One former pastor of a massive, high-profile megachurch that spans from West Georgia throughout Alabama is letting his audacity fly high and proud, as new, downright disturbing reporting now reveals that the pastor is now officially suing a woman who he allegedly raped, in an attempt to make her pay for the “humiliation and embarrassment” he claims his alleged victim caused him.
AL.com now reports that Micahn Carter, the former pastor of Church of the Highlands, has lodged a lawsuit in the amount of $500,000 against his rape accuser, claiming that the woman’s accusations have made his life exponentially more difficult.
Mary E. Jones of Spokane first filed court documents on April 29, 2019, in which she accused Carter of sexually assaulting her at the Together Church in Yakima, Washington. In addition to the legal documents filed by Jones, Carter’s rape accuser also penned an emotional blog post back in 2021 about her experience with the former Church of the Highlands pastor. Carter now says that Jones’ rape allegations against him constitute defamation against him, and claims that his life has essentially been ruined by his alleged victim speaking out.
Carter, though, sort of dug his own grave in the immediate aftermath of Jones’ allegations, as he immediately resigned from his position at the Yakima church, taking to their YouTube channel where he admitted to his “flock” that he had been involved in “an inappropriate incident.” Carter further admitted (or claimed) that he suffers from a “previously undiagnosed mental health disorder.”
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However, the former pastor’s tone has significantly changed since, as he now claims that Jones’ rape allegations are defamatory and have caused him to lose “publishing contracts and paid speaking engagements.” Carter goes on to claim that the hit to his professional life has caused him “mental anguish” and “humiliation and embarrassment.”
Though Carter did address his congregation in the YouTube video that directly followed the accusations of sexual assault, the now-former pastor was seemingly careful to never specifically address what exactly the “inappropriate incident” he admitted to actually consisted of, which resulted in his seemingly sudden resignation from the megachurch.
Citing Carter’s attorney William Bright, AL.com quotes, “Accusing somebody of rape is devastating. It’s hard to calculate all that is involved in that type of accusation and what the damages are to come from it.”
Bright notes that his client does not deny that an incident occurred with his accuser, however, he claims that the said incident was “consensual.” Jones, Carter’s alleged victim, disputes this claim.
Marc Ayers, legal representative for Jones, said, “unfortunately, rather than provide much of a legal response to our motion to dismiss, the plaintiff filed a response that includes false, harmful and quite irrelevant personal attacks on Ms. Jones, further demonstrating the baselessness of the plaintiff’s legal position.”
Following the incident, Carter’s half-admission, and his subsequent resignation from the megachurch, the former pastor and his family tucked tail and moved across the country to Alabama, where he began to deliver sermons at the state’s largest evangelical megachurch about a year later. This is how Carter ultimately ended up at the Church of the Highlands.
Eventually, Jones learned of Carter’s new position and sent a certified letter to the church, informing them of the rape allegations against their new sermon-giver.
Following the letter, Highland released a statement:
In 2019 Micahn Carter’s Pastoral Overseers from Washington state asked Church of the Highlands to assist them in directing a ministerial restoration process for him. Highlands agreed to do so, and since then we have been working with Micahn and his family. Recently, Highlands received correspondence raising new allegations about events that occurred over two years ago in Washington state. When we shared this information with the Carters, they resigned from their positions on staff to work through these issues themselves. Highlands is no longer involved in the restoration process.”
Upon leaving Highland, Carter took a position with Association of Related Churches (ARC) church.
Jones’ attorney has confirmed that the state of Alabama has no jurisdiction on this matter, as the case was previously lodged in and being handled by Washington state.
Read the full reporting here.
Featured image via screen capture
