The group most incensed by the trial’s outcome are ACNAtoo survivors—women abused by Rivera, who is currently incarcerated for his crimes. They believe the verdict overlooks Bishop Ruch’s failure to exercise due diligence.
“[We] feel denied and crushed by the verdict that found the bishop not guilty of multiple charges,” their statement read. “It is devastatingly clear that if an abuse victim wants to report abuse in the ACNA, they must now bear the additional burden of ensuring they are not perceived as being ‘captured’ by narratives the ACNA deems illegitimate.”
They argue the verdict is “rife with easily refutable claims.”
“This verdict comes 6.5 years after Rivera’s nine-year-old victim initially disclosed her sexual abuse. This girl, now 16, has waited more than a third of her life for closure from a church system and leaders that repeatedly failed her. She could not even participate in the Husch Blackwell investigation because the ACNA refused to commission an investigation that did not jeopardize her criminal case against Rivera.”
They assert that ACNA has relegated survivors’ stories to the category of propaganda, demonstrating how the province views those it claims to protect.
'Reform theologian and historian Dean Chuck Collins recounts the abuse of his oldest daughter who was emotionally groomed and manipulated starting at age 17, and then sexually abused when she was “of age.”
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) December 22, 2025
“If you have been sexually abused, do not bother reporting it to your…