Today I filed another lawsuit against the Oregon-Idaho Conference of the United Methodist Church on behalf of a man who was sexually abused as a child by his Methodist pastor William O. Walker. Walker died of complications from AIDS, which the church disclosed after his death.
The lawsuit alleges that Walker sexually molested my client on more than 50 occasions in the mid-1980s, when Walker was pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Eugene, Oregon. My client was 14 years old when Walker first abused him. The abuse continued for years, and took place at the Eugene church, at Camp Magruder (a church camp on the Oregon Coast), in Walker’s car, at his home, and elsewhere.
My client’s statement about his experience demonstrates his courage and desire to protect children in the future. “When I read that Pastor Walker molested another boy during the same period of time he was molesting me, I realized that I was not alone in what happened. I’m not so much angry as I am sad that my own church would cover up what he did, and put kids’ well-being at risk.”
It seems that Walker had sex with children, teenagers, adults, men, and women. He appears to have been an omni-sexual, serial predator who preyed on the vulnerable and unsuspecting.
If you have any information about William O. Walker, please contact me. Victims and other witnesses who have information about Walker will always be listened to and treated with respect.