An Arlington pastor who was arrested last July on sexual assault charges is now being sued by an alleged victim on seven different counts including sexual exploitation, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.
The suit claims Ronnie Goines, who serves as lead pastor at Koinonia Church, sexually assaulted a church member on two separate occasions in 2023, and that the church failed to hold Goines accountable for his actions, despite other accusations in the past.
“Koinonia and Goines knew that the representations were false or made the misrepresentations recklessly without any knowledge of their truth and as a positive assertion,” according to the suit. “For example, Koinonia knew that Goines had been involved in prior sexual abuse of a female.”
The woman sued Goines for assault, and accused both him and Koinonia Church of negligence, fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and sexual exploitation. The suit is seeking $1 million in damages.
Goines did not return a request for comment, and the church declined to comment Monday. The pastor has denied all previous allegations made against him.
KERA News does not typically name alleged victims of sexual assault, but her attorney, Boz Tchividjian, said they hope to hold the church accountable for what he described as pain and trauma inflicted upon her.
"As she is struggling to heal both emotionally and spiritually and trying to pick up the pieces from the trauma, he's back to preaching on Sunday mornings in front of a congregation,” Tchividjian said. "He's moved on, and she is struggling to move on."
According to the suit, Goines began to gain the woman's trust by assuring her the church community was a “safe place” when she began attending in 2022 before becoming a member of the church.
As time went on, the suit said, Goines acted as a “mental health services provider” to the woman, but began contacting her outside of church hours, during which he asked personal and “inappropriate” questions. Goines also began sharing personal information about himself and other church members he was counseling and told the woman to keep their interactions secret, the suit said.
In March of 2023, the suit accuses Goines of inviting the woman to his home and forcing himself onto her. The woman claimed she said "no" multiple times before Goines sexually assaulted her the first time.
The suit says she met with Goines in a public space the next day to discuss the alleged behavior, and accused him of "gaslighting" her — a term used to describe manipulating a person into questioning their own experience — and eventually convinced her to go back to his house again, where she says a second sexual assault occurred despite multiple attempts to stop Goines.
The woman cut off all ties with the church and Goines afterwards and reported him to authorities in early June 2024, the suit said. It's not clear if the incident described in the lawsuit led to Goines' arrest, or if it was a separate case.
Goines turned himself into Tarrant County Jail after the APD Sex Crimes Unit obtained two arrest warrants and charged him on one count of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault.
He was removed from his position in August but returned to the pulpit in October.
While the church never addressed his arrest, it released a statement honoring Goines for his service and said he needed “his full attention focused on becoming healed, whole, and fully restored” amid the “unique challenges [he] is currently facing.”
During the service at which Goines announced his return, he told KERA he voluntarily chose to step back from preaching following his arrest, but never stopped serving as lead pastor.
Goines also denied the charges he’s facing.
“That’s just something that I did not do,” he said. “Not guilty, [I am] innocent.”
Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
