Plaintiffs suing a regional synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in a sexual abuse case can present evidence about a top synod official's three arrests on indecent exposure charges, a judge ruled Thursday.
The judge denied a defense motion to exclude the information from a civil trial set to begin Tuesday in the east Texas town of Marshall.
Harrison County Judge Bonnie Leggat did not explain her ruling in the lawsuit brought by 14 alleged victims of former minister Gerald Patrick Thomas Jr., who was sentenced last year to 397 years in prison for sexually assaulting boys.
Plaintiffs' attorneys said the background of former bishop assistant Earl Eliason is relevant because he was in charge of pastor assignments in the Dallas-based Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod when Thomas was sent to Marshall's Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in 1997.
"Eliason's own sexual addiction impaired and compromised his judgment as a decision-making officer of the synod, especially with regards to the fitness and prior misconduct of Gerald Thomas," Edward L. Hohn, the plaintiffs' lead attorney, said in court papers.
The synod's attorneys argued that all three of Eliason's convictions — in 1987, 1996 and 2003 — resulted from no-contest pleas and should be inadmissible as evidence.
The synod is the remaining defendant after settlements were announced Wednesday between the alleged victims and the Chicago-base Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Ohio seminary that Thomas attended, a candidacy committee in Michigan, and the Marshall congregation, where Thomas worked until his arrest in 2001.
The settlement is subject to the judge's approval at a hearing Monday. Details have not been disclosed.
Tracy Crawford, the synod's attorney, declined to discuss the case Thursday.
Asked why the synod was not a part of the settlement, Crawford said, "We don't think we owe anybody anything."
Reminiscent of complaints against the Roman Catholic hierarchy in recent years, the Thomas case is one of the most serious abuse lawsuits to hit a U.S. Protestant denomination. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has 5 million members.
Eliason, who apparently is no longer employed by the church, would not answer questions when reached at his Dallas home.