claimed he forcibly raped her in her bedroom.

During a “discipleship meeting” with leaders at the church, Diaz reported that Del Rosario had raped her, but said the leaders did not believe her and instead told her to repent.

“Since defecting from ICOC over 12 years ago, Desiree and her daughters have suffered from PTSD. They have spent an enormous amount of time in therapy as a result of the torture they suffered,” the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit attempts to hold the ICOC accountable for the conduct of Saracino and Del Rosario by arguing that it “had the ability to control Saracino’s and Del Rosario’s conduct, yet failed to exert it. In doing so, the Church Leader Defendants created a widespread culture of acceptance of the abuse of children, as the Church Leader Defendants collectively brainwashed and manipulated the Plaintiffs to remain silent about the abuse.”

It also claims the church leaders were negligent in failing to protect the plaintiffs and failing to report the matters to law enforcement.

In its answer to the first lawsuit, ICOC asserted 24 affirmative defenses against the plaintiffs’ case. It says that the women failed to mitigate their damages, that they did not suffer any harm for which ICOC is responsible, that the ICOC did not act with malicious intent, and that any injuries the women suffered was the result of a third party’s criminal conduct that ICOC had no duty to prevent.

After the superior court sustained a demurrer by the defendants, who claimed the first amended complaint was time barred, the plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint in October.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Why does MinistryWatch report on sex crimes? These stories are tough to read and sometimes even tougher to report, but we think they are vital to our mission to bring transparency, accountability, and credibility to the evangelical church. To read more about why and how we report these stories, read “Why MinistryWatch Reports On Sex Crimes.” You can find that story here.

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