B.B. v. Methodist Church of Shelbina

541 S.W.3d 644
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 19, 2017
DocketNo. ED 104969
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 541 S.W.3d 644 (B.B. v. Methodist Church of Shelbina) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
B.B. v. Methodist Church of Shelbina, 541 S.W.3d 644 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Sprinkel went through the Safe Sanctuaries program after he was hired by the Shelbina Church. His information was submitted to the Safe Sanctuaries program, and a background check was obtained by the Conference which disclosed: no criminal history or sex offender registration information on file with the Missouri State Highway Patrol; no employee disqualification list information on file with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services; no employee disqualification registry on file with the Missouri Department of Mental Health; and no child abuse or neglect information on file with the Missouri Department of Social Services. Sprinkel was also required to submit three reference forms to the Conference, including one from his employer and two additional references. Sprinkel submitted reference forms completed by Pastor Clow, who was his supervisor at the time he underwent the screening, as well as Allen Hickerson and Shawn Burnley. Each form submitted to the Conference rated Sprinkel as "excellent" or "good" in character, morality, ability to relate to youths, and ability to relate to children.1 The Conference *649took no steps to follow up on the information contained in the reference forms, but instead accepted all positive or negative responses on the form and determined Sprinkel was Safe Sanctuaries certified.

In November 2004, the Shelbina Church adopted its own Safe Sanctuary policy ("the Policy"). Among other guidelines, the Policy included a provision that two adults should always be present during activities where youth or children were present. Pastor Clow took steps to enforce this Policy, such as checking on youth activities and questioning volunteers to ensure they were never alone with the children or youth. Sprinkel was aware of this Policy.

3. Appellant's Interactions with Sprinkel and the Incident Giving Rise to Appellant's Claims

Sometime in the fall of 2005, Appellant began attending the Shelbina Church's after-school youth program, where Appellant would see Sprinkel approximately one or two times per week. Appellant, who was twelve years old at the time, attended the after-school program because his friends went, it was fun, and he could play video games and basketball.

On the afternoon of January 6, 2006, Appellant's school was released early that day, so Sprinkel invited Appellant to come to his house to play video games until it was time to go to the Church's after-school program. Although Sprinkel's wife was present when Appellant first arrived, she left shortly thereafter to run an errand. During the time Sprinkel was alone with Appellant, Sprinkel showed Appellant pornography on the computer and touched Appellant's genitals. Immediately after, Appellant left Sprinkel's house, went home, and reported the incident to his father. Based on Sprinkel's actions against Appellant on January 6, 2006, Sprinkel was convicted by a jury of first-degree child molestation.

4. Information Discovered after Sprinkel's Molestation of Appellant

After the allegations against Sprinkel came to light, Pastor Clow's wife, who also served as the Shelbina Church's secretary, conducted an internet search about Sprinkel. Ms. Clow found articles written before Sprinkel was hired by the Church that were about a prior criminal case filed against Sprinkel in the Circuit Court of Logan County, Illinois. Although Sprinkel was acquitted in the case, it involved an incident of sexual molestation of a child.

After the incident involving Appellant occurred, Pastor Clow held meetings with some of the parents of children attending the Church's youth programs. As a result, Pastor Clow learned that in August 2005, Sprinkel invited at least two other boys from the Church's after-school program to his house and showed them pornography.

B. Relevant Procedural Posture

Appellant filed his original petition alleging various claims against Respondents on January 7, 2013. During the course of the litigation, however, Appellant was twice granted leave of the court to file amended petitions. On December 10, 2015, Appellant filed his Second Amended Petition asserting the following ten claims: (I) child sexual abuse; (II) battery; (III) breach of fiduciary/confidential relationship; (IV) failure to supervise children; (V) negligent supervision of Sprinkel; (VI) negligent infliction of emotional distress; (VII) intentional failure to supervise Sprinkel; (VIII) breach of duty to adopt and implement preventative measures/failure to warn; (IX) fraud/misrepresentation;

*650and (X) Restatement (Second) of Torts, section 324(A) (1965).2 ,3

Subsequently, Respondents each filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court ultimately granted and entered summary judgment in favor of Respondents on all of Appellant's remaining claims. This appeal followed.

II. DISCUSSION

Appellant raises six points on appeal, which we will discuss in the following order. In his third and sixth points on appeal, Appellant asserts the trial court erred in granting summary judgment as to Counts III through VIII and Count X on First Amendment grounds.4 In his fifth point on appeal, Appellant maintains the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on Count VII because the uncontroverted facts demonstrated Appellant could not establish an element of his claim. Then, in his first point on appeal, Appellant contends the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on Counts I and II because it found the Church could not be held liable for Sprinkel's intentionally tortious acts.

A. Standard of Review

A trial court's decision to grant summary judgment is an issue of law this Court reviews de novo. Doe v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis , 347 S.W.3d 588, 590 (Mo. App. E.D. 2011) (" Doe II "). Summary judgment is proper only if there are no genuine issues of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. We review the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, accepting all reasonable inferences in favor of that party as true. Id. at 591. We accept facts contained in affidavits or otherwise produced in support of the motion for summary judgment as true unless they are contradicted by the non-movant's response to the motion. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
541 S.W.3d 644, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bb-v-methodist-church-of-shelbina-moctapp-2017.