Part 2: Why Didn’t Anyone Help?

On January 16th, 2021, Ron and Sara Lafferty attended a wedding with their friends, Jason and Allison Morrison. Three were employed by Chesapeake Church at the time (Sara had recently been employed by the church). The coworkers and friends drove to the wedding together and lodged at the same hotel.  (These are not their real names. But the people are real.  What happened is real.)

After the ceremony, Ron and Sara retreated back to their room. Not too long after, Sara received a frantic call from Allison. The message implored Ron and Sara to come to her rescue. Her husband, Jason, was in a rage and had hit her. Ron and Sara rushed to intervene.

When they arrived at the hotel room, they found Jason sitting quietly on his bed. The tension in the air was thick. Allison was obviously distraught. Her phone had been smashed by Jason in an attempt to keep her from communicating with anybody. In a desperate attempt for help, she had used voice activation on her cellphone to call Sara. The Laffertys ended up separating the couple, escorting Jason to another part of the hotel. Jason became enraged and verbally abusive toward both Ron and Sara, and neither felt it was safe to occupy the same vehicle with him. They informed Jason that they would take Allison home and that he would need to find his own way.

Ron and Sara learned that Jason had been abusing Allison, emotionally, verbally, and physically, regularly since the beginning of their marriage. When the Laffertys pulled into Allison’s driveway, they were surprised to see that Jason had ordered an Uber and had beaten them home. Jason stood “raging like a madman” in the driveway as Ron, Sara, and Jason’s own parents looked on. Hopeful that Allison would gather her two children and things and either leave, or ask Jason to leave while she decided how to proceed in their marriage, the Laffertys headed home. In fact, as Ron and Sara found out later, as soon as he arrived home, Jason hid Allison’s car keys and canceled her debit card, effectively making it impossible for her to escape.

Ron and Sara were shaken by what they had observed. Sara, who holds an MSW in Mental Health, was gravely concerned for Allison. She called the senior pastor of Chesapeake Church, Robert Hahn, to share what had happened.  She hoped and expected that he and the church leadership would offer Allison protection.

After hearing Sara’s story, Robert Hahn urged Sara to not call the police.  He told her the church would handle the matter. A meeting was called; the elders wished to sit down and talk with Allison. 

Robert Hahn ran the meeting like an inquisition, with Allison as the target. He expressed suspicion of Allison’s story and asked her if she was sure she was being abused.  None of the other elders spoke up for Allison.  None expressed sympathy for her or indicated that they believed her.  Robert Hahn maintained complete control of the room.  Sara, who was also present, was appalled by the way Allison was treated by the church’s senior pastor and its elders. 

Not once did Robert Hahn or any of the elders suggest that Allison leave her husband and find a safe place to live. 

Not once did anyone acknowledge that Allison had been the victim of domestic violence, or express any concern for her safety.  Instead, they expressed irritation with her.

Robert Hahn urged Allison to stay with her husband.  In front of the elders and Sara, Robert Hahn reminded Allison that she had been unfaithful to her husband at one time, but that Jason had forgiven her and taken her back.

No one acknowledged that Jason’s physical and emotional abuse had been ongoing for years.  No one recognized that it was unlikely that it would ever stop.

Robert Hahn called Sara after the meeting.  He made it clear to Sara that he intended to cover up any intimation of domestic abuse.  He indicated to Sara that if she was ever called into court, she should not testify about what she had witnessed.

Pastor Robert Hahn asked Sara to lie. 

Receiving such a request from the church’s senior pastor, her supervisor, shook Sara almost as much as the incident at the hotel and left her appalled and distraught.  Immediately after she hung up with Robert Hahn, she called her father for practical and ethical advice on how to proceed.  She and Ron had both worked for the church, but previously, her conscience told her she needed to consider whether to stay in her job.  Still, a major portion of their family income depended on Ron’s church position. They felt stuck. 

Sara had to sit with the knowledge of Robert Hahn’s callous cover-up of a clear-cut case of domestic abuse – which she and her husband had personally witnessed. This was not the first time during the course of her work that she had witnessed or had been aware of ethically indefensible actions and behaviors by Robert Hahn, who exercised unquestioned control over all aspects of the church. Sara had left her position at Chesapeake after witnessing Robert Hahn scream at her husband in front of an entire room of people  But because her husband continued to serve at the church, she continued attending.

In the meantime, efforts to follow up with Robert Hahn or any members of church leadership about Jason and Allison proved fruitless. Jason was not disciplined, but instead was quietly given paid leave. He ended up resigning from the church’s employ and now teaches public school. 

Robert Hahn and the leadership of Chesapeake Church had failed Allison Morrison.  She continued to endure physical, mental, and emotional abuse from her husband.  After a time, she mustered the courage to leave her husband and escape her abusive marriage.  No longer an employee of Chesapeake Church, Allison is presently in a contentious legal battle with her ex-husband over custody of her children. Robert Hahn, who had knowledge of her abuse, has actively discouraged members of the church body from testifying on her behalf.

Another former employee at Chesapeake says, “I know Jason Morrison and his history of abuse and his anger issues. I know how the church has covered up several issues.”

Today, Pastor Robert Hahn’s position is still that Jason’s abusive behavior toward Allison on January 16, 2021 never happened. 

Astonishingly, just this past month (February 2022) Jason was permitted to teach a children’s Sunday School class at Chesapeake Church.

The church withheld Allison’s final paychecks, and she had to fight to be paid what she was owed.  Her reputation within her community has been tarnished by the lies espoused by her former husband and endorsed by Robert Hahn.

The man who abused her for years was given a paid vacation.

How is something like this allowed to happen?

*** Allison Morrison was not interviewed and did not contribute in any way to this article.

Part 3: All Hell Breaks Loose, coming soon.