Child sexual abuse lawsuit against Gerald Derstine

By Sarah Odegaard

Today we are filing a lawsuit against an internationally known religious leader, Gerald Derstine, for sexually abusing a girl when she was an 11 years old. Derstine is the founder and chairman of the board of Gospel Crusade, Inc. and Gospel Crusade Ministerial Fellowship based in Bradenton, Florida. The abuse happened at Gospel Crusade’s Strawberry Lake Retreat in Northern Minnesota between 2007 and 2009. Our client is now only 14 years old. Our suit also names Gospel Crusade, Inc. and Gospel Crusade Ministerial Fellowship, who employed Destine, gave him access to kids, and failed to keep kids safe, including our client. Gospel Crusade is responsible for Derstine because he is their leader and their employer. Derstine is a child predator and a pedophile, and a leader of a church. This is always a dangerous equation. By bringing this suit, we hope to expose Derstine, and hold Derstine and the Gospel Crusade ministries responsible. We also want to make sure if there are any other survivors who were abused by Derstine that they feel that they are not alone and may be able to come forward to seek healing. We also aim to prevent future harm to kids by bringing this suit. In a story in today’s Star Tribune, Derstine denies abusing our client, saying there was “nothing sexual whatsoever.” In documents we are releasing today, Derstine admits to abusing our minor client here in a taped telephone call by police. In a letter authored by Derstine to our client and her mother, here, Derstine begs for forgiveness for his inappropriate intimacy with our client, and pleads with her and her mother to cancel the ongoing criminal investigation, even offering to compensate them for their costs. Otherwise, he writes, he could be thrown in jail and convicted by an “unchristian” jury. Derstine also writes that “if they continue and decide to have me arrested and put in jail, this would put an end to my ministry and give a bad reputation to Strawberry Lake Christian Retreat and probably cause that place to close down.” Once again, a church is much more concerned with their image than with the protection and safety of children. This evil pedophile and the church that protected him need to be held responsible for harming an innocent child.