Christian Station Accused of Rape Cover-Up
he granddaughter of Trinity Broadcasting Network founder Paul Crouch Sr. claims in court that she was drugged and raped by an employee of the Christian broadcaster, and that the Christian TV network hushed it up to avoid bad publicity.
Carra Crouch sued Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana Inc., in Orange County Superior Court, alleging sexual battery and four other charges. Defendant Trinity, which does business as Trinity Broadcasting Network, is the biggest Christian TV chain in the United States.
The corporation and Does 1-20 are the only named defendants in the complaint, though it identifies numerous Trinity officials, including Jan Crouch, vice president of Trinity Broadcasting, an ordained minister and Carra’s grandmother; Jan’s husband Paul Crouch Sr., president of Trinity Broadcasting and an ordained minister; Stephen L. Smith, who “was an employee of Trinity Broadcasting and was 30 years old at the time of the incident giving rise to this complaint”; and John Casoria, “an officer of Trinity Broadcasting, an attorney, an ordained minister, and second cousin of Plaintiff. John is the nephew of Paul and Jan,” according to the complaint.