WASHINGTON (AP) — Three female plaintiffs claim in a lawsuit that an evangelical church group covered up allegations of sexual abuse against children.
The suit filed Wednesday in state court in Maryland alleges that Sovereign Grace Ministries failed to protect children from being sexually abused by church members.
The alleged incidents date back to the mid-1980s in Maryland and northern Virginia.
The plaintiffs claim church leaders did not report accusations of misconduct to the police and offered legal advice to suspected pedophiles.
The church did not immediately respond to a written message and a phone message left on its general mailbox.
According to its website, Sovereign Grace Ministries was founded in 1982 and has about 95 churches around the world.
