Son of ousted Indiana pastor now faces his own sexual abuse claims

Three women have claimed they were abused by the son of an Indiana pastor who was ousted after being accused of grooming a 16-year-old girl for sex more than two decades ago.

Two of the alleged victims accused Jeremiah Lowe, 39, of molesting them when they were youngsters.

One alleged he fondled her breasts when she was just 11 – and he was 18 – and another claimed he molested her when she was a little girl while he was babysitting her in the 2000s.

Lowe’s ex-wife, Abbey Plummer, claims he forced her to have sex with him, choked and beat her, and verbally abused her during their turbulent marriage.

She also accused him of rubbing her face in dog urine and of threatening to ‘put [her] head through the f***ing windscreen’ on one occasion while they were driving.

It comes after Lowe’s father John Lowe II, 65, was forced to step down from New Life Christian Church in Warsaw in May after admitting he had previously had an affair with a 16-year-old girl to his congregation.

The girl – Bobi Gephart, who is now 43 – stormed on to the stage during a service, grabbed a microphone and claimed he groomed her as a teenager, took her virginity and sexually abused her.

As Indiana State Police opened an investigation into her claims, other alleged victims told DailyMail.com of accusations against John, his former co-pastor wife Debra Lowe, and Jeremiah.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Jeremiah repeated times via social media and cellphone. His to-be parole officer referred DailyMail.com to his current officer in the Noble County Sherriff’s Department.

A staff member said no person with such name worked in the department. DailyMail.com has reached out to the sheriff’s chief deputy.

Jeremiah has not been charged in connection to the raised sexual assault allegations and is currently on a work release program after serving time for an unrelated offense.

Debra and John Lowe and New Life Christian Church have also been contacted for comment. 

2000 – Woman claims Jeremiah told her ‘You will be my wife’ when she was 11 and he was 18

Laura Bohnke, now 33, said she received ‘quite the birthday present’ on May 22, when John Lowe II stepped down from New Life. 

Bohnke was just 11 when Jeremiah Lowe unceremoniously announced to her that she would become his wife, she said. 

He was 18 at the time and at one point told his mother that Bohnke wanted to sing in front of the church along with her because he wanted the two of them to become closer, Bohnke claimed.  

Bohnke and her three siblings began attending the church in 1995 after her parents, who were married by John Lowe II in 1983, returned to Warsaw. 

She claims the alleged abuse began in 2000, as she was entering puberty and Jeremiah ‘started making comments on [her] changing body,’ complimenting her for having bigger breasts than her older sister and telling her she had to shave her legs.   

‘He went from comments to touching pretty quickly. Long hugs turned into lurking hands. Anytime I would push him away he would explain that it’s fine because God told him I was going to be his wife,’ she told DailyMail.com.   

‘During our time at [school], all of the students had daily chores. When I would leave to do mine, Jeremiah would find an excuse to leave class and find me in empty rooms where he could say things and touch me without anyone knowing,’ she also recounted on Facebook. 

She added: ‘He was brave and unashamedly bold in his abuse. I remember a time my mom was buckling my little siblings in the car and he was on the other side, with his hand on my leg and up my … uniform skirt with everyone there. ”You need to shave your legs,” he told me before leaving.’

Bohnke said the alleged abuse only stopped in 2002, when the family left the church for unrelated reasons. 

She said when she took her allegations to the Kosciuszko Sheriff’s Office in 2005, after she opened up with her then-boyfriend and he burst into tears, which led to a conversation with their parents. 

Child Protective Service records obtained by DailyMail.com show that Bohnke, then Laura Thompson, reported the assault to the agency and the Kosciuszko Sheriff’s Office. 

According to the document, Jeremiah was confronted by Detective Todd Sautter and denied the allegations. He also refused to take a polygraph test. 

‘Sautter … [Family Case Managers] all agreed that Laura was truthful and Jeremiah had sexually assaulted her … The report is substantiated based on Laura’s statement. Case is closed,’ the report read. 

