An Ohio church has filed a federal religious discrimination lawsuit after its pastor was charged for allowing homeless people to sleep there.
The church, Dad's Place in Bryan, Ohio, began offering temporary housing to people in need last year.
The city raised zoning and safety concerns and ordered them to stop — but the pastor, Chris Avell, refused to comply.
According to a report from NPR, Avell now faces "18 zoning code violations which are punishable by fines, up to six months in prison, or both."
In the lawsuit filed on Monday, the church argued that providing food and shelter to those who need it is a protected religious activity.
"Churches have throughout history in this country and in others, they have taken in anybody who walks through their doors. Churches simply have the right to to care for them," Jeremy Dys, who is representing Avell, said in the lawsuit, according to the report.
The complaint asks for the charges against Avell to be dropped and for the city to be barred from kicking people out of the church.
On Friday, the city published a press release that said that beginning last May, they began receiving reports of "inappropriate activity" at the church.
"Some of the calls were for criminal mischief, trespassing, overdose, larceny, harassment, disturbing the peace, and sexual assault," the press release alleged.
The city also said that there were 18 violations of the Ohio Fire code discovered during an inspection by the fire chief.
The statement continued, "A church does not have any special rights under the zoning code and the City expects Pastor Avell and Dad's Place to follow the law."
Avell's trial is scheduled to begin on February 9.
