Monday, January 22, 2007

Seattle Times

By Janet Tu

Local Digest

Settlement reported in sex-abuse case

Christian Faith Center, a church with locations in SeaTac and Everett, is paying $700,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing church staffers of failing years ago to protect a boy from a Sunday-school teacher who sexually abused him, according to the plaintiff's attorneys.

The suit, filed in 2004 by a man identified as A.H. and his parents, said A.H. first met the teacher, Loren Fine, around 1992, when A.H. was about 9 and attending the church and its school. A.H. said he was molested later that same year while spending the night at Fine's home.

At the time, A.H.'s father reported the abuse to King County police, and Fine was arrested. He pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree assault of a child.

A spokeswoman for the church said that when the suit was filed, Fine volunteered in the children's ministry as a Sunday-school teacher and camp counselor but was never a paid church employee. Earlier this month, the spokeswoman said she couldn't comment on the lawsuit and a resolution was still pending. She declined to elaborate. The church's attorney, Colleen Kinerk, could not be reached for comment.

However, Tim Kosnoff, the plaintiff's attorney, said the settlement was reached before Christmas, and court records show a resolution to the case was reached late last year.