The Indiana woman, who boldly and publicly outed her former pastor for having sex with her when she was 16, has revealed the religious leader allegedly began grooming her when she was just 14 was.
Bobi Gephart spoke to Inside Edition about how she was allegedly manipulated and sexually abused by Pastor John B. Lowe II of New Life Christian Church & World Outreach.
Gephart, now 43, said Lowe earned her trust by telling her he loved her and when she turned 16 things escalated.
“Things just evolved into a fully sexual, I think you would call it, a relationship,” she told Inside Edition.
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Bobi Gephart (pictured) spoke to Inside Edition about how she was nursed and sexually abused by Pastor John B. Lowe II of New Life Christian Church & World Outreach
“When you pretend and flaunt yourself as a pastor and do that to someone, you’re a bad and bad person, and he is,” her husband Nate told Inside Edition (pictured together).
Lowe continues to share pictures of the pastor at important events in their lives, including a photo of him hugging her at her high school graduation and even officiating their 2004 wedding
Bobi and her husband then left the church stage and were comforted by other members of the congregation
Gephart went on to share pictures of the pastor at key events in her life, including a photo of Lowe hugging her as she graduated from high school, and even of the pastor consummating her 2004 marriage to current husband Nate, who is until until then knew nothing about their relationship in the past month.
Gephart revealed her relationship with Lowe lasted nine years and he was able to shut her up about their illicit affair by filling her with fear of what would happen if people found out.
“He told me that this would ruin everyone,” she said. “Think of the lives that would be destroyed if you ever spoke up,” she said, he told her.
Gephart even said he tried to make her feel guilty, but warned her he would go to jail if anyone ever found out.
Gephart, who said she had wanted to tell someone what Lowe had done to her for so long, said she was inspired to speak out after her brother Edgar Wolfe, 45, admitted he was “haunted” by the memory of seeing it had been ‘his pastor in bed with his younger sister, t-shirt and underwear on.’
“I revealed absolutely everything to my brother and he cried with me,” she said. ‘I didn’t know he knew, I didn’t know he saw that.’
Wolfe immediately confronted Lowe via text message, demanding that he resign.
During a May 22 sermon at the New Life Christian Church & World Outreach in Warsaw, Lowe admitted to “adultery” but did not admit he was dating a teenager.
Gephart, who was present with her husband, said his half confession infuriated her.
“I was standing in the back of the sanctuary and we were on fire and just shaking our heads like, ‘I just can’t believe you’re lying to these people,’ so they decided to storm the stage.
She told the congregation that the “adultery” Lowe previously confessed to was in fact her rape when she was only 16, which she says took place 27 years ago. Gephart was then known by her maiden name, Bobi Wolfe.
“If you love us, please let’s talk,” Nate said, handing the microphone to his wife.
She said it’s been 27 years, not 20, that she’s “lived in a prison of lies and shame.”
“For years I thought I was a horrible person, who had suicidal thoughts, didn’t realize what had really been done to me, that I was a victim,” she told him. “I was only 16 when you took my virginity on your office floor. Do you remember that? I know you do.’
She told Lowe, “You kept me in your prison,” but “I’m no longer a prisoner.”
John Lowe only told his congregation that he had committed adultery, but did not say it was with a teenage member of his own church
Pastor John B. Lowe II and his wife Debra, who admits she left her home in upstate New York at 16 to work as a stripper
Pastor John Lowe was found shirtless in bed with Bobi Gephart when she was a minor, her brother told . Bobi wore a t-shirt and underwear
A plaque announcing that John and Debbie Lowe are pastors of New Life hung on the church building a week after they left
Video of the incident has been viewed almost a million times on Facebook.
“When you pretend and flaunt yourself as a pastor and do that to someone, you’re a bad and bad person, and he is,” her husband Nate told Inside Edition.
Gephart said she was supported by her community after her public confession.
“Many, many people came to us and it was just sobs and hugs and love,” Gephart said.
When asked how she feels about the situation now, she said, “It’s almost like I can’t even believe everyone knows my secret now,” adding, “I hated lying.”
The following day, Lowe resigned as pastor, the church said in a statement. The church said no one on the staff knew what happened beforehand, and it offered to help Gephart heal “in any way possible.”
At the church’s service on May 29, Lowe’s son, assistant pastor Bryan Lowe, read a statement saying the church would be restructuring and holding meetings with members.
The Indiana State Police issued a statement asking anyone with “victim or witness information” about the situation to contact investigators.
Gephart said she spoke to police but acknowledged that prosecution against Lowe was unlikely due to the passage of time and Indiana law, which sets the age of sexual consent at 16. She said she was aware of other past abuses in the church.
In an interview with last week, Wolfe recalled the moment he saw his younger sister in bed with Lowe.
He said it was early morning at the Lowes’ home in Warsaw when the pastor’s former teenage stripper Debbie, 64, was gone when he entered the master bedroom “and I spotted him and my sister under blankets”.
“He was shirtless and she was wearing underwear and a t-shirt,” said Wolfe, who was 16 at the time.
“I looked confused so he said she just came in to say good morning and it was cold. They were in bed under a blanket and his wife was gone. And it was early.
‘I’ve been trying to think about it. In my innocence, I believed what he said. And I thought we’re a family, he wouldn’t do anything, he’s our pastor and I trust him.
“Bobi is about 18 months younger than me, so she would have been either 14 or 15 at the time. In my young mind I thought it’s a good thing no one else saw this or they would call the police and they wouldn’t even know it was innocent.’
Edgar explained that the Lowe and Wolfe families were firm friends through the church — and with both couples traveling frequently, they looked after each other’s children. The pastor and his wife went on a Christian mission abroad, and Karen and her late husband Eddie drove a truck.
That’s why Gephart, Edgar and their older sister Stacy, now 47, were at the Lowe house on that fateful morning the pastor was caught. Incidentally, the video in which Gephart confronts Lowe was directed by Stacy’s daughter, Maisie.
Edgar, now a retired Army Intelligence officer, tried for years to mentally suppress the image and said nothing, but said he was often troubled by it.
“It upset me. As I got older and started questioning these things, I realized that I probably should have called the police. And should have done something,’ he added.
While Gephart and Wolfe’s mother told she only found out about her daughter’s suffering at the hands of Lowe after her son made his revelation to the family in early May.
The couple’s mother, Karen, said: “My children adored this man Lowe. He was her hero. I took care of their children, they took care of my children. We were like family,” she said.
“I saw him as my children’s protector, not my children’s predator. But that’s how it went.
“For Bobi, I was mad at her, I was devastated when I found out. There were so many emotions at the beginning because I’m thinking, could that actually have happened? And I felt betrayed by Lowe.