Missouri Court Says Negligence Is Enough In Sex Abuse Case Against Church

Yesterday's Missourian reports that in a lawsuit against a St. Joseph Missouri Methodist church, a state trial court has held for the first time under Missouri law that a church can be sued for negligence in a clergy sexual abuse case. Earlier Missouri cases had required plaintiffs to show that a church actually knew the abuser was going to harm children and failed to take actions to prevent it, in order to recover against the church.