Sexual Abuse Suits Against Church Settled

Two women who claimed they were sexually abused by a United Methodist pastor more than 20 years ago have settled lawsuits against the church for about $100,000, a San Diego newspaper reported this week.

The lawsuits were dismissed last month after the settlement, said Thomas Wall, attorney for Melissa Knight and Jayne Relaford Brown.

Both Wall and a church attorney declined to discuss terms of the settlement, but unidentified sources quoted by The San Diego Union-Tribune put it at about $100,000.

Knight and Brown said they were molested by the Rev. Thomas Warmer at his Lemon Grove church beginning in 1968, when they were teen-agers.

Warmer, who is now senior minister at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Coronado, has maintained his innocence. He will pay no money in the settlement, his lawyer said.

Brown, who lives in San Diego County, refused to comment on the settlement, but Knight said she remains disappointed with the church’s process for dealing with misconduct complaints.

“I would warn anyone with a complaint of child sexual abuse against clergy to go to law enforcement, an attorney and therapist, but to have no contact with church authorities,” said Knight, who lives in Northern California.

The women said they decided to come forward with the allegations in 1993 because they wanted closure and an acknowledgment from Warmer. The women filed their lawsuits in Los Angeles County, where the church’s regional headquarters is based.