Jury awards $5 million in sex-abuse suit

James Goodwin

Columbia Daily Tribune

A Boone County jury last week awarded $5 million to a Columbia woman whose childhood was scarred by years of sexual abuse by her adoptive father.

The target of the lawsuit was not the adoptive father, who spent time in prison, but a Columbia psychologist the jury believed could have stopped the continued abuse.

Joel Ray and his now-deceased business partner, psychologist Bruce Strnad, didn't fulfill their legal obligation to notify state officials that Lester Pope had been abusing his adopted daughter, the jury decided.

"For the first time in her life she's been told she wasn't stupid, that what he did wasn't OK and that somebody else gave a damn," said attorney Danny Miller, who represented Kelly Pope.

The woman, who is now 27, said she was 4 when the abuse began in 1980.

Until Kelly Pope was about 13, her adoptive father took sexually explicit photos of her, forced oral sex on her, penetrated her with his fingers and performed other sexually motivated acts, she said.

"She thought that she was worthless, that she deserved it and that nobody cared," Miller said.

Nancy Pope, Kelly's adoptive mother, found some of the photos in 1987, Miller said. The discovery set off a chain of events that effectively allowed the abuse to continue, according to the suit and Miller.

Nancy Pope, who later divorced Lester Pope and changed her surname, reportedly called Ray, someone she had once worked with, and scheduled an appointment. They reportedly talk about what Lester Pope, then a journalism instructor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, was doing and how they should handle the situation.

During the meeting, Nancy Pope and Ray spoke with Strnad, and the three agreed not to report any abuse, Miller said. Instead, they reportedly decided Lester Pope should undergo counseling.

Ray and Strnad eventually sent two bills for their services, one for counseling Ray performed and the other for a joint session with Ray and Strnad, Miller said. Everyone agreed that Strnad, who specialized in adult counseling, should work with Lester Pope, Miller said.

Before he died, Strnad testified that Lester Pope agreed to the counseling but only if the abuse allegations went unreported. Under state law, psychologists are "mandatory reporters" and must forgo patient confidentiality if they suspect or know of abuse.

Instead of going to police, Strnad treated Lester Pope, knowing that at least some of the abuse had occurred, Miller said. Even after Lester Pope abandoned counseling, Strnad and Ray remained silent about abuse they knew had been occurring, abuse that continued for almost two years after they first found out, Miller said.

"It was very, very evident that Ray was in on it from the very beginning," the attorney said.

Ray testified last week that Nancy Pope never mentioned that her husband was abusing Kelly Pope.

Neither Ray, who still practices child psychology in Columbia, nor his attorney returned calls for comment.

In 1990, Lester Pope pleaded guilty to sodomy and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

He now lives in Illinois.

Jury members deliberated two hours and 20 minutes before they returned a verdict. Miller said the award, with interest dating back to 1991 when Kelly Pope demanded a payment, could reach $10 million. He also expects Ray to appeal.