Woodlands Catholic Church Member Sued for Performing Creepy Exorcisms

[Viper 12,112]

This guy is one of my wife's managers. The people in the office just found out and HR is collecting statements from anyone in the office he's been "creepy" or inappropriate with.

Can anyone get their hands on the court documents? Is the case still pending? Does she have a case? I'm not sure if being super creepy is something you can sue over, but I guess there's got to be something.

 

https://abc13.com/5470984/

Quote

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (KTRK) -- Saint Anthony of Padua in The Woodlands and The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston are listed as defendants in a lawsuit filed by a 38-year-old woman who claims a lay leader psychologically and emotionally abused her.

The 31-page lawsuit was filed in late July and lists Beth Ann Andrews as the plaintiff.

"The whole purpose of me attending the retreat was to get close to God and the Catholic faith," Andrews said.

The wife and mother of two said she decided to attend a Faith in the Fire retreat she claims was facilitated by lay volunteer Brad Rigsby, who is named in the lawsuit.

Andrews says she had no clue that the retreat would include what she called "layman exorcisms" that she claims were performed by Rigsby.

"It was a dark gym, it was cold and looking around and seeing various people laying on the floor and passed out. One woman was uncontrollably crying," she said.

Andrews described the encounter as spiritually intense, but says in an effort to grow her faith, she trusted Rigsby and then joined a ministry led by him.

Throughout the course of several months, Andrews believes she was manipulated and claims Rigsby abused his power and authority.

She alleges in the documents that inappropriate discussions regarding sexual topics also happened.

"He was encouraging me to pray while having sex with my husband," she said.

The Archdiocese and Saint Anthony's responded to ABC13's request for an interview with a letter that was addressed to parishioners in early August that addresses the lawsuit.

A portion of letter reads:

"Parish leadership promptly and appropriately responded to those concerns. The parish met with the parishioner plaintiff, immediately removed the lay volunteer from all ministry, contacted the Archdiocese and indefinitely suspended the ministries associated with the plaintiff's concerns. Saint Anthony categorically denies that the parishioner plaintiff was damaged by anything that parish leaders did or failed to do."

Andrews says she eventually left the ministry and tried a few times to report Rigsby to church leadership before she says something was eventually done.

The lawsuit is seeking monetary damages and also changes made to the church's policies.

"Brad Rigsby was not a safe person and should not have been in a position of authority in the church," said Maureen Farrell, Muery & Farrell PLLC, who is representing Andrews.

ABC13 attempted to reach out to Mr. Rigsby, but our calls were never returned.
 

 

[immortal13 4,059]

So he "encouraged her to pray"? Ok ...sounds super abusive

[MissingInAction 25,239]

If one could be sued for being creepy, 80% of the posters here would be in perpetual litigation. 

[WhatTheBuck 28,822]

Quote

Throughout the course of several months, Andrews believes she was manipulated and claims Rigsby abused his power and authority.

She alleges in the documents that inappropriate discussions regarding sexual topics also happened.

"He was encouraging me to pray while having sex with my husband," she said.

The horror. The horror. 

Unless Rigsby was himself having sex with her husband and he told her to pray while she stood there watching then maybe she's got a point. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by WhatTheBuck

[Viper 12,112]

yeah I'm guessing there's more in the court petitions. anyone know how to get those?

[After irth 1,245]

This hits close to home because I was planning on being creepy in The Woodlands this weekend. 

[Underdog 28,823]

"He was encouraging me to pray while having sex with my husband,"

 

Oh, God!  Oh, God!  

Pretty much it, right? 

[elfenix 34,364]

harris county district court, no. 201950343

Edited January 15, 2020 by elfenix

[Buffsoldier 1,895]

There's a non-creepy exorcism?

[RollLeft 5,045]

I bet that mfer eats Perry's every Friday.

[Wally Fairway 5,596]

3 hours ago, immortal13 said:

So he "encouraged her to pray"? Ok ...sounds super abusive

and to fuck (her husband)

[Armybrat 40,942]

6 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

and to fuck (her husband)

Betcha he encouraged her to attend regular one-on-one “prayer” sessions. 

[ROFL BOX 6,649]

I give in to sin
Because I like to practice what I preach

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[HOOK'EMHOOAH 1,610]

On 1/15/2020 at 3:33 PM, ROFL BOX said:

I give in to sin
Because I like to practice what I preach

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
 

Just remember, if you don't sin then jesus died for nothing.

['stache 21,895]

Because exorcisms are not creepy if a priest does it?

[TwiceHorn 31,646]

Is it normal for HR to open some kind of investigation when someone gets sued for non-criminal behavior?

I guess it's reasonable to try to figure out whether he's actually been "creepy" on the job, but  . . . .

[brown water 3,780]

On 1/15/2020 at 2:39 PM, Wally Fairway said:

and to fuck (her husband)

Well the article did say he is a lay leader...

Edited February 16, 2020 by brown water

[Pato del Muerto 52,665]

On 2/15/2020 at 5:46 AM, HOOK'EMHOOAH said:

Just remember, if you don't sin then jesus died for nothing.

That’s not the doctrine but I guess it’s pithy. 

[Anastasis 23,471]

On 1/15/2020 at 11:01 AM, Viper said:

"He was encouraging me to pray while having sex with my husband," she said.

If he was doing it right she wouldn’t need any encouragement. 

[Viper 12,112]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Is it normal for HR to open some kind of investigation when someone gets sued for non-criminal behavior?

I guess it's reasonable to try to figure out whether he's actually been "creepy" on the job, but  . . . .

Bingo. They found a few women with similar stories of unwanted touching (leg, shoulder, etc), a woman who left the company party because of him I think, and a complaint that left his dirty underwear in a female co-workers car on a work trip.so he was fired pretty quick. 

Edited February 16, 2020 by Viper

[HOOK'EMHOOAH 1,610]

13 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

That’s not the doctrine but I guess it’s pithy. 

It might not be the doctrine, but it's the logical following of the process.

['stache 21,895]

On 2/16/2020 at 11:37 AM, Viper said:

Bingo. They found a few women with similar stories of unwanted touching (leg, shoulder, etc), a woman who left the company party because of him I think, and a complaint that left his dirty underwear in a female co-workers car on a work trip.so he was fired pretty quick. 

Did he shart mid-trip? This one is not like the others. Really fucking weird...creepy...whatever. Just fucking gross and there must be a broader story than this sentence.

[Viper 12,112]

I had the same reaction so I'm not completely sure. the "explanation" (if you could call it that) that I got was that the trip was to a chemical plant or somewhere like that and he got his clothes dirty or something and had to change? and I guess forgot to grab all of his old clothes? I really don't understand it either.

[LazzyGuad 0]

I heard about this. It seems odd that the media news story was from back in August, and then "suddenly" the employer became aware 5 months later and decided to do a random HR investigation despite no one alleging anything shady had happened in the workplace. Are you sure that's how it originated? It just seems odd that multiple women wouldn't have reported anything, including the one where he left his dirty underwear in some woman's car (gross), and that they only spoke up once HR randomly started asking around. 

It's seems more likely that a workplace report was made that prompted them to look into it, rather than an old news story, but who knows...