Ohio megachurch, insurer at odds in daycare beating lawsuit

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Lawyers for an Ohio megachurch and its former insurance company are squaring off in the state Supreme Court over payment of a $3.1 million settlement in a lawsuit over the alleged beating of a toddler at the church.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the issue is whether the insurer must pay $1 million of the judgment in a World Harvest Church daycare employee's alleged beating in 2006 of a 2-year-old boy.

The newspaper reports that lawyers for the two sides were expected to argue in court about whether the beating, which involved the use of a ruler, constituted corporal punishment or abuse.

Grange Mutual Casualty Co. argues it is not responsible for paying the money under a clause in its policy with the Winchester, Ohio church that excludes coverage for acts of abuse or molestation.

The company is fighting an appeals court ruling that found the insurer was liable to help pay the judgment awarded to the parents of the child.