Evangelical Christian television network Daystar is currently embroiled in a scandal of the nastiest kind: the alleged sexual abuse of a child and the attempt to cover it up.
Founded by the late Marcus Lamb, Daystar is a family-run organization. Following Lamb’s tragic death in 2021, his widow and the co-founder of Daystar, Joni Lamb, assumed the role of president. Her son, Jonathan Lamb, served as the vice president up until recently when he was fired for failing to meet performance standards and refusing to participate in remedial protocols.
Since Jonathan’s termination, allegations from the past have resurfaced. Jonathan and his wife, Suzy, are now claiming that Marcus and Joni buried the sexual abuse of their daughter back in 2021.
Joni claims that this is a blackmail campaign by Jonathan against her and her late husband for leadership changes at Daystar that barred Jonathan from serving in the role of president.
So who’s lying? Did Marcus and Joni really try to cover up the sexual abuse of their granddaughter to protect Daystar’s image? Or is Jonathan Lamb attempting to blackmail his parents for barring him from the role of Daystar president and then firing him?
Allie Beth Stuckey dives into the scandal.
“Jonathan and Suzy Lamb alleged that in the summer of 2021, they caught ‘Pete’ alone with their unclothed daughter in a room at a beach house Daystar rented for its annual executive retreat in Miramar Beach, Florida, and confronted him about it,” Allie reads from a report.
“When Suzy Lamb reported this to Joni Lamb, Suzy claimed that she was told not to report it to the police. Jonathan and Suzy claimed that Joni and Marcus told them that Pete had been cleared of any wrongdoing by forensic psychologists, who had interviewed and examined him,” she added, playing a video of the statement Jonathan and Suzy posted to X recently.
According to their statement, at the time of the incident, they agreed to trust Marcus and drop the allegations against Pete.
However, soon after Jonathan was terminated from Daystar last month, the allegations resurfaced, with Jonathan and Suzy Lamb claiming that “Jonathan’s late father, Marcus, and mother worked to protect ‘Pete’ and Daystar’s image rather than their own granddaughter.”
“Daystar released a written response last week claiming that they investigated the claims internally and found no evidence of wrongdoing,” says Allie. “They also point out that the allegation became public only days after Joni had fired Jonathan from the network earlier in November.”
Jonathan, however, claims that his firing came after the allegations resurfaced.
“He says that he was officially fired on the Saturday after the story was published,” says Allie.
“Joni vehemently denies all allegations of a cover-up or dissuading her son and daughter-in-law from going to the police, saying that they are completely false,” says Allie, playing a segment of Joni Lamb’s official statement.
As of now, the truth is unclear.
“Unfortunately, this is a story that we have heard over and over again, even among those who consider themselves a part of the church,” says Allie. “We need to pray here for true transparency, for truth to win, and for justice to win.”
“I just think about this little girl, who is either a true victim of sexual abuse, and her sexual abuser is walking around out there unscathed and potentially protected, or she is being used in an internal power struggle,” she adds. “Either way, she seems to be a victim here.”
To hear more of Allie’s commentary and more details on the story, including the full history of the daughter’s alleged sexual abuse and Jonathan’s refusal to sign an NDA at Daystar, watch the episode above.
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