When Elise Heerde mustered up the courage to report a pastoral care leader at Hillsong church who had stalked and sexually assaulted her, she was threatened with losing her job.
Then, she was urged to forgive the man who had abused her. Senior clergy at the Pentecostal megachurch, where she was working at the time, warned her against going to the police and “bringing shame to God’s church”.
When Elise Heerde mustered up the courage to report a member of Hillsong church who had sexually assaulted her, she was threatened with losing her job and urged to forgive the man who had abused her. Justin McManus The clergy also attempted to reframe the grooming and sexual abuse the mother-of-one had endured as an “affair”, and then put her in further danger when they told her perpetrator she had reported him.
The 39-year-old, who had been a devoted congregation member and staff member of Hillsong for years, was devastated.
The man, who cannot be legally named due the Spent Convictions Act, was appointed by Hillsong with providing Heerde with pastoral care and support after she had sought help from the church following years of overwork and personal strain.
In her written submission to the Victorian government inquiry into cults and fringe groups last October, Heerde revealed how he had groomed and stalked her, and psychologically, emotionally and sexually abused her.
She also detailed how he found out where she lived, sent screenshots of her house on Google Maps, and flooded her with messages at all hours, leaving her paralys
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