Note: This story contains details about domestic violence and sexual assault.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The founding Calvary Chapel Association church in Costa Mesa, California, has agreed to pay $12 million to a woman who said she was raped 12 times by an ordained wrestling coach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Church leaders repeatedly ignored warnings that pastor Jacob Joshua Harman was a \u201cticking time bomb,\u201d according to attorneys David R. Sugden and Grady Howe, who represent the woman, a former church employee. She is not being named because she has identified herself as an abuse victim.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Evidence released exclusively to Roys Report (RR) <\/i>shows Calvary Chapel senior leaders were told numerous times that Harman, an ex-convict, was violent and struggled with addiction. But they did not take it seriously.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Calvary Chapel school administrator Kenny Wood told a parent raising concerns about the wrestling coach to \u201c<\/span>go away and leave me alone,\u201d documents<\/a><\/span> show.\u00a0 Former senior Pastor Brian Brodersen <\/span>reportedly<\/a><\/span> said the parents had <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>a vendetta<\/span>\u201d and allegations of physical violence did not need to be seriously investigated because the woman reporting them was <\/span>\u201c<\/span>borderline crazy.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n Your tax-deductible gift supports our mission of reporting the truth and restoring the church. Donate $50 or more to The Roys Report, and you can elect to receive our featured offer, \u201cWhen Shepherds Prey: Confronting Abuse in Church Leadership\u2014A Call for Reformation\u201d by Ron Cantor. \u2013 click here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Witnesses at the time reported bruises on the woman\u2019s wrists and chunks of hair missing from her head, according to the evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n The Southern California megachurch, led by Pastor <\/span>Chuck Smith<\/a><\/span> from 1965 until his death in 2013, was <\/span>once<\/a><\/span> the center of the Jesus People movement \u2014 a story dramatized in the film <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>Jesus Revolution.<\/span>\u201d Smith, played by actor Kelsey Grammer in the movie, <\/span>believed<\/a><\/span> Calvary Chapel should be a place for people who felt judged to <\/span>\u201c<\/span>find forgiveness and freedom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Brodersen, who succeeded Smith as senior pastor, apparently interpreted that to mean no accountability for a minister repeatedly accused of violence, Attorney Sugden told <\/span>RR<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c<\/span>This is a church that clearly values grace and forgiveness and second chances,\u201d Sugden said. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>There<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s a lot of beauty in that, but it must come with a corresponding responsibility. If you<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re going to welcome someone with a criminal record and put that person in leadership, you have to make sure there are checks in place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sugden <\/span><\/span>sued<\/a><\/span><\/span> on the alleged survivor<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s behalf in Orange County Superior Court. The suit accused the church in the suburbs south of Los Angeles of aiding and abetting sexual assault and battery. Sugden announced the settlement to <\/span>RR <\/span><\/i>this week.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The church admitted no fault and offered no apology, according to the terms of the settlement, Sugden said. It agreed to pay $12 million to end the civil litigation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harman, who <\/span>continues<\/a><\/span> to coach wrestling in Southern California, with classes starting at $125 per month, denied all allegations of sexual violence during a seven-hour deposition in October. A lawyer representing Harman acknowledged the settlement on Tuesday but declined to make a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, currently led by Brodersen<\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s son, Char Brodersen, <\/span>told RR<\/i> that the legal settlement closes <\/span>\u201c<\/span>a painful chapter\u201d in the church<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s history.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c<\/span>The individual<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s behavior, including those violations addressed in a recently resolved lawsuit, was deemed unacceptable and a breach of our code of conduct,\u201d the church said in an unsigned email. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>We are grateful to have reached a resolution that reflects our commitment to caring for those affected by harmful behavior.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The lawsuit was scheduled for a jury trial in Orange County this fall. Court records show a judge was informed last month that a trial would no longer be necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harman reportedly encountered Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in 2000, while on probation. He pleaded guilty the year before to charges of assault with a deadly weapon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Records in Las Vegas, Nevada, show Harman deliberately rammed his vehicle into four other occupied cars on March 6, 1999. As he would later explain in his conversion testimony, he was trying to quit drinking and doing drugs and had a paranoia episode where he believed people were following him.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c<\/span>I was pretty scrambled,\u201d Harman said in his deposition last year, <\/span>\u201c<\/span>and then I think this (was) exacerbated by three days of no sleep and cutting, you know, chemicals, like, cold turkey.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n He faced a maximum possible sentence of 66 years in prison, but the court chose leniency, handing down a three-year suspended sentence. Harman found himself the following Sunday at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs, about 20 miles east of Los Angeles. He responded to an altar call to give his life to Christ. Immediately after, he ran into a former college wrestling coach who asked him if he wanted a job.