A Michigan woman has sued a Florida missionary agency, alleging one of its workers sexually assaulted her in Indonesia when she was a child.
The civil complaint filed this week in Seminole County, Florida, accuses Ethnos360 of failing to protect the child and ignoring warnings for years.
Kayla McClain, now 24, claims Nate Horling abused her from 2005 to 2010 while both families served at two Ethnos360, formerly known as New Tribes Mission, posts in Indonesia, NBC News reported. McClain said she first met Horling when she was around 5 years old.
The filing alleges Horling first touched her inappropriately during playdates with his daughter, then escalated to a sexual assault in a closet in 2009. After each episode, he allegedly told the girl not to speak about it and blamed her for what had happened.
Horling, who is not named as a defendant, "absolutely" denied the accusations in a statement to NBC News.
Ethnos360's attorney, David Doyle, said the organization "takes allegations of this nature very seriously" and "categorically denies any merit to allegations made against it."
The suit says McClain's father contacted Ethnos360's child‑safety team in 2012 after she displayed sexualized behavior at age 12. The complaint states that staff spoke with the parents but did not interview the child, open an investigation or offer counseling.
McClain says no trained professional ever asked her about the incidents, leaving her confused and silent for years.
Initially founded in 1942, Ethnos360's mission is "reaching people who have no access to the Gospel." Today, it partners with over 3,000 missionaries across the globe. In 2023, the organization reported over $79 million in revenue and $76 million in expenses, according to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
Over the past two decades, survivors have accused Ethnos360 of covering up dozens of child sex abuse cases stemming from mission-run boarding schools in Senegal and the Philippines in the 1980s and '90s. Ethnos360 has apologized, settled multiple suits and adopted significant child‑safety training.
In 2018, the organization settled a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims she was abused by a "dorm dad" in a Christian boarding school in Africa. A confidentiality agreement kept details of the settlement private, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
On its website, the nonprofit mentions background checks and specialized training for new members, but the latest lawsuit argues those safeguards were inadequate when McClain sought help and remain insufficient today.
This week's filing cites a 2010 report by GRACE — Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, founded by attorney Boz Tchividjian — that documented numerous child abuse cases inside the missionary school and criticized leadership for mishandling allegations.
Tchividjian, who oversaw that inquiry and now represents McClain, told NBC News that Ethnos360 has confronted abuse allegations "over, and over, and over again," yet has not fully addressed its practices.
After returning to the United States in 2018, McClain experienced flashbacks and depression, the complaint says, and attempted suicide the following year.
In 2021, she reported the abuse through IHART, an external review panel commissioned by Ethnos360, and sat for several multi‑hour interviews.
The lawsuit alleges the mission offered no counseling and did not alert child‑protection authorities. The lawsuit accuses Ethnos360 of negligence, negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She seeks more than $50,000 in damages and a jury trial.
"I'm tired of being quiet and tired of being invisible," McClain said in the filing. "They need to be held accountable. I want the silence to stop."
