Lawsuit: Rev. Trammell paid for sex

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - A former SCLC employee has filed a lawsuit alleging years of sexual assault at the hands of former Dayton SCLC leader Raleigh Trammell.

In the complaint filed with Montgomery County courts August 31, 2010, the woman states that Trammell's abuse started more than 20 years ago, when she was 16 years old. The complaint reads that she walked in on Trammell having sex with her mother in the SCLC offices, and that things escalated from there.

She alleges that Trammell paid her for sex, and paid her to have sex with a co-worker as he watched. The woman also says she found multiple sex tapes in Trammell's SCLC office which featured the reverend and other SCLC employees.

"They are very serious charges because we are talking about somebody's entire adult life and part of their childhood that was affected," said Julius Carter, the plaintiff's attorney.

The list of encounters goes on for nearly 20 pages, but the woman's allegations also include wrongful termination. She says Trammell and the SCLC fired her after she complained about his behavior.

"This had gone on for so much of her life that it was almost normal for her to allow herself to be treated that way. She just reached a point where she wasn't willing to accept it anymore," Carter said.

According to the complaint, the woman started reporting the sexualharassmentt in the spring of 2009. She said she went to the SCLC's general counsel, but speaking out proved to be painful. Carter said Trammell and the SCLC played big parts of her life.

"When she made her complaint, she was basically treated as an outcast. She was asked not to come back to church, not to come back to work, and she was made to feel like an outcast by not only Rev. Trammell but also his family, and those who supported him," said Carter.

We took the documents to Reverend Trammell's home, looking for a response, but he never came to the door. Our phone calls to his home were also not returned.

Trammell is no longer serving the SCLC after facing a criminal investigation over mismanagement of funding.

The woman who filed the lawsuit is asking for more than $1 million.