By: Rachel Thompson
The Church Without Walls, founded by Rev. Ralph D. West, finds its Associate pastor, Rev. Ralph D. West II needing to pay $2.45 million to a woman for knowingly infecting her with herpes. The woman, whom West II is reported to have met on Facebook, got her day in court and walked out with the outcome she was seeking. The jury found West II unanimously guilty and liable for transmitting genital herpes to the Houston woman in 2018. In a press release by the plaintiff ’s attorney, the jury in D.C. v. Ralph Douglas West II (Cause No. 2020-18991) found West II liable to the plaintiff for battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and fraudulent concealment. The jury’s award was $1,450,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000,000 in exemplary/punitive damages. The total judgment of $2.45 million will come from somewhere. Will it come from the tithes and offerings at The Church Without Walls?
In a 2008 interview with Crosswalk, Rev. Ralph D. West shared how his church started in 1987. “We began with 32 people. It was during a very critical time in my life. I was 27 years old, and I was going through a very bad church fight. I mean, it makes me shudder to think how bad it was at times. Now, the irony of it is you would think if it was that bad it had to be something significant that we were fighting about. But we were fighting over trees and carpets.
