Appeals Court Dismisses Micahn Carter's Defamation Suit Against Mary Jones
- Sarah Leann Young
- Jan 10
- 4 min read
By Sarah Young | January 10, 2026
In a significant victory for survivors of alleged clergy sexual abuse, the Washington State Court of Appeals has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by former pastor Micahn Carter against his former church assistant, Mary Jones, who publicly accused him of raping her in 2019.
The ruling, issued on December 30, 2025, highlights the protections given to individuals who speak out about matters of public concern within religious institutions, particularly under Washington's Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA).
Micahn Carter previously led Together Church in Yakima, Washington, a congregation that grew under his leadership before dissolving amid scandal in 2020. Jones, who served as Carter's executive assistant and was also a parishioner, alleged that Carter groomed and raped her in the church office during a period when she was vulnerable following the death of her father.
Carter has maintained that the encounter was consensual, but Jones later characterized it as non-consensual in a private letter to Pastor Chris Hodges of Church of the Highlands in Alabama—where Carter had sought employment—and in a personal blog post on the website Medium, titled "Moving Forward."
Carter’s lawsuit stemmed from these two communications. He first filed a lawsuit against Jones in Alabama in 2022, but the case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. He then refiled in Yakima County Superior Court in 2023, claiming Jones' statements caused him reputational harm, loss of employment, and canceled publishing and speaking opportunities. Jones moved
to dismiss under UPEPA, Washington's anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public
Participation) statute, arguing that her statements addressed a public issue (clergy misconduct) and that Carter, as a public figure, failed to prove actual malice.
The trial court initially denied Jones' motion, ruling that Carter was not a public figure and that questions of fact remained regarding whether Jones negligently labeled the encounter as "rape." However, in a detailed 100-page published opinion, a three-judge panel from Division III of the Court of Appeals reversed this decision.
Download the full 100-page opinion here:
Judge George B. Fearing, writing for the court and joined by Judges John Cooney and Megan Murphy, held that Jones' letter to Hodges was privileged as it aimed to alert church leadership to potential risks. The court further classified Carter as a limited public figure due to his prominence in religious circles and determined that
Jones' use of the term "rape" constituted protected opinion, not provable fact. The
The panel also found no evidence of actual malice on Jones' part.
"We dismiss Micahn Carter’s defamation cause of action as a matter of law," Fearing wrote. "In doing so, we grant Mary Jones’ motion to dismiss, under the UPEPA, Carter’s complaint."
The court also awarded Jones reasonable attorney fees and costs for both the trial and appellate levels, providing financial relief to a survivor who faced legal retaliation for sharing her experience.
This case is timely and highlights the real challenges whistleblowers and victims of church abuse face in addressing clergy abuse within the Christian Church. Carter's pastoral role at Together Church ended following his vague and cryptic confession of misconduct to the congregation, but he continued to be platformed by multiple other churches following his resignation, including Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, AL, The Father's House Orange County in the Los Angeles area, California, Forward City Church in Columbia, South Carolina, and Revere Church in Placentia, California.
After leaving Yakima, he also briefly joined Church of the Highlands for a restoration plan but resigned shortly thereafter, following Jones' letter to Pastor Chris Hodges informing him of her allegation of rape against Carter, which the church claimed they were unaware of before receiving the letter.
This appeals court's decision confirms that lawsuits like Carter's can be seen as attempts to silence victims, a tactic increasingly defeated by anti-SLAPP laws, and advocates for church accountability (like us) view this ruling as a huge victory and a step forward. It affirms the right of individuals to freely speak out about abuse without fear of frivolous legal battles, especially when those in power seek to suppress speech that challenges their authority and exposes their religious hypocrisy.
Despite the recent dismissal of his defamation suit, Micahn Carter announced on Instagram on December 5, 2025, that he and his wife, April, are relocating to Indianapolis, Indiana, to launch a new church called The Place in the fall of 2026. The announcement, made despite serious allegations and questions about his past conduct, and now the recent court ruling, raises legitimate concerns about the lack of accountability for leaders returning to ministry after serious allegations of abuse, and the safety of those in their care and under their self-proclaimed spiritual authority.
As Christian churches and ministries continue to grapple with an onslaught of whistleblower reckonings and scandals, cases like this should remind leaders that, despite their claims of spiritual authority, they are not above the law. It should also remind Christians that everyone in the Body of Christ, no matter their place in it, has the right and moral obligation to alert the Church and public to allegations of abuse and corruption in local churches and ministries. We still have freedom of speech in this great nation, so let's use it.
For more resources on recognizing and blowing the whistle on abuse and corruption in your church or ministry, go to our Resources page, and start reading our FAICE series on the red flags that your church might be at risk for financial corruption, abuse, cultic isolation, cultic control, or exploitation.
Just another case of a narcissist who found the grift a little too good to let go. Relocating to IN? Sickening. But it's like Lance Ford (Unleader) says, "It's the system, stupid." The man-made hierarchical system begs for abuse, and self-proclaimed leaders know how to use it and abuse it.
"There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed... whatever has been spoken in the darkness...shall be proclaimed on the housetops." Thanks for doing your part in revealing and proclaiming.