Family Settles Suit on ‘Repressed Memory’

Beth Rutherford never knew she had a tormented childhood until she went to a church therapist for counseling. Under the counselor’s guidance, she recalled how her minister father repeatedly raped her, got her pregnant, then performed a painful abortion. In truth, Beth was still a virgin, and her father had had a vasectomy many years before. Now the Rutherfords have settled a defamation and malpractice lawsuit in Springfield, Mo., for $1 million against the church and the counselor--and they plan to use the money to travel the country, warning others of the dangers of recovered memory therapy. Donna Strand, the counselor at Park Crest Village Assembly of God church, and her husband, Pastor Robert Strand, admitted no wrongdoing.