However, Bohnke was told there was not enough evidence to arrest Jeremiah, she claimed.

‘It’s a small town and between the close relationship with John and the Sheriff’s office and us talking about our experience there with other ex-members, it didn’t take long for them to find out,’ Bohnke said. 

‘Jeremiah Lowe molested me in school, in church, and at his home. His family knew he had a problem controlling himself sexually and did nothing about it, allowing children to be abused perpetually,’ she also claimed. 

When reached out for comment by DailyMail.com, the Kosciuszko Sheriff’s Office said the department is trying to retrieve records of the reports made by Bohnke, after the system used in 2005 ‘crashed’ in 2012. 

The office, along with Warsaw PD, is assisting Indiana State Police with the new investigation. 

2007 – ‘They said as a Christian I had to forgive him’ 

For Jessi Kline, 28, and her family, New Life was a huge part of their identities, she told DailyMail.com.

Her parents were part of the church even before she and her older brother were born and that’s where they spent most of their days. Her mother, Kris, worked as a leader at the church’s school, which the children also attended. 

‘Anytime the doors were open that’s where we were. And that is the culture of the church, to be there from six to seven, and if you didn’t, you were not a good Christian, and people spoke about you,’  Kline told DailyMail.com 

‘This was our life, this was everything I knew,’ Kline said, adding that the Lowe’s children, Jeremiah, John Brian and Michael, also were active in the church. 

Before the alleged attack took place, the families had come to an agreement that Jeremiah, who is more than a decade older than Kline, would babysit her and her brother. 

‘We were playing video games… he asked me to get on top of him and started touching me and kissing me. He said ”close your eyes and let me do the rest,”’ Kline recounted about the alleged attack.

‘He told me ”You can’t tell anyone because then [my father] will be mad at you and him,”’ and he said that [Pastor] Lowe] could potentially hurt me,’ Kline said. 

Kline said she is not sure when exactly the alleged assault took place – she believes it happened sometime between the ages of four and eight – , and was too young to comprehend the scope of the situation. 

CPS records obtained by DailyMail.com show that Kline reported the assault in 2005 to the agency. According to the documents, the Klines told detectives Jeremiah had admitted to assaulting Kline but his only regret was that she remembered and showed no remorse for the act. 

‘FCM spoke with [redacted] who advised he spoke with Jeremy. Jeremy admitted to [redacted] that he kissed Jessica and had her lay on top of him. Jeremy also admitted to covering her face with a pillow and being aroused by her feet..’ the report stated.  

Kline didn’t open up about what had reportedly happened until about a month before she turned 13, when an adult raised the concerns to her family and the Lowes. 

‘I remember him [Pastor John Lowe] calling Jeremy and saying ”Jeremy, you need to come down here, Jessi is saying that you molested her,”’ Kline said. 

‘They made me say that I forgave him. They said as a Christian I had to forgive him. They said ”you don’t have to feel it, you just have to say it.”’

Kline said she felt abandoned by the church. When her mother found out that Jeremy was allowed to volunteer in the nursery and children’s bible services, she decided to take matters to the police. 

Kline said she kept the secret for years until she eventually confided in her childhood best friend. 

‘I felt so bad knowing I was his little secret, knowing that I could get in trouble If I said something,’ Kline told DailyMail.com

Former member of the church Melinda Dorman told DailyMail.com that Kline was at Dorman’s house when she overheard Kline talking to her best friend about Jeremy Lowe’s alleged abuse. 

Dorman said she believes it was a Sunday afternoon when the allegations first transpired. 

‘I heard something that made me pause. Whatever I heard, I was not going to let it go. I said, ”You need to tell me now,”’ Dorman said. 

‘When [Kline and her childhood friend] did, I said, ”We have to go tell someone.” And Jessi and her friend told me, ”No you can’t tell anyone, Jeremy is going to get in trouble,” and that was the mentality, ”You can’t speak out because you can get in trouble,” so I said, ”Good. He should get in trouble.”’

