A woman has filed a $25 million federal lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints alleging church leadership failed to report allegations of sex abuse by her Ridgefield adoptive father.
The 24-year-old woman, whom the lawsuit refers to as Julie Doe, filed the complaint Feb. 10 in U.S. District Court in Oregon alleging negligence. She’s suing for $20 million in noneconomic damages and $5 million in economic damages, court records show.
In an emailed statement, the church called the lawsuit “grossly misleading” and said the allegations paint an inaccurate picture of events. The church said it will “vigorously defend itself from these false claims.”
“The abuse of a child or any other individual is inexcusable,” the church’s statement said. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes this, teaches this, and dedicates tremendous resources and efforts to prevent, report and address abuse. We have deep concern for all victims of abuse including the plaintiff.”
According to the lawsuit, Doe was placed in the foster home of Craig Ford and his wife, where the Fords’ two biological children also lived. In 2014, the couple adopted Doe and, a year later, they adopted another teenage girl from foster care.
Doe said Ford began sexually abusing her in 2015. She was 15 years old at the time, and Ford was 31. The family regularly attended the church near Ridgefield at the time, the lawsuit states.
In spring 2016, the other adopted daughter came into possession of more than a dozen letters addressed to Doe containing sexual and romantic messages. The girl showed the letters to Ford’s wife, and Ford’s wife recognized the handwriting as Ford’s. She confronted Ford, and he admitted to writing the letters to Doe, according to the lawsuit.
The confrontation became an argument, and the girl called the police. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office responded, and a deputy filed a report. But the lawsuit states Ford’s wife did not tell deputies about the letters.
A few weeks later, the Fords sent Doe and the other children to stay with relatives in Montana. While they were away, Ford’s wife searched Doe’s room and found a sex toy. When she confronted Ford about it, he admitted he bought it for Doe, the suit states.
Ford’s wife reported his misconduct to a church bishop and the stake president and shared one of the letters. She also reportedly told the church leaders she believed Ford was having a sexual relationship with Doe, according to the lawsuit.
The suit alleges the stake president did not report the abuse to police or intervene to protect Doe against any further abuse. The stake president did not advise Ford’s wife to report the abuse, and he placed blame for the abuse on Doe, the suit states.
A few weeks later, church leadership learned Ford had picked up Doe from Montana and taken her to Albany, Ore. Church leaders also learned Ford and his wife separated, according to the lawsuit.
The suit states that Ford and Doe began participating in church activities in the Albany area. Leadership visited Ford’s apartment and observed him and Doe during church activities. Doe expressed to church leaders she had a difficult secret she wanted to share, but she was having trouble telling them. Leadership also learned Ford displayed raunchy images of women and likened them to images of Doe.
The lawsuit states church leaders in Albany were concerned something was amiss between the two.
Ford and Doe lived alone in the Albany area for months, during which time Ford sexually abused Doe on an almost daily basis, according to the suit.
The lawsuit says church leadership placing the blame for the abuse on Doe led to Ford’s wife blaming Doe for the abuse.
In fall 2016, while Ford and Doe were living in Albany, one of Ford’s biological children gave a note to a classmate that said, “I wish my teacher knew that we think my dad had sex with sister (redacted).” The classmate brought the note home to her mother, who contacted Vancouver police, according to the suit.
Vancouver police investigated, along with the state Department of Social and Health Services. During an interview with DSHS, the church stake president acknowledged Ford’s wife had notified him of the sex abuse, the lawsuit says.
In 2022, Ford pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to four counts of third-degree rape of a child and one count of first-degree incest for abuse against Doe in Washington. The year prior, he pleaded guilty in Linn County Circuit Court in Oregon to four counts of first-degree rape and one count of incest for abuse against Doe there. In 2018, Ford was convicted in Clark County Superior Court of fourth-degree domestic violence assault for sex abuse against the other adopted daughter, court records show.
Ford is serving a prison sentence at Snake River Correctional Institution in Eastern Oregon. His earliest release date is scheduled for December 2053, according to an Oregon Department of Corrections database.
The lawsuit states that as a result of the abuse, Doe suffers from trauma, humiliation, depression, suicidal ideation, distrust of authority, panic attacks, insomnia and other mental health issues.
The suit alleges the church failed to train leaders on how to properly respond to suspected child abuse, investigate reports of abuse by Ford, disclose the reports of sexual abuse to law enforcement, offer support to Doe to help her cope with the abuse and enforce the church’s policies around responding to suspected child abuse.
“Based on both its historical knowledge of other incidents of child sexual abuse and the specific knowledge it had about Craig Ford, it was foreseeable that if (church leadership) did not adequately respond to the danger Ford posed toward (Doe), (Doe) … would be sexually abused by Craig Ford,” the suit states.
