A Conservative Christian advocate who promotes home schooling and warns against the dangers of rock music has been placed on leave following allegations he sexually harassed women who worked with him.
The allegations against Bill Gothard, longtime leader of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), came forward thanks in part to a website called “Recovering Grace.”
which seeks to “help people harmed by the teachings of [Gothard].” The website has compiled statements from more than 30 women, detailing incidents that go as far back as the 1970’s. Via The Washington Post:
A string of allegations has been posted on the website, including one
alleging Gothard molested a woman who was underage in the early 1990s.
Four articles allege Gothard engaged in sexual harassment, and four
articles allege his failure to report child abuse to Child Protective
Services.
Gretchen Swearingen, who goes by her middle name
“Charlotte,” wrote on the website that Gothard requested she come work
for him in 1992 at IBLP’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., when she was
16. During her time there, she said Gothard would play footsie with her
and hold her hand. At one point, she said, he had coordinated a ride
from the airport for them to be together. “That’s when he first put his
hand between my legs and felt me all the way up,” she wrote.
Now 38, she said the statute of limitations has expired, leaving her
unable to sue. She said she told her mother, who told her that she was
lying, so Swearingen assumed there was nothing she could do.
“No
one was there when the molestation was happening,” she said in an
interview. “I never had the guts to say anything. I thought if my mother
didn’t believe me, who would? You’re not to bring home false witness
against someone at headquarters.” She said that she and her mother have reconciled since she wrote her story.
Swearingen
said she reported her story to the Hinsdale (Ill.) Police Department a
week ago. A police spokesman said no investigation has been opened at
this time.
“It’s not about revenge, not about suing him or taking
him to court,” she said. “It’s about my healing and giving other people
voices.”
Rachel Frost worked at IBLP when she was 16. She told Recovering Grace Gothard would develop an “emotional bond” with women. “There was a very common grooming pattern of
creating emotional bonds and physical affirmations, the footsie, the leg
rubs, the stroking of the hair, the constant comments on physical
appearance,” she said.