She continued: ‘That evening, we went to the service and Jeremy’s  brother, who was a youth pastor at the time, was there. I told everybody. It is the hardest thing I have ever done. And I said, ok, we have to have this meeting.’

Dorman claims during the meeting Jeremiah admitted to her parents, Dorman, Kline and her parents that he had molested her when she was a child. 

CPS reports also mention the meeting, and Dorman’s role in bringing the alleged assault to light.  

‘Jeremy did admit it to my face. He said, ”I did do that,”’ Dorman claimed. 

Dorman said she moved away shortly after, but recalled confronting John Lowe II about letting her son continue volunteering at the church right before she left the congregation.

‘He had been telling us all these years how if there was even the slightest suspicion of [inappropriate behavior], he would not let it go on,’ Dorman said. 

‘And when I said, ”Look, you’re still letting Jeremy work with the youth group,” he just started crying and asked, ”How long does he have to pay for his sins? He has been forgiven,” and I said, ”Forever.”’ 

Documentation provided to DailyMail.com confirmed that the family filed a complaint with Child Protective Services in 2007. 

Warsaw PD refused to release records of the reports made by Kline’s parents citing an open investigation. 

‘With regard to Jessi Kline, as stated, it is an active investigation and I cannot make any comment at this time,’ Public Information Officer Brian Kellar told DailyMail.com. 

Indiana State Police confirmed that the case regarding Kline was filed in Warsaw, and advised that investigatory records are excepted from public disclosure under Ind. Code 5-14-3-4(b)(1). 

‘Due to recent events, ISP, city, and county officials have reviewed or taken new complaints that are being investigated,’ legal counsel Cynthia Forbes said. 

Ex-wife claims Jeremiah ‘punched me, choked me, and rubbed my face in dog pee’ during turbulent marriage that ended in 2007

Unlike Kline and Bohnke, New Life was not a family legacy for Abbey Bohnke, 39. Her parents had not been married by John Lowe II and she didn’t grow up listening to his sermons every Sunday. 

She started going to the church by mere coincidence, after her cheerleading coach took her team from the neighboring Syracuse to the church in Warsaw. 

But she soon fell in love with Jeremiah, and despite his parent’s reluctance to allow him to date, the pair began seeing each other – even after Jeremiah insisted that ‘God had told him he was going to marry Laura Bohnke’- Thompson at the time – who was only 12. 

Jeremiah and Plummer ultimately eloped at the age of 19 in 2002, with only a close friend of Abbey as a witness. Their rushed decision was announced publicly to the church shortly afterwards. 

‘We just had to stand in front of the church that Sunday morning and tell everybody we were married and they were shocked. Everybody assumed I was pregnant, which was not the case at all,’ Plummer told DailyMail.com. 

Plummer said the first nine months of the marriage were mostly uneventful. They moved in with his parents after he quit his job to spend more time with her, only to begin cheating, Plummer said. 

She said that she gained a false sense of support during the first major bump in her marriage when Debra Lowe helped her confront the woman Jeremiah had cheated on Plummer with. 

But soon her in-laws advice escalated to the degree that she was repeatedly encouraged to forgive Jeremiah’s mounting affairs for the sake of not jeopardizing their marital bond, she said. 

The alleged physical abuse began in 2004, Plummer said. They had moved out from his parents’ home and Plummer had just found out he had cheated on her yet again. 

‘It was hard because sometimes it would be for something he did, like he cheated and turned it around on me because I was upset, and then other times it was just out-of-the-blue,’ Plummer told DailyMail.com.

Plummer harrowingly recounted the alleged abuse in a 2018 email she sent to the woman Jeremiah Lowe married after her. 

‘He threw a computer disc at my face and it took a chunk of skin out of my nose. I had to work at Grace College the next day and had to tell my boss that I scraped it on the countertop when I bent down to pick something up,’ she wrote. 

She recalled the endless nights in which she was dragged down the hallway, thrown over the bed, she said. She told Jeremiah’s wife she stared at the ceiling, waiting and praying for it to be over. 

