TEXARKANA, Ark. - Three women have filed a lawsuit stemming from abuse they suffered at the hands of a Texarkana, Arkansas, pastor who is now serving multiple life sentences for child sexual assault.
Aftesha Cooper, Deangela Lang and Stacy Jackson testified in late June and early July that Logan Wesley III, pastor of Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ in Texarkana, Arkansas, sexually abused them for years. At the end of Wesley's trial in Bowie County, Texas, a jury convicted him of all counts. He is currently serving five consecutive life sentences plus 220 years.
Texarkana lawyer David Carter and Dallas lawyer Neil Smith filed a civil lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Cooper, Lang and Jackson in Miller County, Arkansas, circuit court. Named as defendants in the suit are COGIC Inc. headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ in Texarkana, Arkansas, local missionary Barbara Stuckey of Texarkana, Arkansas, and Logan Wesley's wife, Cynthia Wesley, of Texarkana, Texas.
Numbers listed on various internet sites for Trinity Temple are disconnected. COGIC headquarters did not respond to an email request for comment Thursday.
"Logan Wesley is a textbook sexual predator," Carter said. "He used his spiritual authority over these children to carry out the abuse and convince his victims that, even though it was acceptable to God, they must remain silent. We know there are more victims out there. They should know that our justice system affords them the same remedies as the ladies who were brave enough to move forward with this suit."
Cooper, now 34, testified that Logan Wesley sexually and physically abused her beginning when she was 13 in 1999 until 2003. Lang, now 38 and Wesley's daughter, testified that Wesley began abusing her when she came to live with him at 13. Cooper testified that Cynthia Wesley, her stepmother, was well aware of the abuse and took steps to conceal it. Jackson, now 32, testified that Logan Wesley began sexually abusing her when she was 9 in 1996 until 2004.
The suit alleges Logan Wesley "physically abused, sexually abused and falsely imprisoned" the plaintiffs at a variety of locations in Texarkana, Ark., Texarkana, Texas, and Nash, Texas, including at the church's former location on Pinehurst Street in Texarkana, Arkansas, its current location on Washington Street, in Texarkana, Arkansas, in offices where Logan Wesley worked in Nash, in church vans, at Wesley's home in Texarkana, Texas, in Wesley's personal cars, at Grady T. Wallace Park in Texarkana, Texas, "unknown hotels in Texas and Arkansas" and "side of the road" unknown locations in Texas and Arkansas.
The suit alleges COGIC Inc. is liable for the suffering of Logan Wesley's victims. The complaint explains the international church's organizational structure in depth and notes Wesley was ordained as a COGIC pastor in 1993 at a church in Ozan, Arkansas, despite having a violent criminal history at the time. Wesley was convicted of assault in 1990 "for kicking his pregnant girlfriend repeatedly in the stomach," the complaint states. "He was also charged with injury to a child in Paris, Texas, in 1991."
The complaint alleges that Jackson reported to adult church members locally and to a COGIC pastor in Wilton, Ark., that Logan Wesley was sexually abusing her but no action was taken.
The complaint alleges that the congregation at Trinity Temple heard about at least one incidence of child physical abuse from Logan Wesley himself. At his criminal trial, witnesses testified that on a Sunday when Cooper had black eyes, Logan Wesley told the congregation he had beaten his daughter because "no child is gonna run my house" and that congregants responded "Amen."
According to the complaint, Stuckey was a missionary and also known as a "church mother."
"Church missionaries must be licensed and/or ordained in the COGIC church and serve as administrative assistants to the clergymen of the church, including local pastors," the complaint states. "At least one plaintiff reported Wesley's abuse to Barbara Stuckey during the time they were abused. Stuckey told them not to say anything about the abuse or they would burn in hell."
The suit alleges Stuckey's position made her a "mandatory reporter" under Arkansas law and that her failure to report Logan Wesley's abuse to law enforcement makes her liable. The complaint alleges Cynthia Wesley too is a mandatory reporter because of her position in the church and as the owner of Trinity Christian Playskool, a child daycare center located next to her home in Texarkana, Arkansas.
At trial witnesses testified that Cynthia Wesley sent messages to one plaintiff on social media pleading with her to keep silent about the abuse because it might damage her business and harm her son's musical career.
The suit seeks a judgment to compensate the plaintiffs for their physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, attorney fees and court costs as well as punitive damages.