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An Ohio woman who escaped her family’s home after years of what she described as horrific, religiously-motivated abuse has filed a lawsuit accusing her mother, father, uncle, brothers, and a local cop of not only causing the abuse, but allowing it to continue, then covering it up once authorities became suspicious.
In the 22-page civil suit, filed Feb. 21 in Cincinnati federal court, Serah Bellar says her parents “mandated” that all of their 18 biological children and one adopted child attend their uncle’s Dove Outreach Church in Waverly, Ohio.
“This cult-like ‘church’ is owned, operated, and ministered by Defendant James Bellar, the brother of Defendant Robert Bellar,” the suit states. “Defendant James Bellar preaches that siblings are meant to procreate with one another.”
James Bellar’s ministry “is here according to the call of God to serve you in Jesus' name,” his website tells visitors. “If you have a need that I am able to help you with just ask. This Homepage will provide you with useful tools and information to help any along in their spiritual walk; who will turn from the world of sin unto God the Father in the name of the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.”
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In her lawsuit, Bellar, now 18, says two of her older brothers, Josiah and Jonathan, regularly sexually assaulted her beginning at the age of 5. This went on until Bellar was 12, “with the knowledge and protection” of parents Robert, 54, and Deborah, 49.
The suit accuses the Bellars of civil conspiracy, sex trafficking of children, obstruction of justice, compelling and promoting prostitution, child endangerment, and violations of the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act as well as the U.S. Racketeer Influenced Criminal Organization Act. Jimmy Childs, a sergeant with the Athens County Sheriff’s Department and a close friend of the Bellars, is accused of negligence in relation to his duties and obligations as a sworn law enforcement officer. The lawsuit was filed under the name “Jane Doe,” but Bellar’s attorney has since confirmed that it is in fact her.
Bellar was reported missing in April 2020, when she was 16. She was considered a runaway by authorities, and leads were scant. Then, a year later, Bellar suddenly reappeared under a new name on social media.
“Just wanted to post a picture so everyone KNEW I was safe and it’s really me,” she posted on Facebook, laying out allegations of long-running physical, psychological, and sexual abuse by her family. “Thank you so much to everyone who has my back in getting justice WITH me!”
In the post, Bellar said she had been taken in and cared for by an elderly couple until she was ready to go public, and that she waited until she turned 18, and was legally an adult, to come forward.
Prosecutors filed criminal charges in May 2021 against Robert, Deborah, Josiah, and Jonathan Bellar. Josiah Bellar, who was indicted on three counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition, pleaded guilty that November to charges of felonious assault and child endangerment. Jonathan Bellar was charged with gross sexual imposition, and Robert and Deborah Bellar were charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, obstruction of justice, and child endangerment. All three are scheduled to go to trial this spring.
That same month, Childs, 52, was brought up on felony charges of tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice. He has since pleaded guilty to lesser charges of disorderly conduct for having knowledge of the abuse occurring in the Bellar home but helping to protect the perpetrators by deleting phone records and making false statements to authorities. He lost his job but did no jail time and in return, agreed to testify for the prosecution.
But Bellar’s lawsuit lays out a raft of sordid allegations against Childs that include intimidation, harassment, and deliberate indifference to what was happening inside the Bellar home.
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In addition to allegedly providing her parents with Bellar’s whereabouts after she was at one point placed in foster care, Childs sexually harassed Bellar when she was underage, the suit claims.
Once, when Childs was watching a then-14-year-old Bellar lift weights, he “moan[ed] at her and stated, ‘I’m sure you already did that this morning,’ implying that [Bellar] had masturbated that day,” according to the lawsuit. He would “often give her ‘butt bumps,’” and once told Bellar that he was trying to lose weight “so that he could see ‘his junk,’” the filing continues.
Bellar’s suit also takes aim at Athens County, whose child services agency was repeatedly informed of the abuse occurring in the Bellar home but allegedly did nothing.
“Athens County State’s Attorney Keller Blackburn described Athens County Children Services’ handling of Plaintiff’s case as ‘an absolute systemic failure,’ and stated that ‘[Bellar] was turned away by authorities every time she tried to report this abuse,’” the suit says, alleging that a caseworker on the staff was a “close friend of…Deborah Bellar,” and “engaged in the cover-up of child abuse in the Bellar home.”
After criminal charges were filed against the Bellars last year, James Bellar posted a response on his church’s website calling the allegations “salacious,” and “complete lies.”
The lawyer handling Bellar’s lawsuit, Michael Fradin, did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment. Efforts to reach James, Robert, Deborah, Jonathan, and Josiah Bellar, as well as Jimmy Childs, by phone and email on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
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