Ex-minister at NM megachurch accused of sexually abusing woman he was counseling
The multi-campus Legacy Church in New Mexico has been named in a lawsuit accusing the organization of negligence after a woman alleged she was sexually abused for several months by a former minister at the church’s Steelbridge Ministries during her time receiving court-ordered drug treatment at the facility.
Listed simply as Jane Doe 1 in the 11-page civil complaint, the woman names former Steelbridge Ministries executive director Travis Clark and Steelbridge Ministries, along with Legacy Church as defendants.
Legacy Church did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit from The Christian Post on Thursday, but both Steelbridge Ministries and Legacy Church are being sued for negligence, premises and vicarious liability, while Clark is being sued for sexual battery.
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“Travis Clark acted as a minister of Steelbridge and/or Legacy Church and provided pastoral counseling to Plaintiff. Sexual contact between a pastoral counselor and the recipient of pastoral counseling is ‘forceful and coercive’ as a matter of New Mexico law,” the lawsuit states, detailing claims that Clark allegedly abused of the woman. “Travis Clark coerced Plaintiff into sexual contact by threatening to prevent her from successfully completing the in-patient treatment program at Steelbridge, which was a requirement of Plaintiff's probation.”
According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe 1 has suffered from a substance use disorder since approximately 2017 and has cycled between regular periods of incarceration, homelessness, and drug rehabilitation centers from at least December 2020 to August 2024.
In December 2020, she was ordered by a local judge to "successfully complete" the Steelbridge Discipline Inpatient Drug Program as a condition of her probation. At the time, Clark had been serving as Steelbridge’s executive director since January 2019 when Legacy Church hired him. Videos posted on the ministry’s Facebook page show Clark preaching and discussing the work of the ministry.
Clark, who was also a member of Legacy Church’s pastoral team, was allegedly hired for the role in the ministry despite being charged in 2012 with "sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust," relating to a minor female student at Liberty High School in Colorado Springs where he served as a science teacher and basketball coach. The lawsuit did not highlight that in April 2014, Clark was acquitted of all charges.
“Prior to hiring Clark as the director of Steelbridge, Steelbridge and/or Legacy Church knew (or should have known, by conducting a cursory online background check) that Clark had prior accusations of inappropriate and illegal sexual contact against a minor female student,” attorneys for Jane Doe 1 note in the lawsuit. “Despite allegations that Clark abused his position as a coach and teacher to sexually exploit a vulnerable minor, Steelbridge and/or Legacy Church entrusted Clark with a role involving another vulnerable population — women in recovery from addiction.”
According to the lawsuit, during Jane Doe 1’s initial counseling session with Clark, he questioned her about her sex life and sexual preferences and, within two weeks of her arrival, began granting her "special privileges." Clark allegedly took Jane Doe 1 out of the facility in his car even though she was prohibited from leaving the facility so early in her tenure. Clark soon began making “sexual demands.”
“Plaintiff felt coerced into engaging in sexual activity with Clark, as he wielded the power to approve her graduation from the program and, conversely, to send her back to jail if he chose to allege that she failed to meet the program's requirements,” the lawsuit explains.
Jane Doe 1 alleges that she was regularly sexually abused by Clark while she was at Steelbridge. The former executive director, who owns a cleaning company, called Complete Cleaning Solutions, LLC, would also pay her to clean his home at times and he “would engage in sexual contact with her” there too.
“Clark exploited the labor of Plaintiff and other female residents of Steelbridge by having them clean homes and businesses in the Albuquerque area. Plaintiff was told by other women at the facility that Plaintiff was not the only victim of Clark's sexual abuse,” the lawsuit states. “Clark's sexual abuse of Plaintiff continued for several months until Plaintiff could no longer take the abuse and prematurely left the program.”
When Jane Doe 1 left the program in violation of her probation she was sent back to jail in approximately April or May 2021.
In late spring or early summer of 2021, she would eventually confide in her aunt, Bertha Gomez, that she had sexual contact with Clark while she was in treatment at Steelbridge, the lawsuit says. Gomez, who is a respected member of Legacy Church and considered an “elder,” reported the abuse and Clark was allowed to resign in July 2021.
“Upon information and belief, the leadership of Steelbridge and/or Legacy Church allowed Clark to quietly resign his position at Steelbridge rather than terminating him,” the lawsuit alleges.
He was later hired by Crossroads for Women in Albuquerque to work with a similar population of vulnerable women recovering from addiction.
A worker at the organization told CP on Thursday that Crossroads for Women is not affiliated with any church and would not confirm whether Clark was still employed there.
“Steelbridge and/or Legacy Church failed to inform Crossroads for Women of Clark's history of sexual misconduct with vulnerable women in the course of his work at Steelbridge. In the alternative, Steelbridge and/or Legacy Church did warn Crossroads for Women of Clark's history of sexual misconduct with vulnerable women in the course of his work at Steel bridge, but Crossroads for Women disregarded those warnings and hired Clark anyway,” the lawsuit alleges.
Clark has also been accused of paying hush money to Jane Doe 1 to keep quiet about the alleged abuse.
“Plaintiff had been conditioned to believe that Clark was a ‘good person,’ and that Plaintiff was a ‘bad person,’ which further interfered with her ability to recognize Clark as an abuser and facilitated her self-blame,” the lawsuit adds. “Clark continued to contact Plaintiff after she left Steelbridge and continues to attempt to contact her to date. Over the past 2-3 years, Clark has given money to Plaintiff — who remains in recovery from her substance use disorder — in exchange for her silence about his sexual abuses at Steel bridge.”
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