Parents re-start lawsuit claiming church traumatized their child in a 'forced baptism'
The parents of an 11-year-old boy who was allegedly forced into baptism is once again going after the church that they say traumatized their child.
Gregg and April DeFibaugh, who do not believe in God, have refiled a lawsuit against the Morning Star Friends Church and some of its members in a Ohio state court. The 16-page document outlined the same complaints that the family filed originally in 2017, which the federal court dismissed that same year.
The boy, referred to only as "V" in the court documents, joined a church picnic in August 2016 through the mentorship program of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northeast Ohio. His parents apparently advised the program that the boy must not be made to participate in any religious activities.
His guardians and mentors Margaret Vaughan and David Guarnera, who are members of the church, however, allegedly disregarded the parents' instructions, according to the American Atheist. V, who has a disability due to brain damage, was apparently dipped under water during a baptism ceremony that his parents claim resulted in extreme emotional distress and anxiety.
Geauga County Maple Leaf got hold of the video of the baptism, which has been posted online.
The parents reported Vaughan and Guarnera to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and the local police. The DeFibaughs also sought legal help from American Atheist, which filed the lawsuit on their behalf last March 2017. They alleged that the mentors betrayed the parents' trust, aside from harming their child.
However, in October 2017, federal judge Patricia Gaughan dismissed the lawsuit because it failed to show how the defendants violated the parents' religious freedom. The DeFibaughs and American Atheists refiled as a civil case in the state court this March.
"It is unfortunate and disappointing that this matter is again filed by this family," Vaugh stated in email to Geauga County Maple Leaf. "The family contends that there was some conspiracy to cause damages to them," she added. "The Federal Court already ruled that there was no conspiracy and that the claims could not be pursued against the defendants."