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harman was quickly hired at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa to help with Maranatha Christian Academy<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s wrestling teams, according to church records. He was also invited regularly to share his testimony, which included four generations of alcoholics, child abuse, college parties, black-out drinking, jail and then Jesus and wrestling.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harman became an integral part of the life of the church and grew close to many Calvary Chapel ministers. He would run into Smith in the hallway, Harman testified in his deposition, and Smith would always ask about the wrestling team and their upcoming competitions.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c<\/span>He loved the wrestling,\u201d Harman said. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>He really saw himself as, like, a man<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n After six years working at the church, Harman asked to be ordained, so he could minister to men in prison. The church agreed. Smith and three other church leaders signed his <\/span>ordination certificate<\/a><\/span><\/span> on March 15, 2006.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n As Harman remembers it, no one on the pastoral staff or the board of elders asked him questions about his criminal past, his spiritual growth, his relationship with God or his theology.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n No one asked any questions, either, when Harman, who was 31 at the time, started dating an 18-year-old girl he met while leading a youth group. He testified during his deposition that he specifically asked Brodersen, then an assistant minister, if the church would have any issues with their relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c<\/span>And he said, <\/span>\u2018<\/span>No, you should do as the Lord leads,<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u201d Harman recalled. \u201cHe was great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n According to the young woman, though, the relationship was deeply troubled. She later alleged that while they were dating, Harman pushed himself on her sexually before she was ready. She said that after they married, she realized her husband had a serious, ongoing drinking problem. She filed for divorce in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n Brodersen reached out to the woman that same year, church records show, to tell her that was not biblical.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The minister testified in his deposition that he did not ask what she meant when she said her marriage was \u201chell.\u201d He also dismissed concerns about addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c<\/span>I didn<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t see that in Jake,\u201d Brodersen said. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>He did not have the appearance of an addict in any of my interactions with him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harman testified that after his divorce, he started drinking until he blacked out three or four times during the workweek and more often on weekends.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harman<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s drinking problem did not stay secret forever. In February 2016, he was arrested for drunk driving in Huntington Beach. He later pleaded guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harman testified in his deposition that he assumed that the arrest would cost him his job. But Brodersen did not fire him. Or even discipline him.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c<\/span>The man extended grace,\u201d Harman said. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>He put just, like, a couple of little, like, brothers around me \u2026 to just be with me, you know?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Brodersen<\/span> told the suing attorneys he did not ask anyone to investigate the incident but forbade Harman from driving student athletes. The church produced no written evidence of formal restrictions.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Around the same time, church leaders and school administrators started receiving anonymous emails raising concerns about Harman. One came from <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>Anon Bill,<\/span>\u201d another from <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>John Baptist<\/span>\u201d and a third, <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>Judas Iscariot.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c<\/span>Jacob has proven to be an alcoholic, and have an addiction to narcotics and you continue to empower him,\u201d one email said. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>He is a ticking time bomb.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Brodersen dismissed the concerns. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>This person obviously hates Jake,\u201d he <\/span>said<\/a><\/span> in an email to a school administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The complaints did not go away, however. In 2017, anonymous warnings were sent to parents of students in the wrestling program. Parents started coming forward with concerns about Harman<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s behavior too, church records show. They shared stories about him hurting students in training and assigning them dangerous weight loss regimens. They said Harman told students about his drinking and talked about considering suicide, according to evidence collected for the civil suit.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/roysreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Calvary-tent-1024x576.jpg\")
![\"Chuck](\"https:\/\/roysreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image-2-2.jpg\")
![\"Jacob](\"https:\/\/roysreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1517077432860.jpeg\")
Found church while on probation<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
\u2018<\/span>I want to marry her<\/b><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/roysreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/images-93.jpeg\")
Drunk driving arrest<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n