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HOUSTON (FOX 26) - “I felt spiritually and morally bankrupt for over 30 years,” said Jim Cochrun.
Cochrun says he became obsessed with being a macho man. On the outside, he was a U.S. Marine.
On the inside, he was a sexual abuse victim spiraling out of control.author
“Our client has had many personal problems since all this happened,” said Cochrun’s attorney, George Edwards.
Jim Cochrun was 12 years old when he says he was molested by his church youth pastor, Robert D. Smith in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“I find myself in his bed with him and he sexually abused me,” Cochrun said. “That was the first time it happened over a number of times that summer.”
In court documents, Smith is described as a writer and artist manager for a number of best-selling authors, speakers and entertainers in the Christian arts and publishing industry.
Cochrun sent about 50 e-mails to Smith’s clients and business associates, saying Smith molested him when he was a boy.
Smith then filed a defamation lawsuit against Cochrun, demanding $750,000.
“The very same man who abused me is going to come re-abuse me and try to silence me,” Cochrun said.
A recorded 56-minute conversation between Cochrun and Smith became part of the lawsuit.
“He started the conversation with, "Man, I’m really sorry. Is there some way we can make this go away? Can we come to some sort of agreement?'” said Cochrun.
“I think when the case became public, which was made public by the abuser in this instance, at least two other individuals came out and they had very similar stories to that of our client,” Edwards said.
Smith recently had his defamation lawsuit against Cochrun dismissed.
“We put a baseless, fruitless, frivolous lawsuit to bed,” said Edwards.
We sent messages by phone and e-mail to Smith’s attorney seeking his response. So far, we’ve heard nothing back.
Smith lives in Tennessee. Neither he nor his attorney responded to news outlets in that state as well.