Church owners ordered to pay €14,400 to man whose daughter defamed him during baptism live stream
Offaly church stops publishing online videos after legal letter
Church took down video as soon as complaint was received
The owners of a church have been ordered to pay €14,400 to a man who alleged he was defamed by his teenage daughter during a baptism ceremony that was streamed live on Facebook.
Warren Walsh issued defamation proceedings against Cornerstone Slieve Bloom Church in Tullamore, Co Offaly, and its pastors, Gavin Von Mollendorff and Wendy Von Mollendorff.
Seven people were baptised at a ceremony on May 14, 2023, including electrical contractor Mr Walsh's daughter, who was 15 at the time. Around 80 people attended the service, and it was also live streamed on the church's Facebook page.
During the ceremony, Mr Walsh's daughter made a three-minute speech that included a number of remarks about her father.
She claimed that her dad 'left me at a very young age' and 'all I had was my mom and dad fighting all the time'.
She also claimed her father called her names and that she 'wasn't allowed to hang out with friends'.
Mr Walsh told Tullamore Circuit Court the statements were defamatory and he was 'devastated that someone he loves would go online and spread lies about him'.
He said he cried when he saw the video and it 'spread like wildfire', resulting in people approaching him on nights out to discuss it. When asked why he issued proceedings against the church and not his daughter, he said it would be 'very difficult' to sue his own child.
The video had been viewed 192 times, the court heard.
Cornerstone is described as a 'vibrant, spirit-filled, Bible-believing church whose desire is to share the heart of God in the heart of Ireland'.
Mr Von Mollendorff said he never intended to cause offence and has not live streamed a service since
The Cornerstone global network consists of 150 churches, as well as a number of Bible schools, primary schools and orphanages worldwide.
Mr Von Mollendorff said he and his wife moved to Ireland from South Africa 22 years ago. They decided to start their own church after identifying a need for Christian evangelical expression in Tullamore. The church has a congregation of around 200 people.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, they started live-streaming services because people could no longer attend in person due to restrictions.
After they received a legal letter from Mr Walsh, they stopped publishing videos online.
Mr Von Mollendorff immediately took the video of the service down after he was contacted by Mr Walsh's solicitors.
He said he did not know the plaintiff's daughter very well. She started attending the church in 2022 with her uncle and mother.
The pastor told the court that baptism is a public display of faith and involves an opportunity for people to explain their choice to be baptised. He said there was no consultation with the plaintiff's daughter before she gave the speech.
After Mr Walsh's daughter spoke, the pastor congratulated her, saying: 'You did great, well done, powerful. Amen.'
Church took down video as soon as complaint was received
Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 4th
Under cross-examination, he said he did so because a young person had done something that took courage. He was not agreeing or disagreeing with the content of what she said, but he believes God can restore relationships.
Mr Von Mollendorff said he never intended to cause offence and had not live-streamed a service since.
Michael O'Doherty BL, who represented the plaintiff, submitted that his daughter's statements were untrue.
The defendants had argued the statements were not defamatory.
Judge Meehan said he had 'no doubt' that the number of people who viewed the comments was very small
In his written judgment, Judge Gerard Meehan said he did not accept this.
He said he was satisfied that the statements were defamatory and injured the plaintiff's reputation.
Mr O'Doherty said the defamatory comments were published on two occasions. First, to those present at the ceremony, and second, on the church's Facebook page.
Judge Meehan said the defendants operated the church, organised the baptism ceremony and voluntarily invited the plaintiff's daughter to speak.
However, he ruled that the defendants could avail of the defence of qualified privilege in respect of the church ceremony.
Regarding the Facebook live stream, he took a different view. Judge Meehan said the defendants operated and controlled the church's Facebook page and organised the live stream.
'They knowingly made the video available for a period of 20 days,' he said.
While he accepted that they had no advance knowledge of what the plaintiff's daughter would say, he said they encouraged her to be baptised and to testify as to the reasons for her choice.
Mr O'Doherty said the video had been broadcast to the 'world at large'.
Shane English BL, for the defendants, argued that the majority of the 192 clicks would have been the plaintiff and connected parties, including his legal team.
Judge Meehan said he had 'no doubt' that the number of people who viewed the comments was very small.
'On the other hand, Tullamore is a relatively small town,' he said. 'Many of those who did view the video are likely to have been local.'
Judge Meehan said the defamatory statements 'are serious' and amount to an assertion that the plaintiff was a bad father
Judge Meehan said that although the defendants could avail of qualified privilege in relation to the ceremony, that defence was not available in respect of online publication.
He said for every person who phoned or approached the plaintiff to discuss the video, there would have been 'many more who judged him from afar'.
He said the statement during the ceremony could have been – 'and almost certainly was' – repeated and spread by some of those present. He decided to attribute 40pc of the total damages to the first occasion of publication.
Judge Meehan attributed 60pc of the total damages to the publication of the video.
Mr English had argued that the plaintiff's daughter, as author of the defamatory statements, was liable.
The judge said that while the plaintiff's daughter made the defamatory statements, she did not have any involvement in the video being posted online.
He said he found the defendants 80pc responsible and Mr Walsh's daughter 20pc responsible for the online video.
Judge Meehan took into consideration the fact they removed the video immediately when contacted, the video was 'not widely circulated' and that some viewers may not have accessed the part of the video that included the statements.
Judge Meehan said the defamatory statements were 'serious' and amounted to an assertion that the plaintiff was a bad father who fought with his wife and caused upset to his young daughter.
'They included an allegation of verbal abuse and perhaps controlling behaviour that caused his daughter's mental health to suffer,' he said.
The judge said he was of the view they were defamatory and would 'undoubtedly' have injured the plaintiff's reputation in the eyes of reasonable members of society.
He said the damage was exacerbated by the online publication.
Mr Von Mollendorff was contacted for comment. Mr Walsh did not wish to comment on the case.
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