Hillsong Settles Assault Case Against Former Staff Member
Hillsong has settled an assault case against one of their former staff members, Jason Mays, in the assault against Anna Crenshaw. Â
According to ChurchLeaders, the Australian-based megachurch has settled with a former Hillsong college student, Crenshaw. She filed a lawsuit against the church for mishandling her report of sexual assault against Mays.
Back in 2016, then 18-year-old Crenshaw says she was at a social gathering when Mays inappropriately touched her and kissed her stomach.
Crenshaw says she went to Hillsong’s head of pastoral care oversight and told them how Mays had assaulted her. However, Crenshaw says her complaint was not taken seriously.
As the Christian Post reported, Crenshaw felt she could not openly confront the situation and lived in perpetual discomfort when Mays was around.
“I felt like I could not say anything about the Jason incident because his friend had said not to, insisting that he was a good guy, and this was not normal behavior for him. After the incident until now I feel uncomfortable when I come into the same area as him,” Crenshaw said in a statement.
In 2020, Mays pled guilty of the assault charges against him. He was then placed on probation for two years.
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Hillsong’s response to the assault, according to Crenshaw and her father, Pastor Ed Crenshaw of Victory Church, was unacceptable.
“I don’t expect Hillsong would have been able to keep anything bad from happening. That could happen in any organization. But what I would expect of Hillsong is proper care and follow-up. And that’s what was missing,” Pastor Crenshaw told the Christian Post in 2021.
At the time of the assault, Mays’ father, John Mays led the human resources division of Hillsong Church, which made Crenshaw uneasy about reporting the incident.
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