Free Republic

Women who say they survived sexual abuse within a group of conservative Baptist churches are using an unusual legal method to try and hold their alleged abuser accountable — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law was passed in 1970 as a way to prosecute mobs as whole entities rather than try mob-related activities individually. RICO has most notably been used to prosecute criminal enterprises such as the mafia, gangs and corrupt police departments and politicians. On Wednesday, attorneys argued before a U.S. District Appeals Court that RICO should be applied...

CHICAGO — A former Hammond resident claims in a federal lawsuit she was repeatedly raped as a young student more than four decades ago by the son of the then-pastor and president of the CHICAGO — A former Hammond resident claims in a federal lawsuit she was repeatedly raped as a young student more than four decades ago by the son of the then-pastor and president of the First Baptist Church of Hammond and Hyles-Anderson College. Nanette Miles, who agreed to be named publicly for this article, said then-youth director David Hyles, who was son of then-Pastor Jack Hyles, called...