More sex abuse allegations tied to Oak Brook ministry

Five women from across the country have joined an existing lawsuit against a DuPage-based conservative Christian ministry alleging decades of sexual misconduct by church officials.

The 114-page lawsuit, filed in DuPage County, amends the original suit filed in October by five women alleging they were victims of "sexual abuse, sexual harassment and inappropriate/unauthorized touching" while either receiving counseling or employed by the Oak Brook-based Institute in Basic Life Principles.

Bill Gothard, the institute's founder and former president, who resigned amid allegations of sexual assault in 2014, is also named as a defendant.

The accounts given by several of the women in the lawsuit range from inappropriate hand-holding with Gothard to rape. Each of the women claim to have reported the assaults to other church officials, only to be ignored.

Gothard, who has never been criminally charged, did not return a call placed Friday to his LaGrange home.

Each of the women, whose accusations date back as far as 1992, are seeking $50,000 in damages and additional legal costs.

According to the suit, the women also are seeking an injunction to prevent church leaders from selling off more than $100 million in assets and property as the institute prepares to move its headquarters to Big Sandy, Texas, "in an attempt to flee the jurisdiction (state of Illinois) where this wrongful conduct occurred."

The institute acknowledged the most recent suit in the "News and Reports" section of its website.

"The Institute takes very seriously any allegations of this nature, and above all else, is interested in determining the truth. We therefore welcome the structure and integrity of the court process as a means for determining the truth with respect to these allegations," the statement reads. "The Institute will have no further statement at this time."

Gothard's ministry became a footnote in pop culture in the past decade as among its adherents were the Duggar family featured on the TLC network's "19 Kids and Counting."