Four women learned they were sexually assaulted by the same member of an Oklahoma church, but their reports to the pastor never made it to authorities, according to a lawsuit.

Charles Sulivant, a 92-year-old and former member of Shawnee First Church of the Nazarene, was charged in October 2024 with lewd and indecent acts to a child, but the church pastor had known about the man’s conduct for years, the lawsuit and KOTV said.

Now, the four Jane Doe plaintiffs are suing the Shawnee church and The Church of the Nazarene for the accused coverup. They’re seeking at least $75,000 in damages, according to court documents filed March 17.

The local church and the Church of the Nazarene did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment April 15.

It was 2008 when a 15-year-old girl was in a church administrative office getting money from her mom’s purse to buy a soda from the vending machine. As she reached into the purse, Sulivant came into the office and sexually assaulted her, the lawsuit said.

The teen hit the man in the groin, then ran from the room crying and told her mom, the lawsuit said.

The mother and teen reported the incident to the pastor, but the church leader defended Sulivant, the lawsuit said. With her mother out of the room, the pastor told the teen that Sulivant was a major donor and that her mother would lose her job at the church if Sulivant was kicked out, according to the complaint.

“Charlie is old,” the pastor said to the girl, according to the lawsuit, which mentioned a 2024 interview with police. “I don’t know what this will do to his life.”

The pastor never called the police, according to the lawsuit.

The next year, Sulivant lured a 9-year-old girl into the church parking lot with a promise of a gift, the lawsuit said. Sulivant was known among the 240-person congregation to hand out candy to children, but he sexually assaulted the young girl, according to the lawsuit.

She struggled to escape, but eventually fled to a bathroom, the lawsuit said.

“To this day, she remembers what she was wearing, how scared she was, and how disgusting she felt,” the lawsuit said. She said no man can hug or touch her without her thinking of Sulivant’s acts.

One girl was sexually assaulted by Sulivant for approximately four years, beginning when she was 8, the lawsuit said. Sulivant would call the girl his “little girlfriend” and touch her inappropriately under her dress, the complaint said.

The girl stopped wearing dresses to church, according to the lawsuit.

When the girl’s mom reported the abuse to the pastor, he told the mother Sulivant was being “friendly,” the lawsuit said. Again, the complaint said he never called authorities.

An 18-year-old also reported an assault to the pastor, but he never called authorities, the lawsuit said.

In an interview with Shawnee police in August 2024, the pastor said he repeatedly told Sulivant to stop touching the girls, but he never called authorities, the lawsuit said.

The pastor told a news outlet in 2024 he ”possibly” should have called the police, according to the lawsuit.

Sulivant also told police in an interview that the pastor told him to stop, the lawsuit said.

Sulivant was arrested in November 2024, but is no longer listed in the county’s jail records.

Shawnee is about a 40-mile drive southeast from Oklahoma City.

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