Sex Abuse Case Moves Forward Against Former Bell Gardens Pastor
(CNS) – A judge has cleared the way for trial of a young man’s lawsuit alleging he was sexually abused by the former pastor of a Lutheran church in Bell Gardens.
Ruling on a defense motion to dismiss some or all of the allegations, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michelle Rosenblatt said both Iglesia Luterana de San Pedro y Pablo and the Pacific Southwest District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod will remain as defendants.
But she tossed all claims against a third entity, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, finding that its leadership had no knowledge of the actions of the former pastor, Franklynn Brundige.
In total, eight young men – five of them relatives of Brundige – claim they were molested as children by Brundige. They also maintain that as early as 1991, church officials kne...
