Copilot search on current state of lawsuit by Nanette Miles:
Nanette Miles’ Lawsuit Against David Hyles and First Baptist Church of Hammond
Nanette Miles, a former parishioner, filed a
class action civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2020 against
David Hyles, the former youth director and son of Hyles-Anderson College founder Jack Hyles, and
First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, along with Hyles-Anderson College
roysreport.com.
The complaint alleged that Hyles sexually assaulted Miles when she was 13 in 1976 and that church and college officials
covered up the abuse for years. Miles claimed at least 10 other individuals had credibly accused Hyles of similar abuse, and that “likely hundreds” of other survivors were harmed
roysreport.com. The suit sought undisclosed damages on behalf of herself and others, aiming to hold church and college leaders accountable for decades of alleged abuse and cover-up.
The case was part of a broader pattern of litigation against Hyles. In February 2020, Joy Ryder also filed a civil suit alleging repeated sexual abuse in the 1970s, but her claim was dismissed in 2022 by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals for failing to allege injury to “business or property” required for a RICO civil claim
Justia Law.
While the provided results do not explicitly state that Miles’ case was dismissed, the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Ryder v. Hyles shows that
civil RICO claims in this context were not allowed to proceed due to pleading deficiencies. This outcome is relevant because Miles’ lawsuit also invoked RICO’s civil cause of action, and similar legal standards apply in such cases.
In summary,
Miles’ lawsuit was not publicly reported as dismissed in the provided sources, but the legal precedent from the Ryder case indicates that
civil RICO claims in this type of abuse litigation face significant hurdles unless plaintiffs can clearly allege injury to business or property. Without a public dismissal notice, the case may still be pending or have been resolved through settlement or other means not covered in the available records.
