SOUTHLAKE (WBAP/KLIF News ) – A Southlake megachurch is facing another lawsuit in connection to allegations of child sexual assault.
Court records show a lawsuit filed in Tarrant County on Wednesday accused a teenage member of Gateway Church youth group of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl with allegations that date back to 2017.
The accusations involved two teens who participated in weekly youth group meetings on Wednesday nights in 2016 at The King’s University in Southlake, near Gateway.
The plaintiff alleges that she was groomed by then 17-year-old Gabriel Snyder and sexually assaulted at the meetings starting in late 2016 into early 2017.
The lawsuit alleges he used “biblical beliefs and teaching of Gateway’s pastor and ministers” to convince the 13-year-old that it was God’s will that she submit to him as a female.
By the time the alleged abuse ended Snyder was 18-years-old and no one ever came to the child’s aid, according to the suit.
The accused abuser and Gateway Church are named as defendants in the lawsuit, which is seeking $1 million for assault, negligence and damage.
Snyder was later arrested in connection to a separate case of child sexual assault and sentenced to four years in prison in 2022. He’s currently serving time at the Hightower Unit in Dayton, Texas.
The lawsuit alleges that its believed the victim named is not the only youth group member to have been sexually assaulted by the defendant. The plaintiff is requesting a trial by jury.
It was revealed that Gateway also settled a 2020 Tarrant County lawsuit in April, involving accusations that multiple church pastors covered up the alleged sexual abuse of a child by a congregation member in March 2018.
The church said it’s not guilty of any coverup, arguing that particular incident did not happen on the Gateway grounds or at one of its events but happened at a sleepover at a family home.
The church claims another teen told his mother, a Gateway staffer, about the incident and she reported to the “proper authorities within 48 hours.”
The latest lawsuit follows a string of turmoil connected to the church. Gateway canceled its annual conference in the wake of child sex assault allegations against church founder Robert Morris.
He resigned this summer after Cindy Clemshire accused him of molesting her when she was 12 years old in the 1980s.
Morris’ son, James Morris, announced a temporary leave of absence amid an investigation by an outside firm into allegations against his father.
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