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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Searing Complaint Against Korean Church

SAN RAMON, Calif. (CN) - A youth pastor abducted and sexually molested a girl for weeks, she claims in court.

Eun Young Cho sued the Contra Costa Korean Presbyterian Church and its senior pastor Jason Jeon, on Tuesday in Contra Costa County Court.

She claims they negligently hired and supervised Hyo Bin Im, who repeatedly lured her and her sister to his home, where he harbored them and sexually molested her.

Im harbored them once for three consecutive weeks, when she was a minor, Cho says.

Im, 33 at the time, was arrested in January 2104 and charged with child concealment, unlawful sexual intercourse and animal cruelty. He is serving 5 years in prison, according to the complaint.

Cho claims that the church failed to do a background check when they hired Im, which would have shown a previous allegation of sexual abuse of a minor and a history of a violent temper.

She claims that when her mother asked Jeon to intervene, he "turned a blind eye" to her "desperate pleas for help" and then accused her of trying to damage the church.

Instead of firing Im, Cho claims, Jeon and the church "embarked on a publicity stunt, playing the blame the victim game."

She claims that Jeon "publicly ridiculed" her mother and told people that her mom caused the problem, "because she was not a good mother."

After Im was arrested, Cho claims, his subordinates at the church continued "as if they were carrying on with Im's old ways" by luring her away from her home and harboring her in theirs.

The defendants could not be reached for comment.

Cho is represented by James Kim, with Kim & Associates in Oakland.

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