Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas, has settled another lawsuit accusing the evangelical institution of allowing a child molester to graduate and not informing police or his future employer of his past.
The seminary released a statement Thursday responding to claims made in a Dallas Morning News report that covered the settlement of a fourth lawsuit against the seminary centering around Jon Warnshuis, who graduated with a masters from the seminary in 1992.
Warnshuis had been sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2001 for sexually abusing three Texas boys while serving as pastor at Oak Hill Free Church in Argyle from 1996 to 2001.
The seminary and the church were both sued by Warnshuis’ victims. The latest lawsuit, according to the newspaper, was filed in January and settled in August. Two other lawsuits filed in Dallas County were settled in 2010 and the fourth was settled in 2005. The details of all of the settlements have not been disclosed. However, each settlement did contain a “no admission of liability” provision on behalf of DTS, according to the seminary.
The latest lawsuit alleged that DTS “cloaked” Warnshuis “with all the powers, appearances, and indices of a Man of God that permitted him to infiltrate the community earning the trust of the victims, their families, the congregation and the community at large.”
In its Thursday statement, the seminary pushed back on the Dallas Morning News for reporting that the seminary didn’t report Warnshuis’ crimes to authorities or notify his future employer about his past.
The seminary explained that Warnshuis had completed his coursework and was supposed to graduate in 1988. But on the day before his graduation, the seminary was informed by a concerned father that Warnshuis had molested his 13-year-old son. Warnshuis was subsequently prevented from graduating.
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Source: Christian Post
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