Church leaders' failures cited in misconduct case

A Presbyterian fact-finding commission has found that local and regional church leaders did not do enough to prevent a pastor from allegedly committing acts of sexual misconduct.

The former cleric, Richard B. Lawson, served as pastor from about 1988 to 2003 for a now-defunct ministry that served international students near the University of Washington.

The ministry's office was in a building owned by University Presbyterian Church (UPC) that served as a residence and gathering place for international students.

Last year, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) charged Lawson with violating church policy by inappropriately talking about circumcision restoration and sexual pleasure with two adults, one of them a UPC member, and by posting comments on a similar subject on Web sites.

The incidents occurred between 2000 and 2003, according to Seattle Presbytery charging papers.

Lawson renounced the authority of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the church took away his membership and ordination, before a church trial could take place.

The fact-finding commission was assembled by the Seattle Presbytery, which oversees some 55 congregations in the Puget Sound area, including UPC. Commission members issued a report about Lawson recently, saying they were convinced Lawson was guilty of the charges.

Lawson could not be reached for comment.

Before those incidents, Lawson admitted exposing himself around 1999 to an adult with whom he had a mentoring relationship, according to the Seattle Presbytery.

The report said the more recent misconduct might have been prevented had church officials been tougher with him in 1999.

Back then, the Rev. Earl Palmer, senior pastor at UPC, took away Lawson's title of parish associate but allowed Lawson, after getting counseling, to continue his ministry with International Neighbors.

And the Seattle Presbytery made only a few people aware of the charges, the report says. National church rules have since changed in favor of more public disclosure.

"It is clear that the 1999 process failed to stop Mr. Lawson's abuse but instead allowed Mr. Lawson to be in a position that made the possibility of his perpetrating these acts much more likely," the report said.

The report recommended, among other things, training on sexual-misconduct prevention for leaders.

Palmer said this week his decision in 1999 was "not the right action. ... That's where you learn a lot by history and hindsight."

Palmer said the church has been working with a local abuse-prevention agency on broader policies to deal with sexual harassment and abuse of adults.

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com