More times than she can recall, she closed her eyes thinking darkness would be the last thing she would see as she felt the air leave her body while he choked her, Plummer said. 

The email, which she forwarded to DailyMail.com reads: ”He … choked me, and rubbed my face in dog pee. On more than one occasion he became upset with me while he was driving, laid his foot on the accelerator and would not let up and was screaming that he was going to put my head through the fucking windshield.’ 

‘Jeremy’s family became aware of many of these situations and again, nothing was done. One of my biggest regrets was not calling the police during one, if not all of these incidences because it would have made it that much harder for the Lowe’s to ignore it and act like nothing was going on. But Jeremy always provided the sob story about how [he] was so sorry and would never do it again and even though I knew better, I believed him.’ 

According to Plummer, Jeremiah once sent a threatening email to one of her coworkers, warning the man that he would ‘kick his a** so f****** hard you will gag on your own s***,’ after he found out Plummer had befriended the man on MySpace.  

Alleged cover-up by the Lowes

Kline said that her parents were left heartbroken after finding out about the alleged abuse. ‘When it transpired, my mom was so shaken and livid at [Jeremy] and hurting for me, and so was my dad.’

‘In the church, you follow your pastor, you follow your leader. And they said we would handle it internally, that as a church we don’t go to the police,’ Kline added. 

After disclosing her abuse to the Lowes, she said that they proceeded to force her to forgive Jeremy Lowe. Kline claims she did so because at the time she did not fully understand what was happening, and thought that was what she should have done as a Christian.

Kline said she and her parents were led to believe the church would deal with the allegations, but when her parents found out the alleged attacker was still volunteering at the church, they decided to report the alleged assault to police. 

Kline said her family was shunned when they kept bringing up her trauma, and members proceeded to make them feel like outcasts. 

Indiana is one of 18 states in the United States where churches are mandated to report child abuse and neglect allegations. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to the New Life Church to inquire about claims that the church did not notify authorities and said it ‘would deal with it internally.’ 

Bohnke said that the Lowes never ‘felt warm.’ She now realizes the toxic environment at New Life resembles more the dynamics of a ‘cult’ than a place of worship. 

‘We were taught full submission and authority to spiritual elders is biblical and should go unquestioned. They liked things a certain way and if you weren’t performing, they’d tell you,’ Bohnke told DailyMail.com. 

She added: ‘John carried a gun on his hip all the time. He seemed to be paranoid because the head usher’s job was to jump in front of a bullet for him if someone entered and shot at him during service. I know this because that was my dad’s role.’

A church’s prompt from the 90s circulating online and provided to DailyMail.com, which veracity has not been confirmed, read that ‘no one supersedes Pastor Lowe’s authority’ and that ‘Debbie is a staff member but no staff member is equal to Debbie.’ 

‘Your philosophy is not relative to your job or position at New Life. There is only one and that is the philosophy of the pastor. There are three ways of doing things: the right way, the wrong way and the Pastor’s way,’ 

Meanwhile, Plummer said that her in-laws ignored the alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of Jeremy Lowe, and attempted several times to force the couple to go to marriage counseling. 

In a letter Debra Lowe allegedly wrote to Plummer during a difficult time in her marriage, Lowe urged Plummer to fight for the marriage. Plummer said her in-laws were adamant she called them ‘mom and dad.’ 

‘I know you must really be hurting right now. Dad and I are here for you. I know Jeremy has hurt you honey, but it takes [two] to make a marriage work. No matter what you have gone through, with God all things are possible!’

‘Sergio and Cathy Scataglini live in S. Bend, they would minister to you both.  I’m sure you could use an impartial party to talk to!’

‘You are facing a life and death decision right now and the only place you will find the real answers [is] in the word of God. And in Jesus … the word you give Satan the open door to leading you by your flesh and emotions. Honey, remember that Satan only comes to steal what has valve. Your marriage has valve!’

‘You will regret any decisions you make out of hurt. We love you  and want to help. miracles can and do happen if you believe.’

