Family sues Pittsburgh church, ministry that hired pastor accused of abusing girl

PITTSBURGH — A new lawsuit filed against two ministries in the Pittsburgh claims the facilities should have never hired a pastor accused of abusing a girl over the course of three years.

Steve Ramsier worked at the Light of Life ministry on the city’s North Side before becoming a pastor at a church in Lawrenceville.%

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"How was he exposed to the people who need the most help, and the people who need the most protection?" attorney Mark Smith said.

Ramsier is currently serving at least five years in prison for sexually assaulting the girl, but the child’s family claims in their lawsuit that he should have never been in the position to interact with their daughter.

"This is a 100 percent system failure,” Smith said.

In 1995, Ramsier spent nearly a year in jail for indecent assault and burglary. After being released, he volunteered and was eventually hired by the Light of Life ministry, where, according to the lawsuit, Ramsier first met the victim and her mother.

In 2004, Ramsier was hired as a pastor at what is now known as Door of Hope Community Church in Lawrenceville.

He was found guilty of sexually assaulting the victim over three years, beginning in 2008 when the girl was 9.

The lawsuit claims negligence against the church and ministry since no background checks were done when Ramsier was hired, saying, in part: “…the Ddfendants individually and collectively hired, supervised and exposed defendant Steve Ramsier to the very people he had proven propensity to prey upon."

"People were not without resources that could have checked, or if they did check, they ignored certain behaviors in the past,” Smith said.

Light of Life said they’re fully cooperating with investigators, but Ramsier hasn’t worked at the ministry since 2006.

Calls and emails to a spokesman for the Primitive Methodist Churches were not returned.

Cox Media Group