Boca Raton Law Firm Retained, Lawsuit Filed In Palm Beach County.
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A North Florida church and its founding pastor have filed a defamation lawsuit against a former long-term guest, accusing him of falsely branding the congregation a “fake church” involved in money laundering and repeating an unsubstantiated pedophilia accusation against the pastor. Hilltop Christian Fellowship, Inc. and pastor Stephen J. Byers filed suit July 22 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against Edward W. Gibbs III, who lived at Hilltop’s Monticello property under a month-to-month arrangement from August 2025 until Hilltop asked him to leave in late April 2026.
According to the complaint obtained by BocaNewsNow.com and published in its entirety below, Gibbs posted a one-star Google review of Hilltop shortly after being told to vacate the property, claiming he was “kicked out for trying to help someone else monetarily,” that the church lacked a health permit, and that guests’ mail had gone “missing or stolen.” The review also included images of an email Gibbs had sent to Byers — copying the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the county tax collector — in which Gibbs wrote that the people Hilltop had “kicked out” did not believe in the church’s “fake church-money laundering issues,” and stated that someone had called Byers a pedophile and that “we all have emails to prove it in a court of law.”
Hilltop and Byers say every one of those claims was false. The lawsuit states Hilltop held valid state and county health permits at the time, that neither the church nor Byers has ever engaged in money laundering or mail theft, and that Byers has never engaged in sexual conduct with a minor. The complaint alleges Gibbs knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, pointing to his months of firsthand knowledge of the church’s operations, his earlier email thanking Byers for the stay and pledging to support “the vision and fellowship,” and the timing of his accusations immediately after being asked to leave. After receiving a demand letter, Gibbs edited the review to remove the email images and some statements, but the suit says he never issued a correction or apology.
The complaint, filed by the Boca Raton firm Glachman & Brill, P.A., seeks compensatory, presumed and general damages for defamation along with a jury trial. The Church and Pastor argue Gibbs forfeited any legal privilege that might otherwise protect his report to law enforcement because his real motive was retaliation, not a “good-faith” report of crime. Gibbs has not yet filed a response. Read the complete complaint below.
