TBN founder Jan Crouch accused of covering up granddaughter's rape to avoid 'bad press'

Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) co-founder Jan Crouch has been accused of covering up the rape of her own granddaughter by an employee of the network in order to avoid "bad press."

Carra Crouch, the granddaughter of the late TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch, said that a TBN employee sexually assaulted her at a Praise-A-Thon fundraiser in Atlanta when she was just 13-years-old, Mercury News reported.

When Carra informed her grandmother about the assault, she said that Jan yelled at her and berated her instead of reporting it to the police.

In 2012, Carra filed a personal-injury lawsuit against Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, the non-profit that runs TBN, saying the incident led to years of trauma and emotional distress.

During the closing arguments of the trial on Wednesday, Carra's attorney, David Keesling, contended that Jan, who died in May 2016, did not report the incident because she was more concerned about the "bad press."

Jan, who was also an ordained minister, was legally required to contact the authorities under California's mandatory reporting laws, according to Keesling.

"This is absolutely the reason why we need mandatory reporters," Keesling said. "Had Jan Crouch not failed her obligation to the law, we wouldn't be here," he continued.

Carra, who is now 24, stated in her complaint that she was in a hotel room with the unnamed TBN employee when he gave her alcohol. She said that the 30-year-old man also gave her water, which she suspected was mixed with a drug to make her pass out. When she woke up, she suspected that she had been raped and went to her grandmother for comfort and protection.

"Jan Crouch, like her or not, her words mattered to Carra," Keesling said. "Carra went in fragile and she came out broken," he added.

Lawyers for Trinity Christian Center did not deny that Jan was informed about the assault, but they argued that she had no duty to report the incident because Carra went to her "as a grandmother" not as a minister.

"Jan Crouch is not here to defend herself. She loved her granddaughter; she would never intentionally hurt her granddaughter," said attorney Michael King, according to Daily Mail.

King also claimed that the family, including Carra's parents, worked together when they decided not to report the assault.

The jury is expected to decide whether any of Jan's actions rose to the level of outrageous conduct and reckless disregard for her granddaughter.