Facebook conversations Plummer provided to DailyMail.com between her and Debra Lowe, show that Lowe asked Plummer to remove a post she had made on Facebook referencing the domestic abuse she was a victim of. 

‘It really saddened me to see what you said and I was wondering if you would take it off the Facebook feed? There’s been so many years since the young and dumb and hurtful things of the past and I don’t think it helps anyone to see it on social media,’ Debra Lowe wrote.

‘I pray that whatever hurt Jeremiah caused you during  those years, that God would heal as well as the hurt he also had from that time. I hope you understand this Mother’s heart and would remove your comments. Love you.’ 

Plummer refused to remove the post and replied: ‘Spending more money than you make, staying out too late when you have a paper due or work the next morning … those are examples of being young and dumb.’

‘Choking your wife, throwing things at her, breaking her things, calling her a whore, rubbing her face in dog pee, aggressively forcing her to have sex with you … let me tell you those are far from being young and dumb.’ 

Loved ones weigh in: ‘You can pray until your face goes blue, some people are just not going to change’ 

Kline’s mother, Kris Kline, said she was devastated when she found out about the alleged abuse her daughter had endured. 

‘[It was] absolutely shocking. Immediate emotional pain and anger. Lots of anger,’ Kris told DailyMail.com. ‘But I’m so glad Jessi is getting her chance to tell her story. I think this is going to be very healing for us. 

Kris and her then-husband moved their children to a different school, seeking to shield them from further trauma.  

Only a few families left the church with them, Jessi Kline said, adding her family endured challenging times as they had to adjust to a new life and lost their sense of community when her mother had to quit her job at the church.  

The ordeal caused Kris so much stress that she developed numerous illnesses and her immune system weakened, leaving her sick for three months, she said. 

‘My mom is a nurse and she is just great. My mom is so good … when we left [the church], she had to quit her job, my father was the sole breadwinner. And when she got sick, no one came to help us, no one came to her aid,’ Jessi Kline said. 

A friend of Plummer, who chose to remain anonymous, also spoke with DailyMail.com and corroborated Plummer’s experience while married to Jeremiah Lowe.  

‘He’d basically get what he wanted. And I knew that, but I didn’t know how brutal he was about that until after the fact. She was being held down on the bed, and thinking he was going to strangle her and it was the last thing she was going to remember,’ she claimed. 

‘A couple of times she told me about him dragging down the bedroom by her arms, her legs or her head … It is really hard to talk about,’ she added, overcome with emotion. 

Plummer’s friend said she was shocked to learn that John Lowe II had taken Bobi Gephart’s virginity when she was a schoolgirl, because even after Plummer opened up about the alleged abuse she had suffered at the hands of Jeremiah Lowe, she did not think it was fair to hold Pastor Lowe accountable for his son’s actions. 

After the divorce was finalized, Plummer’s friends claimed there was a final encounter with Jeremiah Lowe that left her terrified. 

She said despite the recent divorce, Lowe, Plummer, she and her husband would frequent the same places in the small town, and in one opportunity at Plummer’s apartment, Lowe became enraged.  

‘Something came up about the divorce, something I had said about another church member about him … he confronted me about it and I stood my ground,’ the friend said. 

‘And he kind of stood in my face and I said I am not going to apologize for that comment because what I was speaking was the truth … he got really mad , he grabbed me by the neck and shoved me up against the dining room in her apartment,’ the friend alleged. 

The woman told DailyMail.com that she was four-and-a-half months pregnant when that happened, and that Plummer had to step between her and Lowe to make him calm down.  

‘He didn’t injure me but he scared the crap out of me, which I think is what he wanted to do,’ the woman said. 

She said she was glad Plummer had realized that Jeremiah Lowe was not going to change even if ‘she prayed until her face turned blue.’  

In May, Pastor Lowe II had just told the church that he ‘sinned’ 20 years ago by committing adultery, without mentioning how old the woman or girl was at the time. 

He begged for the church’s forgiveness, then received a standing ovation. 

