The Indiana woman who revealed her pastor had sex with her when she was 16 and forced him to admit it in front of their congregation has spoken out about the years of ‘grooming’ she endured at the hands of the disgraced community leader, claiming’molestation’ occurred before she reached the legal age of consent.
Pastor John Lowe II, 65, told his congregation at the New Life Christian Church on May 22 that he had previously committed adultery, only for Bobi Gephart, 43, to confess that she was the person in his narrative and that she was only 16 at the time.
Since confronting Lowe in the now viral video, Gephart, of North Manchester, told Fox News the pastor groomed her at a young age, touching her inappropriately and making trips to see her at Bible school.
‘Shoulder massages, lap sits, long hugs, things like that nature that would get longer and deeper,’ she said as she recounted her teenage years with Lowe, adding that ‘molestation happened’ before she turned 16, the legal age of consent in Indiana.
The new allegations raises questions about potential legal action facing Lowe, who has yet to discuss the alleged ‘grooming’ but did admit to having sex with the then-16 year old as he resigned from his position.
Although Gephart did not say when her relationship with Lowe began, she described it as ‘the way a lot of grooming starts,’ and said it was difficult to talk to anyone about it because of how close and influential Lowe and his family was to her own.
‘They were like a family to us,’ she told Fox. ‘And that is what was the hardest part… hard for people to realize that we were there all the time and heavily involved in our church. And this whole time, stuffing those secrets inside me.’
She recounted once instance when Lowe allegedly laid his head on Gephart’s lap while they were setting together on a couch and another when he made a trip to Texas where she was attending Bible school one year.
Gephart said she had never considered herself ‘an actual victim,’ but the lines have become blurred after she forced herself to confront her past and review what actually happened between her and Lowe.
‘And then realizing and opening up and just, when you step on the outside looking in, you realize what was really happening and just the prison of lies and deceit and the cover-ups,’ she told Fox.