Kelowna pastor accused of historical sexual assaults in civil lawsuits, denies allegations

A prominent Kelowna, B.C., pastor is facing civil sexual assault allegations from two women who claim he groomed and abused them over several years, starting when they were teenagers more than two decades ago.

The allegations against Art Lucier, the leader of Harvest Ministries International, are detailed in two civil lawsuits filed in B.C. Supreme Court in late April.

Lucier and Harvest Ministries International have rejected the allegations in a joint written statement, calling them "slanderous" and "totally false."

The plaintiffs are two women who claim in court documents that Art Lucier, then a pastor at Kitimat Harvest Ministries, took advantage of his position of trust and authority to sexually exploit them starting in 2001 when they were youths living in foster care in Kitimat, B.C. 

CBC News is not naming them due to the nature of the allegations and because they were minors at the time of the alleged sexual abuse.

In the lawsuits, the plaintiffs claim Lucier approached them separately — one in a shopping mall parking lot when she was 11, the other while she was camping at age 14 — and invited them to attend his church.

According to the lawsuits, Lucier provided mentorship and emotional support to the plaintiffs, gradually eroding physical boundaries through touch and physical closeness — including massaging, hugs and physical roughhousing.

Both alleged victims are represented by Vancouver lawyer Morgyn Chandler, who spoke to CBC News in an interview.

"[Lucier] ultimately did engage in what we say are grooming type behaviours," she said. 

"You gain their trust through attention, sharing secrets and things like that to make them feel like they have this caring relationship, and then you begin to desensitize them to sexual topics and physical touch and it moves the relationship into another realm where we say the sexual abuse begins to occur."

Both plaintiffs claim Lucier abused them through inappropriate sexual touching. One of the women alleges Lucier kissed her and asked her "to describe sexual encounters in lurid detail and sharing details of his own sex life," according to court documents.

One plaintiff alleges the abuse continued for eight years. The second claims it lasted 14 years, ending in 2015.

The alleged abuse over several years resulted in emotional injuries and challenges in personal relationships for both women, according to Chandler.

"There are significant mental health challenges, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression," Chandler said.