Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale Cleared in Sexual Misconduct Case

By Leslie Minora Fri., Feb. 4 2011 at 8:19 AM

A student at the high school run by megachurch Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale endured repeated sexual abuse in 2006 by Rodger Thomas, a part-time church employee. In 2008, a judge sentenced Thomas to ten years in prison for sexual battery, and this week, a Broward County jury determined that the victim is owed $360,000 in damages from him.

The jury also cleared Calvary Chapel Church of wrongdoing in the case, ruling that the church wasn't responsible for the abuse.
The victim's attorney, Ronald D'Anna, does not expect that his client will collect the damages awarded for her suffering and psychological treatment. "[Thomas] has nothing... we don't anticipate that ever being collected," D'Anna says, "Judgments are good for 20 years, so maybe he'll win the lottery."

The lawsuit had claimed that the sexual abuse occurred at Thomas' home and at the church's Calvary Christian Academy throughout 2006. Internal emails from Calvary staff members showed suspicion of Thomas' relationship with the victim, D'Anna says.

Calvary Chapel is listed by Forbes magazine as the ninth biggest church in the country, with 17,000 weekly parishioners and $40 million in contributions. Attorneys for Calvary Chapel didn't return phone calls from New Times.

D'Anna, who has been working on this case for three years, is preparing a motion for a new trial, even though he admits it's unlikely. Meanwhile, he awaits a decision on an appeal he filed on a separate but closely related negligence case against Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale Inc., the land-holding body associated with Calvary Chapel Church. Previously, a summary judgment was issued in favor of Calvary. The case never went to trial, and the appeal sits before the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach.

Leslie.Minora@BrowardPalmBeach.com

Follow The Juice on Twitter: @TheJuiceBPB.

Tags:

Calvary Chapel, Negligence, Rodger Thomas, Ronald D'Anna

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onceagain2005

My family and I are victims of a registered sex offender. Can you, will you help? We are in desperate need. About a year ago we decided to move to southern Oregon in order to be a part of Pastor Jon Courson's church Applegate fellowship. We were planning to sell our house and business (in that order) then move. We got an offer on the business that sounded reasonable so we accepted it and because we would not have the business income would price our house low for a quick sale. We had buyer that loved the house and said it was perfect for her family. Little did we know we have a registered sex offender living NEXT DOOR who 14 years in prison for offences involving a 13 year old!!!! We have all our money in the equity our house and can't sell it. The business proceeds and our savings are all gone. At the time of this writing I have less than $200 plus whatever we make on ebay this week. Long story short we are at the end of our rope and need money. I know this sounds like a scam but it is not! If you google our address 1226 myra rd you will see our zillow ad and can check the sex offender registry to see our neighbor. Our buisness address was 8002 fayetteville rd raeford nc. My ebay name is canacat1. I left out a lot of details and this is still too long but my paypal address is onceagain2005@msn.com if you can help or if you have any questions.

nm3502_mom

You need to search your heart and find Jesus. This is an isolated incident, and definitely our hearts go out to the victim, but as a church or "Organized Religion" we don't sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn't happen. Nor continue to just transfer known offenders to other parts of the church like the Catholic church.

Peter J

Calvary Church and Chapel is notorious group of bible thumping hippies who once snorted coke, had sex with prostitues, cheated on their wives and were ultimately "reborn" or "saved" at a certain point in time in their life. They also bash other religions including catholicisim and the issues catholics have had with priests in all the dioseces. It is good to see and recognize that not every church and religion is just as guilty as the other including Calvary which seems to be worried more about collecting money from parishoners than actually preaching the true meaning of God's works and taking every single word in the bible literally. If you ask me I would like to find out the salaries of these so called reverends and pastors I am sure they probally make a little less than a professional athelete or actor I mean come on they raise millions and millions of dollars each and every year and have more branches than a Mcdonalds it seems. This congregation is as fishy as a pond and I would never in a million years attend a service at this so called church now give a dime to them or their pastors.

Alvaro KR

1 Like

LOL you need deliverance healing and perhaps salvation too. Umm and no you cant compare the Catholic scandals which have been going on for centuries with an isolated incident which by the way was cleared. I suggest you hold your tongue before you end up in hell with your bitterness.

Dtaggart102

1 Like

You state you have never attended a service, but you claim to know so much? Calvary Chapel helps thousands of people with those donations--but you wouldn't know about that because you just sit by the sidelines and criticize. I like how the critics expect perfection from those who are just trying to do some good in the world.

Catsscott

1 Like

Wow Peter alot of hatred in those words. I will pray for you... Calvary is a fantastic church that help many people. As a matter of fact they would be more than happy to help you if needed. Many to guide you. You should try it. They preach only out of Gods Word, believe me we hold them accountable, as they are readng Gods Word by following along in our own bibles.....So its real and true! God bless you and I hope you find God in midst of all your troubles.