Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., has been hit with a lawsuit filed by the parents of a 15-year-old girl who was sexually abused by a church staff member on church property.

The lawsuit, filed in state court in April, alleges Bellevue Baptist failed to protect the victim referred to as Janet Doe from James A. Hook, a 44-year-old volunteer coordinator who was charged criminally in the matter. Hook eventually pleaded guilty to sexual battery by an authority figure and admitted to having sexual contact with the teen in various locations, including on the church campus.

According to the civil complaint, Janet Doe’s parents say the church allowed Hook to groom their young daughter and ignored warnings to keep him away from the girl.

Bellevue Baptist Church officials have denied any knowledge of or responsibility for Hook’s actions, like many Catholic and Baptist churches around the country have denied.

Lawsuit Details Complicated Background

Janet Doe’s parents, referred to as John and Jane Doe in their lawsuit, had known Hook for nearly ten years before he began having inappropriate contact with their daughter, court documents indicate. Jane Doe had an extramarital affair with Hook, who was also married, in 2011. The two couples underwent marriage counseling at Bellevue Baptist Church.

Sometime after officially joining the church in 2017, John Doe says he told Bellevue Baptist’s children’s pastor to keep Hook away from his children. He told the pastor Hook “was not the man he was holding himself out to be,” the Does’ lawsuit, posted online by Memphis’ CBS-affiliate WREG,  claims.

John and Jane Doe split up in 2018 and that fall, Hook encountered Janet Doe, the lawsuit says. Hook gave the teenager his cell phone number and told her to call him if she ever needed someone to talk to. The two began communicating shortly after that.

Around the same time, Hook was hired by Bellevue Baptist Church and its children’s pastor as a volunteer coordinator. He encouraged Janet Doe to become a volunteer, which gave him additional access to the girl, according to her parents’ lawsuit. That’s when Hook began “grooming” his victim – showering the girl with attention and gifts, and then sending her sexually explicit photos and videos of her mother taken during their extramarital affair.

He then allegedly began kissing and having other physical contact with the teenage girl on the church campus during volunteering sessions, the lawsuit claims. Later, when Janet Doe quit volunteering, Hook encouraged her to sneak out of her house to meet him. He would drive her to a park where he engaged in sexual contact with her, according to the Doe lawsuit.

Criminal Charges Filed First

Police discovered Hook in a car with the underage girl in May 2019, Memphis’ Commercial Appeal newspaper reported. Police records revealed Hook admitted having sexual contact with the girl, but denied having intercourse. Hook was charged with sexual battery by an authority figure and solicitation of a minor. In January, he pleaded guilty to the sexual battery charge and was given a five-year sentence.

Bellevue Baptist Church Denies Negligence and Liability

In its response to the lawsuit, also posted by WREG, Bellevue said Hook’s actions were “outside the course and scope of his employment” at the church and denied claims Hook had unsupervised access to minors. Bellevue Baptist policy requires two adults be in the room with minors and the church conducts background checks and annual child abuse training.

The church also took issue with the claim it ignored warnings about Hook, arguing that John Doe’s request to keep Hook away from his children never mentioned a suspicion “(he) would engage in childhood sexual abuse.”

Bellevue Baptist Church, the flagship of the Southern Baptist Convention, is one of the largest churches in Memphis. The Southern Baptist Convention was the subject of a 2019 investigation by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, which reported some 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers have faced accusations from more than 700 alleged victims of sexual misconduct in the last 20 years.  New rules on statute of limitations on rape have enabled many of these victims to seek justice and recompense.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.