RANCHO BERNARDO, Calif. -- A local Presbyterian church is at the center of a lawsuit that accuses the church of knowingly hiring a sexual predator and keeping it quiet.

The lawsuit claimed Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church knew former employee Gregory Starkey was behaving inappropriately with young girls in the choir program, and that the church was negligent in that it did not warn anyone about him.

What started in 1966 with 116 charter members and a budget of $44,000, the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church is one of the largest in San Diego County. According to the lawsuit, Starkey joined the church staff in 2000 at age 18.

The church has a number of youth programs, including choir, and the suit claimed the church was aware of Starkey's misconduct with a 15-year-old girl in 2000 and was fired. However, he was subsequently rehired. The lawsuit also claimed Starkey came in contact with two other 15-year-old girls identified as "Jane Doe 1" and "Jane Doe 2."

The suit, brought by attorney Irwin Zalkin, claimed that Starkey "bombarded Jane Doe 1 with e-mails and suggestive remarks and that if left alone with her, he would not be able to resist molesting her."

It wasn't until the parents of both girls went to the director of the choir that they learned there had been previous problems with Starkey.

In 2009, Starkey was charged with unlawful sexual conduct and is now a registered sex offender.

Zalkin said both girls, who were 15 at the time and now adults, "continue to suffer pain, shock and emotional distress."

10News tried to contact the attorney for the church but did not receive an answer in time for Monday's broadcast.

Zalkin, who is seeking unspecified damages, plans to talk about the lawsuit and have the fathers of the two victims by his side at a news conference Tuesday.