Son of long-time Tacoma pastor charged with sexually abusing kids decades ago
Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault against children.
The son of a Tacoma pastor has been charged with sexually assaulting two children in incidents dating as far back as 1997. When recently confronted with the allegations, he allegedly responded with, “Yes, but I’ve changed,” according to court records.
Prosecutors charged John Marchant Stabbert, 51, with four counts of first-degree rape of a child on June 22. Stabbert has been summoned for an arraignment on July 17, according to Pierce County Superior Court records. He has not been arrested.
Spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, Adam Faber, told The News Tribune it’s “very common for sex cases to start with summons rather than an arrest or bench warrant” when asked why Stabbert hasn’t been taken into custody.
John Stabbert’s attorney, Donna Person Smith, declined to comment for this story. The News Tribune attempted to reach his father but was not successful.
Police reports obtained by The News Tribune show the investigation into the allegations against Stabbert began in March after the alleged victims decided to speak to police. A church leader contacted police about the allegations against Stabbert in November, but victims weren’t willing to speak.
Charging documents show the two victims Stabbert is charged of sexually abusing were younger than 12 years old. Two of the child-rape counts stem from incidents that occurred from January 1997 through December 1999. The third stems from alleged incidents from July 1998 to July 1999. The last count stems from incidents that occurred on or about January 2000 to December 2001.
Police reports say that a deputy prosecutor decided Stabbert would not be charged in the case of a third person who came forward with allegations.
“The allegations regarding that victim occurred far enough back in time that it was before the statute of limitations was eliminated for Rape of a Child 1,” Faber said via email Friday when asked about that case by The News Tribune.
In 2019, the state Legislature amended child-rape laws to eliminate a requirement that childhood survivors of sexual abuse had until their 30th birthdays to pursue a case, but the change didn’t apply to cases in which the statute of limitations had already expired, KUOW reported at the time.
The allegations
Police reports allege that various incidents of sexual abuse occurred at the Stabbert family home in Tacoma.
In the case that wasn’t charged, an alleged victim reported to police on March 5 he attended a home church meeting in 1990 with his sister and mother at Stabbert’s home. He was 5 years old at the time and Stabbert was 15. The victim alleged that Stabbert “beckoned” him to his room. In the room, Stabbert allegedly sexually assaulted him, according to a Tacoma Police Department Supplemental Report from officer Jeramy Gee that was provided in charging documents.
The report alleged the victim’s sister saw a bite mark on the boy’s genital days later. The report said the victim told his mother about the alleged assault. It also appeared that the victim’s parents at the time spoke to one or both of Stabbert’s parents about it.
Stabbert’s father, the report said, is Bruce Stabbert. The Fellowship Bible Church website shows Bruce Stabbert is a pastor. A 2018 Facebook post from the church said he has served as a pastor there since 1977. A church spokesperson confirmed to The News Tribune on Friday that Bruce Stabbert resigned on June 21.
“Bruce resigned as an elder due to disagreements regarding how the church has chosen to address the abuse allegations. The church has no further comment at this time,” according to a spokesperson for the church.
The church is a non-denominational Christian church at 3806 Portland Ave. E. in Tacoma.
In a statement to The News Tribune, the church said after it received sexual-abuse allegations against John Stabbert, leadership reported it to law enforcement and cooperated with the TPD investigation.
“We swiftly removed John Stabbert from all church-related functions and informed our church of the allegations. We understand that the charges are related to the alleged conduct that occurred between 1997 and 2001 and did not occur on church property,” the statement read.
The statement said the church is “grateful for the survivors who have come forward in this case involving allegations against John Stabbert.”
“Our priorities have been to care for survivors, protect children, cooperate with law enforcement, and respond with transparency and accountability. We have remained in contact with those who made reports to provide ongoing care. This is a deep grief to God and our community,” the statement said.
The statement concluded with, “We continue in our commitment to make our church a safe place to worship and to work toward promoting safety, transparency, and accountability. FBC is deeply grateful and committed to caring for the courageous survivors who have come forward and any others who may come forward. We encourage any other survivors to contact Tacoma Police Detective Jeremy Gee or FBC.”
Another victim described to police on March 7 being groomed and sexually abused by John Stabbert starting in 1997 and lasting until the victim was 6 years old.
The victim alleged Stabbert showed him pornography and then violently assaulted him for about two years. The victim alleged Stabbert was about 19 years older than him when the abuse began, according to court documents.
The victim said he told his parents about “various aspects” of Stabbert’s behavior, but they did not believe him. The victim described often going to Stabbert’s room to play video games, and the alleged sexual abuse would take place, court records show.
Another victim alleged that Stabbert groomed her when she was 8. The date of the interview was not listed in the police report, but the victim spoke to police after a church staff member informed investigators she was ready to discuss what happened.
The alleged grooming escalated to Stabbert sexually assaulting her in 1998, she told investigators. He also allegedly raped her after she began menstruating in 2000 or 2001, the report said. The victim said that caused her a lot of pain.
Stabbert tried to have sex with her in 2004 or 2005 when she was 14, she said. He was 29 or 30 at the time. The victim said Stabbert allegedly groped her in the parking area of the Stabbert home in Tacoma in 2020 on Christmas. The victim told police she did not tell her parents because she witnessed negative repercussions suffered by others allegedly victimized by Stabbert, and she did not want to be treated the same, according to court records.
The police report said all three victims’ statements were consistent in their descriptions of abuse provided to several people, including Gee and police patrol.
Interviews with church leaders
A Tacoma police report said that an investigator spoke to Bruce Stabbert via phone call. The date of the conversation was not listed in the report. Bruce Stabbert said he was aware of the allegations against John Stabbert. He also described his son as “disabled” and “not very clever.” An investigator noted that was the first conversation they conducted in the case where John Stabbert was described as “not clever.”
Three people who are part of the church leadership gave interviews to police at TPD headquarters. One of them spoke to police on March 30, the other two leaders spoke to police the next day. They alleged they witnessed Stabbert confess during a Dec. 30, 2025, meeting where Bruce Stabbert and another family member were present. The report noted that Bruce Stabbert canceled his police interview, and the other family member declined to respond to Gee.
The report said that during the meeting John Stabbert allegedly looked at a list of his victims and corrected the order in which they had been abused. Police noted it was unclear to what extent Stabbert admitted to abusing one of the victims. Documents show the three witnesses agreed Stabbert admitted to harming the victims.
Documents show that one of the witnesses said when Stabbert was confronted with the allegations, he allegedly responded with, “Yes, but I’ve changed.”
Another of the three witnesses said she had seen Stabbert expose his genitals to a victim and other relatives various times between 1992 and 1996. One witness alleged to police Stabbert made comments to him saying he did not know what to do with his sexual desires when he was younger, but he was stronger now. The witness said Stabbert did not discuss the specifics with him.
A police report said that a church leader informed police on April 6 that John Stabbert’s brother emailed the church warning them of litigation if they decided to tell the congregation that Stabbert was accused of sexual abuse. The church leader told police the next day that Bruce Stabbert slid a cease-and-desist letter under the church’s office door. The document reportedly directed the church to immediately halt any “implied statements” to church members or to anyone else accusing John Stabbert of misconduct.
