"A former Riverside megachurch pastor has been accused of sexually abusing and trafficking children for years at a shelter he ran in Bucharest, according to lawsuits filed by two Romanian men in U.S. District Court in California. The complaints, filed Tuesday by 33-year-old Marian Barbu and 40-year-old Mihai-Constantin Petcu, said former Harvest Christian Fellowship pastor and missionary Paul Havsgaard severely abused them and dozens of other children at the shelter over eight years."
"The lawsuits also name the church's founder and senior pastor, Greg Laurie, a well-known evangelist and author, as well as other senior church leaders, saying they failed to prevent abuse. The lawsuits accuse Havsgaard of luring struggling street kids with fast food and the promise of shelter and education. The men are hurt, angry and still suffering from PTSD and social difficulties, said Jef McAllister, a London-based lawyer with the law firm representing Barbu and Petcu."
"Harvest Christian Fellowship said in a statement that the allegations in the lawsuit were shocking but that Havsgaard should be the target, not the church or its famed founding pastor. This misplaced lawsuit wrongly targets Harvest Riverside and our pastor as a form of financial extortion, the statement said. It does not seek the truth nor does it seek to stop the purported wrongdoer."
Two Romanian men, Marian Barbu (33) and Mihai-Constantin Petcu (40), filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court in California accusing former Harvest pastor and missionary Paul Havsgaard of severely abusing and trafficking dozens of children at a Bucharest shelter over eight years. The complaints allege Havsgaard lured struggling street children with fast food and promises of shelter and education and that survivors suffer PTSD and social difficulties. The lawsuits name Harvest Christian Fellowship founder Greg Laurie and other senior leaders for negligence and failure to supervise despite red flags, donor and visitor reports, and observed poor living conditions. Harvest called the lawsuits misplaced and financial extortion.
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