Parents Sue Church, Say Son Abused by Counselor : Religion: Youth in Set Free drug rehabilitation program was made to perform sex acts in return for crack cocaine, lawsuit claims.

The parents of an 18-year-old man filed suit against the Anaheim-based Set Free Christian Fellowship Church on Monday, alleging that a Set Free official made their son perform sex acts in exchange for crack cocaine while undergoing drug rehabilitation at the church’s Texas ranch.

The civil suit, filed in Tarrant County Municipal Court in Coleyville, Tex., seeks unspecified damages against the Anaheim church as well as the Trinity Broadcasting Network, which owns the ranch property about 10 miles outside of Dallas. The suit accuses officials at Set Free and TBN of fraud, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

In the suit, Sharon and James Brewer of Irvine said they expected the Set Free program to provide their son, Ryan, with Bible-based Christian counseling to help him overcome his drug problem. Instead of treating him, however, one church official helped him to purchase crack cocaine and even smoked the drug with him, the suit states.

The Brewers declined to comment on the suit, citing the advice of their Texas attorney, Skip Simpson.

Simpson said in a telephone interview that the evidence will substantiate charges that Ryan Brewer was abused at the ranch when he was 17.

“The reason why they are going public is to try to keep this sort of thing from happening again because these people are coming in the name of Christ, but they are really wolves in sheepskin,” Simpson said.

According to Set Free spokeswoman Lois Trader, Mario Ruiz, the ranch overseer accused of committing illicit acts with Ryan Brewer, was removed from his position two months ago. He is currently undergoing “Christian” therapy at an undisclosed Florida location, Trader said.

“He was removed because he did make a poor decision allowing this kid to take drugs while he was there,” Trader said. “He made a poor decision in believing he was going to help this kid by either giving him money or driving him to the (drug) connections.”

However, Trader called the allegations of sexual misconduct a “sad lie” and said the church stands behind Ruiz “100%.”

“We’re definitely not going to let Mario’s life be destroyed,” she said.

Housed in a warehouse blocks from City Hall in Anaheim, Set Free has been hailed over the years as an unconventional church that works miracles. According to many--among them drug addicts, ex-convicts, the homeless and others down on their luck who have found refuge from the streets there--they have found a new faith in Jesus Christ that has changed their lives for the better.

The church, which claims several thousand members, is led by Phil Aguilar, a charismatic ex-convict whose trademark is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with the personalized license plate Biker Pas.

More than 200 of the most devout members live in 12 communal homes clustered together in downtown Anaheim. Two of the homes are owned by Mayor Fred Hunter, a major Set Free supporter.

The Set Free church also runs ranches near Perris in Riverside County as well as in Texas, where new members with drug and alcohol problems are sent to overcome their habits before entering Set Free homes.

According to the Brewers’ lawsuit, Ryan entered the Set Free treatment ranch in Coleyville last May. He had been a patient at Wichita Falls State Hospital and was under psychiatric observation before his parents requested that he be moved to the Set Free ranch, according to the suit.

A short time after he was admitted to the Set Free ranch, he moved into Ruiz’s home at the overseer’s invitation, the suit says. He began to work as an unpaid laborer at the ranch and also performed chores at a television station in Irving, Tex., owned by TBN, the suit alleges. The suit also names TBN heads Paul and Jan Crouch, Aguilar and Ruiz as defendants.

About a month after entering Set Free, Brewer began complaining of severe drug withdrawal symptoms, according to the suit.

“Minister Ruiz then agreed to and did take Ryan Brewer to (his) prior drug supplier in Dallas, Tex., in order to purchase crack cocaine,” the suit alleges. “Minister Ruiz purchased crack cocaine for both his own use and for the use of Ryan Brewer and also purchased (the youth) a pipe so that he could smoke the crack cocaine. . . .”

The suit further alleges that “on several occasions” the youth and Ruiz smoked crack together at the latter’s house.

On subsequent occasions, the suit states, “Minister Ruiz . . . convinced Ryan Brewer to drop his jeans and dance for Minister Ruiz’s pleasure.”

The suit also says that Ruiz engaged in oral sex with the 17-year-old.

According to Simpson, the youth remains hospitalized at an undisclosed Texas location.

The lawsuit is not the first complaint about Set Free to surface. Some former Set Free members and parents of others have complained in the past that Aguilar exercises rigid control over his followers, often prohibiting children who live in Set Free homes from having contact with their parents.

However, Aguilar has dismissed such allegations as “sour grapes.”