At that point, Gephart then stormed towards the stage with her husband, Nate, to say it ‘was not just adultery’ because she was so young at the time. 

‘For 27 years I lived in a prison… I lived in a prison of lies and shame. Lying to protect the Lowe family. For years I thought I was a horrible person, having suicidal thoughts and not realizing what had been truly done to me.

‘I would still be in a prison if my brother had not just approached me two weeks ago with what he had seen as a teenager that bothered him all these years: his pastor in bed with his younger sister.’ 

Turning to Lowe, she continued: ‘I was just 16 when you took my virginity on your office floor. Do you remember that? I know you do.’

John Lowe II stepped down from the New Life Christian Church after being confronted on stage by Gephart, but alleged victims of New Life’s secrecy and alleged complicity said the church still has to address its mistakes. 

After Gephart confronted Lowe, New Life issued a statement extending prayers to both Gephart and Lowe and their families, adding that while ‘life is messy, believers are messy, and church is messy. God is not.’

Kline said she has received an outpouring of support since she came forward with her story. 

She said she is thankful Gephart confronted Lowe, because it has given her an opportunity to ‘reshare’ her story and find a sense of closure and solace in the support that she has received. 

‘… All of the men praying for Pastor Lowe, can we not pray for rapists?’ she said. 

Kline said she believes the church could have done more to take her allegations to other instances and compared the congregation to a ‘cult.’  

‘So much about what we did in the church was about pleasing your pastor … They excused this in the name of forgiveness, it was a big thing, they made everyone feel like they would go to hell if they didn’t forgive.’

‘A question I have been asked … is what I want to see out of all of this. But things I want to see happen are the church to be shut down and sold. And ….Jeremy to turn himself in,’ she told DailyMail.com in a text message. 

‘I never thought about asking for that. But I have now that I’ve seen Bobi  say she wants John Lowe to turn himself over.’ 

Through therapy, Kline has been able to cope with her trauma, she said, adding that she has not been deterred from wanting to follow God. However, she has not been able to regain trust in older pastors. 

As for Bohnke, she is also married and has three children, who she homeschools.  She moved away from Warsaw because raising an interracial family in the very conservative town was too difficult, she said. 

‘Honestly, I’m not sure how much coping I’ve done. I’ve done a good job at burying this and how’s it’s negatively affected me, both the abuse and being failed at justice when I came forward,’ Bohnke said. 

Perhaps the only silver lining of the ordeal Bohnke was put through has been the way she parents her children, she said.  

‘It changes how I parent and protect my children. We have open dialogue about consent with hugs and affection and teach them about body boundaries.’

She  is now an atheist and acknowledges that the abuse at New Life played a part in her deconstruction. 

‘How can something so horrible happen in ”[God’s] house”? But, to the people who say, ”Men will always fall short, but don’t let that take God from you,” I say, ”he’s just as evil,”’ Bohnke told DailyMail.com 

‘I believe religion is a form of control and manipulation. I also believe people gravitate towards it as guides to live better.’

‘But, I can’t worship and praise a god who answers some prayers and ignore others; who meets some needs and denies some; who says he has unconditional love, but if you don’t choose him, burn eternally… It no longer adds up to me. Real or not, I’m not bowing or dedicating my life to something like that,’ she added.  

Plummer has remarried and has two children. Her friend said that ‘she has been through hell and back,’ but now has the life she was always meant to have. 

She now realizes she was not overthinking Jeremiah’s actions, or exaggerating the situation, she said. 

‘I seemed to be the only one who thought it was a big deal, so clearly I must be overthinking things, right? Wrong. When I finally got the courage to start telling people outside of that circle, I received the response, help, and guidance I should have been given all along,’ Plummer wrote on Facebook. 

When it comes to Debra Lowe’s letter pleading with her to give Jeremiah another chance, Plummer said Debra was not wrong when she said ‘it was a life or death situation.’ 

‘ …  it was a life or death situation. And I’m so thankful I chose life,’ she said.