Years after sexual abuse by Chicago pastor, survivors find their voice

CHICAGO (CBS) – A former Chicago pastor who was accused of sexually abusing a minor pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

Two of his victims told CBS 2 they were frustrated when they learned the pastor was not required to register as sex offenders despite the suffering they endured as children in his care.

“He offered us a ride, and when we sat in the passenger seat, we just knew: OK, now he’s going to touch me,” said Catherine Park.

Park met the man who she says sexually abused her when she was 13 years old.

“I knew what was going to happen, and of course I didn’t want that for myself, so I sat in the very back of the van,” Park said. “As the kids got out one by one, he asked me to come closer to him and get physically close to him.”

She said it started with a hug that just went on too long. The hug came from Pastor John Kim, then youth pastor of the Salvation Army’s Mayfair Community Church in northwest Chicago.

“As soon as I showed any sign of discomfort, the immediate response was, ‘Oh, Pastor John is just very loving,'” Park said.

A Friday night youth group meeting always ended with a dreaded car ride home, Park said.

“He usually starts by holding hands, which I thought was very inappropriate, and then he intertwines his fingers with mine,” Park said, adding that Kim “just rubs the back of his hand on a girl’s breast. I’ve seen that before, and it’s happened to me before.”

Kim worked at the same church for years.

“(His) parents are the founders,” Park said. “His sister was our Sunday school teacher. We just had no way to even express those concerns.”

For years, Park remained silent about the abuse. Only decades later did an unthinkable situation arise that made her speak out about it.

“My brother and sister-in-law now wanted to perform the wedding without knowing that the priest had abused me,” Park said.

She took steps to confront Kim and wrote him an email, saying, “You touched my groin area without my consent that evening, intentionally and sexually, that evening.”

He has answered.

“I want to fully acknowledge my actions in the past and say I was wrong,” he wrote. “My thoughts immediately turn to another person to whom I also need to apologize.”

He was referring to Ellen Kim, who was 7 years old when she met Pastor Kim. She was not related to him. She said the abuse began a few years later.

“Before I even knew what sexual abuse was, it had already become routine,” said Ellen Kim.

She said the validation of their shared experiences helped them to file charges together in January 2023. Pastor Kim was charged with three counts of sexual abuse of a minor. In their victim impact statements, they described in painful detail the alleged initiation, the non-consensual touching and their struggles after the abuse ended.

“I think I’ve always seen myself as not being able to be loved,” Park said. “I don’t deserve it because I’m tainted, but that’s not my fault.”

Pastor Kim pleaded guilty and received a lesser charge of aggravated assault. As part of the agreement, he was not required to register as a sex offender.

Park said learning this was “a punch in the stomach for me.”

“Our goal from the beginning was to put him on the sex offender list because that is the only legal protection that would have protected us during our childhood,” said Ellen Kim.

CBS 2 tried to find out why Pastor Kim was not required to register as a sex offender. CBS 2 legal expert Irv Miller said Kim’s “file still contains a report that he assaulted two young women, a felony.”

“This was a negotiated agreement between the prosecutor and the defense attorney in this case,” Miller said. “Sometimes you have to give a little to get something that makes sense.”

CBS 2 tried several times to contact Pastor Kim but was unable to reach him.

reporter: “How were you able to find your own happiness after all that you went through?”

park: “This journey has allowed me to find my voice and prove to myself that I do indeed deserve the love I once thought I couldn’t earn.”

She and Ellen have found a new mission.

“Our goal is to be a resource for other survivors,” Ellen Kim said. “Our stories are not the same, but at least knowing that you are not alone gives you a lot of strength.”

Late Tuesday, the Cook County District Attorney’s Office released a statement saying, in part, that John Kim “was sentenced to two years of probation and community service under the Cook County Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (SWAP). He was also required to undergo a sex offender evaluation and receive referrals for treatment. As a result of the guilty plea, the aggravated sexual abuse charges in both cases were dropped.”