Church, member named in suit

A Mormon church counselor and videographer for local children’s events has been accused of molesting a boy, according to a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court.

In a civil complaint filed in February and amended from a previous one in April, a man referred to as John Doe claims Todd C. Summers, 37, of Costa Mesa, molested him when he was between 12 and 18 years old and attended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Newport Beach.

Starting in 1990, the lawsuit claims Summers befriended the boy and his parents while he was the boy’s roller hockey coach. Summers and the boy’s parents worked to bring him into the Mormon church, said the plaintiff’s attorney, Vince Finaldi. From there, years of vicious abuse began and continued until the boy became an adult, Finaldi said. He claims his client remained silent because Summers threatened to kill him if he told anyone, at one point putting a gun in the boy’s mouth and saying “this is what will happen to you if you tell anyone,” Finaldi said.

Summers declined to comment. His lawyers and representatives from the church were not immediately available to comment.

According to the complaint, between 1990 and 1999 Summers molested the boy on several occasions, including on church grounds, on Catalina Island, in San Diego County and in Summers’ business that he runs with his family.

Finaldi said Summers would show pornography to the boy and orally copulate him, “that’s what he liked to do, that was his thing.” He also videotaped his sexual encounters with the boy, the suit claims.

Summers is not the only person named in the suit, however. Both the church, its highest level officials and Summers’ parents are defendants as well. According to the suit, the church had a responsibility to keep Summers away from children, saying it was obvious he had an unusual affection for children. Summers parents, Finaldi said, are high-ranking members of the church, and should have seen the “red flags” about his behavior. Summers runs TCS Video and Photography in Newport Beach. According to his website and the lawsuit, Summers has been hired by a wide range of organizations and groups to photograph and videotape their events. He lists the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, the Boys & Girls Club of America, and the Boy Scouts of America as his clients.

Summers was an Orange County Sheriff’s Department reserve officer from 1996 to 2008. Department officials could not specify why he is no longer a reserve officer, but Finaldi said it had to do with the lawsuit.

John Doe’s lawyers recently filed a motion claiming Summers perjured himself during a deposition and destroyed incriminating evidence at his video studio.

Attorneys are waiting on a ruling.

Reporter JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.