5 Alleged Molest Victims, Church Reach Settlement
SANTA ANA — Five men who claimed to have been sexually molested as children by the pastor of the Assemblies of God church in Carlsbad have reached an out-of-court settlement with the larger church organization for $1.75 million, the plaintiff’s attorneys said Friday.
The plaintiffs filed suit against Rev. Dalton Webber Sr., the former pastor of Good Shepherd Assemblies of God Worship Center in Carlsbad, accusing him of molesting them on hundreds of occasions between 1976 and 1984. The suit also named the Assemblies of God Inc. Church, which the plaintiffs alleged had erred in knowingly hiring a pedophile.
Reached at his home in Siloan Springs, Ark., Webber declined to comment on the settlement.
Attorneys for the Southern California District Council of the Assemblies of God Church, based in Costa Mesa, could not be reached for comment.
The five men, two of whom recalled the molestations while in counseling, said Webber made them perform various sex acts in his home, his car and at overnight youth activities.
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