DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. — More than a dozen victims have come forward to one of the attorneys on the Paul Dyal case since the story broke last week.
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The 78-year-old was charged with capital sexual battery, which involves a child under 12 years old. Jerome Teschendorf and Vernon Williamson were also arrested in Oklahoma in connection to the case.
Williamson was extradited to Jacksonville and Teschendorf will soon be in the Duval County Jail. Dyal has no bond.
Cynthia Crawford and John Phillips represent some of the victims on the case and said it spans more than four decades.
Phillips has a license to practice law in eight states and said he plans to use most of them in this case.
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Three of the alleged victims sat down with Action News Jax to share their stories and used words like intense, intimidating, psychopathic, and power-hungry to describe what they experienced at The Jacksonville Assembly of the Body of Christ.
“You live with the trauma, and it affects your life. It affects your relationships. It affects how you are with your children,” one alleged victim who asked to remain anonymous said.
“We were literally trained and brought up to believe anybody outside in the world was the enemy, and they were there to harm us. The church was there to protect us from the rest of the world,” Jennifer Belanger said.
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She joined the church in 1978 with her family when she was 8 years old. She left when she was 14. Now decades later, Belanger said the fear of retaliation still looms.
“How far will they go? I do not know.”
While she did not experience physical or sexual abuse, she said she witnessed some of it and has decades of mental trauma as a result.
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Two alleged victims described being paddled.
“It wasn’t just paddling. It was like ‘lift you up off the floor and put you across the table’ paddling. We would be told about them days before and left to think about them until the day they arrived,” said Lisa Stroud.
Stroud’s last name was once Teschendorf. Jerome is her stepfather. She grew up under his roof and said he was a ‘doomsday prepper’ and forced them to eat expired foods to prepare. Stroud also said their phones were tapped and he would watch their every move with security cameras.
“He would always tell me he had eyes in the back of his head — that’s why he knew what I was doing. So, you lived in a life of fear.”
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It’s partially what led her to file a report in 1985 against Teschendorf. The charge for sexual battery was then dropped in 1985 by the state attorney. Another report made by a separate victim claimed she was molested inside Dyals’ house in 2003.
“Yes, it may have taken a little while to come out, but it’s not for a lack of reporting it,” an anonymous victim said.
Phillips explained that evidence is key to prosecuting these cases and, in each instance, only one person stepped forward. Strength in numbers will help the State win this case, he said. Unfortunately, it’s too late for some victims he said have died by suicide.
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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said it believes there are more victims and encourages anyone with information to step forward.
You can contact JSO at 904-630-0500 or remain anonymous by calling 1-866-845-TIPS.
Action News Jax has made multiple attempts to reach out to The Jacksonville Assembly of the Body of Christ and so far has not heard back. We have also not heard back from Dyal’s attorney. We did hear from another pastor who knew Dyal and was shocked at the news.
RELATED: What we know about Paul Dyal, Jacksonville pastor charged with sexual abuse
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